The following options are available to those who wish to retire from the NHS Pension Scheme early.

You may wish to retire earlier than the normal scheme retirement age of the NHS and although this can be done, hefty reductions will be imposed.  The following table illustrates these reductions in pensionable income as a percentage:

Age	65	64	63	62	61	60	59	58	57	56
Pension	16%	20%	24%	27%	31%	34%	37%	40%	43%	45%

Source –ARER factsheet (03.2017) V7.pdf

Should Doctors wish to retire early, they could lose up to 77% of their final salary (a loss of £17,294 per annum for a Doctor earning £101,451 per annum on retirement) – to roughly what a Foundation Year Junior Doctor earns today!  In retirement, Doctors are more likely to have dependent children and a mortgage, due to having started their social commitments late!

The rise in standard of living in your career is likely to be smooth – this sudden drop in salary may force Doctors to continue working against their wish and/or ability.

You must bear in mind that the NHS pension was created using an extremely ‘broad brush’ and is therefore not specifically designed for doctors.