I'm really looking forward to packing in work in August after notching up 44 years for the same company. I joined Post Office Telecommunications as an apprentice on 1st September 1980 the day after my 17th bithday. When I joined, retirement was set at 60 years of age and from the age of 18 we paid into the defined benefits pension scheme which was designed to provide a lump sum and an annual pension based on half your final salary after 40 years service. However.....It all changed in 2009 because it was too expensive.
The final salary scheme was replaced with one based on career average pay and the retirement age was increased to 65 years of age. I think (?) we also had slightly increased contributions too (of course, the benefits already built up under the previous scheme were not lost). However.......A number of years later this too was deemed to be too expensive so it was junked for a defined contribution scheme (roulette wheel!).
Last year some of my colleagues opted to initiate a 'Flexible Retirement' option which allows you to take the defined benefit part of your pension and continue to work for a maximum of two years (salary plus pension). However.....BT has periodically offered quite good redundancy packages ('Voluntary Leaver Scheme' - recently been capped at 12 months salary). A lot of engineers in my role are of a similar age and most were hoping one day we would benefit from VLS. I duly decided to go for the Flexible Retirement Scheme but not before I made equiries about whether a VLS package would be coming down the track in the near future. I was told it was most unlikely. With that in mind, I had a decision to make on how to take my pension (min. lump sum, max lump sum, PIE etc.). Happy with my decision, I 'pressed the button' last June and started the countdown to my last day of work being no later than 31st August 2025 (my 62nd birthday).
I never intended to work until that date and decided that I would take a year of the pension payments before quitting. I informed my manager about six weeks ago that I wanted 31st August this year to be my last day of employment. I was happy to be leaving on my own terms at a time that suited me.
However.....the shine has been taken off my leaving due to a VLS being announced just a couple of weeks after I gave my boss my termination date. This means that colleagues of a similar age, in a similar role will now be walking away from the company with over £40K redundancy. The few in my position were pissed with the situation and a snotagram was sent to my senior manager. Stock reply stating the redundancy package would not have been offered to me anyway because I'd opted for Flexible Leaver Scheme.
I feel I've been a bit unlucky but when you factor in the pension payments for 12 months, interest on the lump sum and the fact that I've been erroniously paid a call-out retainer for nearly six years (even though I have brought it to management's attention at least three times!), I've done OK. I've also enjoyed what is possibly one of the best engineering roles on the company and for the last five and a half years I've been blessed to work in a stunning part of the world (Gloucestershire Cotswolds) with little or no managerial interference whatsoever - probably the most enjoyable period of my career. So I needn't feel too sorry that I missed out on a wedge of cash that, in truth, I don't need. I've also been fortunate enough to squirrel away the maximum into my DC pension from my salary for the last few years and probably won't need to touch it for quite a while. All I need is for the BT share price to fly. That would be gravy!
If I hang on to the lion's share of my unused annual leave, I should be leaving around mid August. It all sounds great unless........WW3 ruins it all
The final salary scheme was replaced with one based on career average pay and the retirement age was increased to 65 years of age. I think (?) we also had slightly increased contributions too (of course, the benefits already built up under the previous scheme were not lost). However.......A number of years later this too was deemed to be too expensive so it was junked for a defined contribution scheme (roulette wheel!).
Last year some of my colleagues opted to initiate a 'Flexible Retirement' option which allows you to take the defined benefit part of your pension and continue to work for a maximum of two years (salary plus pension). However.....BT has periodically offered quite good redundancy packages ('Voluntary Leaver Scheme' - recently been capped at 12 months salary). A lot of engineers in my role are of a similar age and most were hoping one day we would benefit from VLS. I duly decided to go for the Flexible Retirement Scheme but not before I made equiries about whether a VLS package would be coming down the track in the near future. I was told it was most unlikely. With that in mind, I had a decision to make on how to take my pension (min. lump sum, max lump sum, PIE etc.). Happy with my decision, I 'pressed the button' last June and started the countdown to my last day of work being no later than 31st August 2025 (my 62nd birthday).
I never intended to work until that date and decided that I would take a year of the pension payments before quitting. I informed my manager about six weeks ago that I wanted 31st August this year to be my last day of employment. I was happy to be leaving on my own terms at a time that suited me.
However.....the shine has been taken off my leaving due to a VLS being announced just a couple of weeks after I gave my boss my termination date. This means that colleagues of a similar age, in a similar role will now be walking away from the company with over £40K redundancy. The few in my position were pissed with the situation and a snotagram was sent to my senior manager. Stock reply stating the redundancy package would not have been offered to me anyway because I'd opted for Flexible Leaver Scheme.
I feel I've been a bit unlucky but when you factor in the pension payments for 12 months, interest on the lump sum and the fact that I've been erroniously paid a call-out retainer for nearly six years (even though I have brought it to management's attention at least three times!), I've done OK. I've also enjoyed what is possibly one of the best engineering roles on the company and for the last five and a half years I've been blessed to work in a stunning part of the world (Gloucestershire Cotswolds) with little or no managerial interference whatsoever - probably the most enjoyable period of my career. So I needn't feel too sorry that I missed out on a wedge of cash that, in truth, I don't need. I've also been fortunate enough to squirrel away the maximum into my DC pension from my salary for the last few years and probably won't need to touch it for quite a while. All I need is for the BT share price to fly. That would be gravy!
If I hang on to the lion's share of my unused annual leave, I should be leaving around mid August. It all sounds great unless........WW3 ruins it all