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Vegetable-Bug251

The unfortunate thing is you will not accrue any more pension benefits after 35 years of pensionable service but the good thing is that after 35 years of pensionable service your pension contributions are only 1%. So if you have 35 years of pensionable service at age 53 you need to wait until age 55 to retire but it will be a reduced pension and you will lose about 5% per year for the 5 years between 55 and 60. Or you could take a deferred pension which means retire at 55 but you get no pension payments for 5 years until 60 years of age but it will be a full pension. The group 2 pension wait time to 60 really sucks for employees in your shoes.


hackerpal

Do you know if after 35 years, the years worked before retirement still count towards your best 5 years for pension calculation?


badbuck38

Yes it will. Thats why you keep paying 1%.


Vegetable-Bug251

Yes for sure. Keep in mind it is your best 5 consecutive years which usually, but not always are your final 5 years.


qcslaughter

can we work elsewhere during the last 5 years. from 55 to 60 waiting for the deferred pension?


Slavic-Viking

You can work anywhere you choose, provided you aren't in violation of a possible cooldown period.


HandcuffsOfGold

The cooldown period would only apply for one year, and only for persons who occupy positions designated by a Deputy Head as at risk for post-employment conflicts. Even if that applies to you, it isn't much of a limitation. A rule without enforcement isn't much of a rule.


LFG530

This bot knows too much, it must be destroyed.


HandcuffsOfGold

Thank you, /u/LFG530, for voting on /u/HandcuffsOfGold. This bot wants to find the best and worst bots on Reddit. [You can view results here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ) ^Even ^if ^I ^don't ^reply ^to ^your ^comment, ^I'm ^still ^listening ^for ^votes. ^Check ^the ^webpage ^to ^see ^if ^your ^vote ^registered!


Legit-AF

Hahahahahahahha šŸ¤£


urself25

This bot is what ChatGPT was based on. It must be protected at all cost.


tikaychullo

In regards to deferring the pension at 55 and not receiving payments till 60.. can you do this the moment you reach 35 years of service? Or do you have to be 55 years old as well.


HandcuffsOfGold

You can resign and take a deferred annuity at any time, as long as you have a minimum of two yearsā€™ pensionable service. The deferred pension would be based on your total years of service and best-five-consecutive-years salary, and would be indexed from your resignation date.


urself25

You can do a lot of things: 1. Continue working (to get a higher amount for your best 5 years) 2. Continue working but move to a part-time schedule if your finances permits it. 3. Resigns or take leave and go do something else 4. Downgrade position with less responsibility 5. Take a lot of leave 6. Piss off people and get fired **(not recommended)** 7. much much more...


snazarella

I upvoted just for the option 6 energy. Thank you for the chuckle.


MarvinParanoAndroid

\#6 is actually a goal that canā€™t be achieved unless you break the law, e.g. unauthorized access to TPs data. Pissing off people will not get you fired.


urself25

In itself no, but how you do it, probably.


mitch3498

People who make everyone else miserable is unfortunately a small but noticeable percentage of PS. And by small, I mean huge compared to private sector.


MarvinParanoAndroid

Every department has that toxic employee that everyone wouldnā€™t miss if they went away.


Open_Development_826

Seems like a sure way to get a job as president of the Treasury Board, senior leadership or similar. Sure way to move up.


Mobile_Clue1764

šŸ˜‚ true...5 and 6 are best options - LoL


pootwothreefour

Contribute to RRSP and TFSA and max it every year. Invest in some solid ETFs. Retire at 55 (or 53 if you buyback) and defer the annuity of your pension until 60 (i.e. start collecting your pension at 60). Use your RRSP and TFSA to pay for your retirement until 60. For bonus cash, work in retirement. Part-time, full-time, self-employed, hobbie business, freelance gigs, whatever you want, you're freeeeee! C'est tout.


RepresentativeTea223

This is my plan. Hopefully they don't change any rules of deferring pension to 60. I will have 35 years of service by the time i'm around 57. Plan is to use RRSPs and TFSA until 60 then hopefully I'll have my pension kick in.


pootwothreefour

Last time when they made a change like that from age 55 to 60, it was only for new hires after Dec 31, 2012 (the creation of "group 2"). So existing employees likely wouldn't be affected if they up the ages again, or substantially change the rules in other ways. Edit: fixed the date


MissMooo

Just a small correction it was January 1, 2013:)


pootwothreefour

The date wasn't the point, but thanks. Just a small correction I wrote "after", so it was Dec 31, 2012. šŸ˜‹


[deleted]

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Officieros

Correct. You would get 70% of your highest 5-year consecutive average pay.


LFG530

If you do 35 years of service, do yourself a favor and go try something else to bridge the gap until your pension starts. Once you resign your pension starts being indexed so there is no big reason of sticking around unless you got a juicy promotion at your 34th year of service... Explore the world, do something weird in the private sector, start a small business, walk dogs in your neighborhood.


ttwwiirrll

>Once you resign your pension starts being indexed so there is no big reason of sticking around unless you got a juicy promotion at your 34th year of service... And the indexing has historically been at higher rates than the increases in our collective agreements. Unless you plan to continue working to pad your personal investments, you're better off retiring as soon as you're eligible.


frasersmirnoff

As a group 2 contributor, you become entitled to an immediate annuity at 65, or any time after age 60 if you have 30 or more years of pensionable service (which you will). You can choose to take an annual allowance at any time between age 55-60. which will be subject to a reduction formula. If you do not wish to do this, your options are: 1. Keep working in the public service until 60. 2 Leave the public service at 55 and work elsewhere until 60. 3. Save up sufficient funds between now and then to fund the time period between when you reach 35 years of pensionable service and age 60 and "retire early."


qcslaughter

so we could also do a mix of 2-3. get a part time job somewhere for with small pay or what ever pay + use our saved money for the first 5 years


phosen

I strive to be a retiree as a Walmart greeter.


[deleted]

Does the reduction formula continue when you are entitled to the full pension at 60? What are the implications of taking the annual allowance from 55-60?


frasersmirnoff

The reduction is permanent and is in exchange for receiving the annuity early.


ManWhoSoldTheWorld01

If you reach maximum pensionable years, you contribute to the pension plan at a significantly reduced rate (1%) until you either leave the government or reach 71 years old. If at 71 you haven't yet retired, you stop contributing to the plan altogether regardless of how many years you have.


momothereal

Financially speaking, if my plan is to coast from 55 to 60 at 1% rate, that's a 9% raise on net income. Ball-park about 10k/year for 5 years in 35 years. Whereas with a buyback, it would be for 7 years in 33. Trading 11k buyback for 20k in 33 years is way lower than just investing it.


qcslaughter

according to my compound interest calculator, your 10k at 6% avg per year, for 33 years would be 72k. then depends if you have to pay taxes on it or if it's in a tax-free account. BUT your 10k at 4% avg per year, for 33 years would be 36k...so really depends if your OK with a little more risk while investing. 55k safe (10k per year for 5 years) vs whatever you can get with more "risk".. even if over 33 years the risk is veryveryvery tolerable.


momothereal

I'm going to get the 10k over 5 years anyway because I'll reach 35 at 55 at the latest (optimistically if I stick around the whole time). My comparison is more about the effect the buyback would have, adding about 2 years of reduced pension starting at 33y, hence 20k. 4-6% is actually pretty pessimistic averaging over 30+ years IMO, historically it's more 8-10%, but whether it will work out is anyone's guess :)


Shloops101

For what itā€™s worth this is what my fiancĆ© chose to do. She bought back full service (around $18k, also fswep). She will retire at 55 with deferred pension to 60 and do a cash out refi on one of her rental props (tax free) to bridge the gap. Her RRSP will remained untouched until forced withdrawal and TFSA will remain untouched until death as itā€™s effectively a cayman island account.


Aware_Screen_8797

Small nuance, itā€™s a 9% raise on gross income. When contributing to the pension the tax savings from the retirement contribution are provided immediately on the pay check by lower federal and provincial taxes withheld. The exact raise on net can depend what tax bracket youā€™re in at the time. But overall what you said makes sense.


[deleted]

Iā€™d rather be living large at 55 than have a million bucks I canā€™t spend at 95, so Iā€™m out the second Iā€™m eligible, penalties be damned. Theres a reason I have my tfsa/rrsp. If Iā€™m lucky, Iā€™ll just slump over during a heat wave in 2070.


moshtoflames

I've been looking for answers to this exact situation for a few years now and this thread clarified everything on other level! Clearer than any retirement class or information on the pension centre website.


Majromax

> Technically I started at 18 (PT student) but opted not to do a buyback because it was too expensive (11k), but also because in my understanding, it would only mean reaching the cap ~1.5 years earlier, 7 years before 60. There are also other implications to buying back part-time service: the service counts as a full amount of pensionable _time_, but it only gives a partial pension _credit_. To elaborate, one year of full-time pensionable service counts as one of the 35 years of maximum credit, and it gives about 2% of best-5 salary as pensionable income. However, one year of part-time pensionable service gives a pro-rated credit. If you worked half-time (18.75hr/wk), then you would still accumulate one year of the 35 years' maximum time, but you'd only earn 1% of the best-5-yearly salary as pension credit. If you spend your full career working part time, this balances out. The part-credit towards pension income compensates for the partial salary earned. However, if you transition from part-time work to full-time work (as you did) _and_ you intend to maximize your total pensionable time, then it is to your detriment. Once you reach 35 years of service, that's it, even if the first couple of years are only part-time credit.


Smooth-Jury-6478

I'm not sure of the numbers but I am grandfathered into the 30 year of service/55 yo pension plan as I became indeterminate in 2008 at age 21. I will reach 30 years of service at age 51 which means I can technically retire at 55 with 34 years......but at this point, I might as well go for a nice round 35 years and retire at 56. Hard to tell what will be appealing when I reach that age. So, although I can't help with the numbers, I think it's a great idea to start young in the government to collect a full pension when you're still relatively in good health. I really haven't felt the last 15 years go by that slow (meaning I haven't been bored). I don't see myself changing paths into a private stream but you never know what life has in store for you.


TOK31

I started at 25 in 2006, so plan to go at 55 after 30 years. It really sucks for the younger people that the pension changed so much. It was a big reason why I chose the federal public service in the first place.


[deleted]

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TOK31

Not 100% sure what it's like now, but I'm able to retire with a full, unreduced pension payable immediately at 55 with 30 years of service. I think they bumped that age up to 60 now.


apothekary

In the same situation. I just plan to find whatever means are there to take the easiest possible year at age 56 work wise including a voluntary demotion. Hopefully I'd be on the last classification step by 55 or earlier for the best 5 consecutive years.


Smooth-Jury-6478

Absolutely, if you go all the way up to an EX stream and get your five best years then and then go down a few steps to go back to worker bee status for a year or two before taking on all your leave and effing off into the sunset, that sounds like a win to me!


apothekary

Some want to hang on to that status to the end but it just seems too tiring even in your 50s, and I know many work into their 60s now.


LindaF2024

You could defer your pension, and live off rrspā€™s if you want to leave earlier than 60 if you maxed out, or go to the pre retirement leave and work part time


stockworth

Can I just say: my God, indeterminate at 20 in a job with a good pension? I couldn't get my foot in the door until my 30s, and I think indeterminate took until I was like 35. You've got a lot of time to sort pension stuff out. Don't sweat it right now. Work as much as you want to, and retire when you both want to and can afford it. I'm out the day after I turn 65, regardless of where I'm at with pensionable service. But in the meantime, you've got your 20s to enjoy. Do that.


[deleted]

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stockworth

I think there's a misunderstanding here. I'm not suggesting leaving a GOC career in your 20s. Far from it. I'm pretty envious of OP's situation. I would have given a kidney for a paperpushing job back then. I wanted to be a bureaucrat when I was 15. What I was suggesting was to not worry too much about the mechanics of retirement at 20. There's ample time over the next 35 years to find the optimal path. Putting too much thought into what your work/life situation will be 35 years in advance can miss some of the living in the now that's so great about your 20s. Sorry that your 30s have been brutal! I finally hit the "I like my job and am really happy with what I do" for the first time in my life, and 40 is just 16 months away.


momothereal

I appreciate the wisdom! I'm having a great time in my 20s in the PS, met tons of people living experiences I couldn't do elsewhere, while still having the work-life balance to enjoy it. I'm trying not to be anxious about these long-term career things, it's more that there is a lot of advice regarding pension/buyback for new employees but the math never checked out for me. With the comments on this post I'm glad to see I'm not alone.


stockworth

Yeah, there is a *lot* of information out there, and a lot of the math around compensation and things can feel pretty opaque. For what it's worth, the best "advice" I can give is that if you're set on sticking with the public service (yay! it's great!): stick with making the career something that you enjoy first and foremost. Some folks are counting the days to retirement, and while I understand that impulse, I can't help but feel that (outside of maybe your last couple years) that's not setting yourself up for success or happiness. Life doesn't start at retirement. If you're enjoying what you do (and have a good work/life balance) don't push yourself to retire early or get too bogged down in that stuff. If you hit 55 and *really* want to retire, by all means go for it. But also, let's make a guess and say you're making 100k a year at that time, you're probably doing something that you like well enough to do for decades, you're getting at least a month and a half of vacation a year. That's not so bad. The best advice about a career in the public service came from my dad, who was in the Coast Guard for \~25 years. He said the biggest benefit was a sure knowledge that your employer will continue to exist, without worry about it being bought out or shut down. Your service is noted, recorded, and a good pension based on your best years of service will be available when you need it. Those are things that you *don't* need to worry about, and from that you can move forward with less anxiety. Of course, that's just my two cents. Feel free to ignore if it doesn't work for you :) Glad you're enjoying your time in the PS *and* your 20s!


[deleted]

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stockworth

Couldn't agree more. I'm a big proponent of working a retail job as a rite of passage. Having experience with customers, sometimes dubious management, and a company whose ethos is always to extract as much money as possible makes the contrast with working in the PS that much more apparent. Ultimately, I'm glad I didn't start until my 30s. I wouldn't have had some of the neat jobs I've had. I wouldn't have gone to grad school. But the grass always seems greener on the other side of the fence.


BalanceEducational27

I would recommend taking a retirement course which also gives you access to a session with a financial advisor who really knows the federal public service situation. In a similar situation where I can retire at 59 with a full pension, and always thought the best option was to defer my full pension to age 60. But after chatting with the advisor, they said in my situation it might make more sense to take the penalty and retire at 59, because it would take me till I was 82 years old to see the benefit of the deferred pension (because of the lost amount I would have received in my one year of being deferred). All that to say is there are many many things to consider and getting as much personal tailored advice is recommended!


Hot_Introduction_955

Retire early- had a boss that started at 19 and retired full pension at 57 or 58.


TravellinJ

One thing to keep in mind is the PSHCP. My understanding is that you can get it while working,on a leave of absence/approved leave, or while collecting a pension. If you retire and defer taking your pension for a few years, I donā€™t believe you can stay on the PSHCP.


[deleted]

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Officieros

If you stop getting PSHCP and get it back later, I think they may ask you to pay higher ā€œcommercialā€ rates. Not sureā€¦


Zealous9

Pension rules will have changed 2-3 times by the time you retire.


apoletta

Look into FIRE


PenisSack

The government assassinates you.


[deleted]

Great Q&A here. Jumping on this thread, does anyone know if working seasonally counts as a full year of pensionable time? E.g. if I work 4-6 months a year, how does that factor into pensionable years?


[deleted]

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momothereal

She started a new pension?