;-))

Your contributions were not a feature of my post, the fact you have access at 50 was. I pay a similar amount a month but I'll be in my mid to late 60s. Just seems unsustainable for the service to maintain that level of fiscal burden, but I suspect it'll be resolved soon.

Dabooka, you have probably got a point. Indeed I was discussing 'unsustainable' offers with a colleague last week.

I suspect a lot of people in remaining private and public sector defined benefit schemes are keen to draw it as soon as possible after their minimum retirment age. They're the tail end of the 'job for life' generation and have 35+ years of service banked. Early access whether on retirement or, in my case, redundancy is to be seized with both hands.

Any loss of years still to serve has to be balanced against probability of most of them being spent 'at risk' under the next purges with, after the inevitable further tranche of scheme reforms, a less generous offer on severance.

The forthcoming 'Maude' reforms to the Civil Service, however overdue some changes, are another reason to go. I don't want to have to identify lowest 10% performers in my charge and, irrespective of their real contribution, manage most of them out. While the public face says that's not how it will work plenty young and ambitious managers will see 10% as a target.

Edited by Bromptonaut on 11/09/2013 at 15:18