Value of public-sector pension

I'm considering a move from the private sector to a public sector role. I'm in a DC pension scheme at present, where my employer matches my 7% contributions, and I'm making some AVC's on top of this.

Is there any general calculation that would compare this against a standard public sector DB pension scheme as available to new recruits from today?

Could I transfer funds out of my DC fund to buy additional service in the public sector? Does this generally offer good value?

How solid is the commitment to public sector pensions? Could a future government rollback on my contract and cut my pension?

Thanks in advance.

Look at recent argentina history when Govt went bankrupt or even Russia. If Grizzly adams and friends get into power in next 10 to 15 years (not totally fanciful on present trends), I'd have my passage booked for New Zealand.
At moment National Pension reserve is grabbing €1.5bn a year (alotta readies) to pay for a massive public sector pension commitment that is balooning alarmingly every year and will bankrupt the working man eventually. NOt a pretty sight going forward, I'm afraid

jobhunt: Everything you need to know about PS pensions is available at: http://www.cspensions.gov.ie/
Click through the links until you come to the one for 'non-established state employees', which probably covers you. You can also ask them on AVCs, etc.

Hi JobHunt,

Are you moving to:
1. The Civil Service
2. The Broader Public Service (Local Authority, Health Board)
3. A commercial semi state organisation? (ESB, Bord Gas etc)


ajapale

ajapale said:

Hi JobHunt,

Are you moving to:
1. The Civil Service
2. The Broader Public Service (Local Authority, Health Board)
3. A commercial semi state organisation? (ESB, Bord Gas etc)

Click to expand...

It's number 2 from your list - public service - a statuatory agency. Is that what's considered to be a 'non-establishment' position? The result from the pensions calculator for that section didn't impress me too much! Pension of €13k from salary of €60, starting work at 40 & retiring at 65.

I was listening to Ben Stein (Economist and Actor) on the radio last week. If I understood him correctly he was suggesting a lump sum target at retirement of 20 times your salary.

He was talking to Americans, but I'd imagine the maths wouldn't be too different for the rest of us, interest rates would affect annuities a bit. That means someone on 40,000 would need to have 800,000 saved, which seems is lower than I would have thought was necessary.

But if we take his figure and go on from there to see what kind of annuity 800,000 could buy, it might give you an idea of whether your Defined Benefit Pension is going to be enough.

He also made an interesting point that isn't made enough. If you live for 20 years after you retire, prices will double in that 20 years. So unless your benefits are indexed linked, or you have the capital to dip into, you're going to be getting progressively more and more broke as you get older.

That mightn't be a problem, most of us will probably wind down the world travel as we head into our 80's.

-Rd

daltonr said:

That mightn't be a problem, most of us will probably wind down the world travel as we head into our 80's.

Click to expand...

Funny you should say that but I get the impression that the opposite is happening in some cases with people living longer and in better health. It's only anecdotal but I know of several people well into retirement and some widowed who are doing more travel (and some of it quite exotic) now than at any other time in their lives. I'd like to think that I'll be doing the same if/when I get to that age!