Short answer
Which arrangement are you in?
The factor you get depends on which set of rules your service sits in, not just your age. Service built up before 2007 is typically final salary with a Normal Pension Age of 60; service from 2007 is final salary with a Normal Pension Age of 65; and service from April 2015 is career average. After the McCloud remedy many teachers hold benefits in more than one arrangement, and each is reduced separately against its own Normal Pension Age. Our Benefit Statement guide shows where to find each figure.
How the reduction is applied
The factor is a conversion, not a penalty: it scales the pension so its expected total value is roughly the same whichever date you start it. It is applied to your pension, and under the NPA 60 arrangement to the automatic lump sum too. Any commutation to take a larger lump sum happens after the reduction. The full tables, with worked examples, are in our early retirement reduction tables guide.
Pro: every age side by side
What this calculator can't do
- It uses whole-year factors. The published tables are monthly, so retiring part-way through a year will differ slightly.
- It doesn't model deferred career average members. Those are measured on years before their own Normal Pension Age instead, covered in the tables guide.
- It doesn't model lump sum commutation, tax or State Pension bridging. Each changes the real-world picture.
- It isn't a quote. Only Teachers' Pensions can give you an official early retirement figure.
Before you decide
Check the number against your real Benefit Statement, then ask Teachers' Pensions for a formal quotation at your intended date. If you want to keep working part-time while drawing some benefits, read about phased retirement, and if you are weighing a buy-out of the reduction, see buy-out and faster accrual.
Frequently asked questions
How much is my Teachers' Pension reduced if I retire early? +
It depends on your arrangement and age. Under the final salary NPA 60 arrangement, retiring at 55 gives about 81.1% of your unreduced pension and lump sum, rising to 100% at 60. Under the final salary NPA 65 arrangement, retiring at 55 gives about 62.5%, rising to 100% at 65. Career average pensions are measured against your State Pension age, 67 for most teachers now in service: at 55 an active member keeps about 59% (the 62.5% factor for going before 65, combined with a 3% standard reduction for each year from 65 to 67), rising to 100% at 67. The calculator above applies the published Government Actuary's Department factors to the pension figure on your Benefit Statement.
Is the reduction permanent? +
Yes. The reduced pension is what you receive for life; it does not step up to the unreduced amount when you reach what would have been your Normal Pension Age. That is why the break-even comparison matters: you are choosing between a smaller pension for longer and a larger pension that starts later.
Which pension figure should I enter? +
The annual pension payable at Normal Pension Age, before any early-retirement reduction, taken from your Benefit Statement. If you hold service in more than one arrangement after the McCloud remedy, run each tranche separately with its own figure, because each is reduced against its own Normal Pension Age.
Why does the lump sum only appear for NPA 60? +
Only the final salary NPA 60 arrangement carries an automatic lump sum, worth three times annual pension, and the same reduction factor applies to it. The NPA 65 final salary and career average arrangements have no automatic lump sum, though you can give up some pension for one by commutation, which this tool does not model.
Are the factors current? +
They are the 2019 GAD set published on our early retirement tables guide, which discusses how up to date they are. Factors can be reissued when HM Treasury changes the discount rate used to value public service pensions, so confirm the figure with Teachers' Pensions before you act on it.
Does this work for ill-health retirement? +
No. Ill-health retirement pays the accrued pension without an actuarial reduction for early payment, so these factors do not apply. See our ill-health retirement guide for how those awards work.
Related guides
Early Retirement Reduction Tables
The full GAD tables and worked examples behind this calculator.
Phased Retirement Explained
Draw some pension while still working part-time.
Buy-Out and Faster Accrual
Ways to reduce or avoid an early-retirement reduction.
Teachers' Pension Calculator
Estimate your career average accrual and contribution tier.