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For members of the Local Government Pension Scheme in England and Wales

Additional Pension Contributions

You may have bought extra pension by paying Additional Pension Contributions (APCs). If your employer has met some or all the cost of buying the extra pension, these are known as Shared Cost APCs. Any reference to APCs in this section includes Shared Cost APCs. Any references to payments you have made includes payments made by your employer.

You may have made regular payments or paid a one-off lump sum. When you take your pension, this will include the extra pension that you have paid for. If you choose to retire and take your pension before your Normal Pension Age, or you are retired on redundancy or business efficiency grounds before your Normal Pension Age, the extra pension you have bought will be reduced for early payment.

If you take your pension after your Normal Pension Age, the extra pension that you have bought will be increased because it’s being paid later.

You can choose to swap some of the extra pension you have bought to provide a tax-free lump sum in the same way that you can swap your main LGPS pension. Your pension fund will let you know about your options and the maximum lump sum you can take.

Flexible retirement

If you take flexible retirement, you can generally choose whether to take any extra pension you have bought by paying APCs. You must either take all or none of the extra pension. You cannot take part of it.

If you are still paying APCs when you take your pension and you decide to take the extra pension you have bought, the APC contract will stop. You will be able to take out a new APC contract. You will only be able to pay regular contributions if it is at least a year before your Normal Pension Age. You may be able to start a new Shared Cost APC contract, but this depends on your employer’s discretions policy.


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