What do I do if a member is retiring? (DB Schemes)

Retirement for Defined Benefit (DB) members

When a member is approaching their normal retirement date age, we will trigger the retirement process automatically. We will do this by issuing a retirement pack three months before the member’s date of retirement. Please see your scheme booklet for your scheme’s normal retirement age and whether employer consent to take early retirement is required.

Your employee may choose to retire earlier than the scheme’s normal retirement age. They can do this from age 55. For members who joined the scheme before 6 April 2006, they may be able to take their benefits from age 50, subject to certain conditions.

If a member chooses to retire early, their pension will be reduced to reflect the early payment. This would be because the member would be paid for a longer period. As an employer you will need to:

• complete a withdrawal form which includes the member’s date of leaving and salary information, if possible, please complete this three months before the member’s retirement date
• advise us if the member decides to retire at short notice, so that a retirement pack can be issued
• submit the final contribution as part of the normal monthly submission process
• enter the date of leaving within your monthly submission
• please refer to the Employer Help Guides for help on submitting the information online.

We will:

• contact the member and advise them of their benefits and the options available to them
• send them the relevant forms for completion
• advise the likely timescales for settlement of benefits
• provide information regarding where to obtain financial advice
• set up the members new pensioner record. 

If the member leaves the Scheme and starts to receive benefits but remains employed, you may be required to re-enrol them into a scheme at a future date if they meet the auto-enrolment conditions.