Dentists face critical NHS pension decision

Thousands of dentists who qualified before 2008 have just a few months to decide which NHS pension scheme will be best for them in the long term. The Choice 2 exercise being undertaken by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) offers scheme members the opportunity to move their 1995 Section benefits to the 2008 Section of the current pension scheme. This is the second time many dentists will have had the chance to move their pension benefits and is being offered because of changes to the NHS pension scheme in 2015. The deadline to decide is 16 March 2015 and the decision cannot be changed once made.

Independent financial adviser, Jon Drysdale of PFM Dental, says: “Making the right choice can be difficult, especially for dentists who are unsure when they will retire. There are also many other factors to consider such as whether you might retire and then return to work, the benefits potentially payable to your dependants, whether you currently contribute to an Added Years contract and so on."

While NHS Pensions provides information and a 'decision tree' on the NHSBSA website, NHS Pensions is not authorised to provide financial advice to scheme members.

PFM Dental offers independent financial advice exclusively to dentists. For more information visit www.pfmdental.co.uk