PRIVATE PENSIONS

■ Q

IN 1970 I left the Civil Service after

seven years because my husband took a job in London. Despite being a member of the pension scheme I was told at the time I would get nothing as I wasn’t staying there until retirement age. Can that be right? L.C., Blackpool, Lancs. ■ A

SADLY, yes. If you left the Civil

Service before 1972 then in most cases you got a retirement income only if you had at least ten years in the pension scheme and retired from the job at 60, says the Cabinet Office. This changed in 1972 so that former workers with at least five years in the scheme still got a pension. This was not backdated because of the cost. ■ Q

AS A civil servant I took a marriage

gratuity without realising what it would do to my pension. Now I would gladly pay it back with interest in return for my pension. Is this possible?

S. T. by e-mail. ■ A

UNFORTUNATELY not. You

cannot make up these lost years. ■ Q

AS I paid the small stamp I have no

state pension in my own right. Is it worth saving into my new employer’s pension scheme as it automatically deducts the amount of state pension from any retirement income even if you haven’t got one? A. M., Edinburgh. ■ A

THIS will depend on your

employer’s pension scheme. If you don’t have to pay anything in then any benefit you get out is probably worth having, says Tom McPhail, head of pensions research for Hargreaves Lansdown.

If you have to make a contribution along with your employer then you must ask the scheme administrator what level of pension you are likely to get. Then ask how much of that will be wiped out by having the value of the state pension deducted.

If it leaves you with very little, you might be better off putting your money elsewhere.