How your work can shape the pension questions
Healthcare careers often include changes of employer, grade, contracted hours and work pattern. Public and private employment can sit side by side, while agency periods, career breaks and earlier service may appear in different records.
Pension benefits and arrangements to identify
Identify each public-service pension period, the applicable scheme, pensionable pay and service credit. Review any private-sector occupational pension, PRSA or AVC separately. Death-in-service and ill-health provisions should be understood alongside retirement benefits.
| Decision area | What to establish |
|---|---|
| Employment history | Have HSE, voluntary hospital, agency and private-sector periods been separated correctly? |
| Pensionable pay | Which salary and allowances are pensionable under the relevant scheme? |
| Retirement timing | What happens if work reduces or finishes before the scheme retirement age? |
| Additional saving | Should an AVC be considered after the main benefit and tax limits are known? |
Documents to gather before a review
A useful review starts with evidence, not assumptions.
- Current benefit statement and full service record.
- Contracts or records showing grades, hours, breaks and transfers.
- Payslip showing pension deductions and pensionable allowances.
- Statements for AVCs and pensions from other healthcare employers.
How an advisor can help
An advisor can bring the separate arrangements into one retirement-income picture, test contribution and retirement-date scenarios, review investment risk in AVCs and explain the questions that should go back to HR or the scheme administrator.
What the review should produce
Ask for a clear record of the pensions included, benefits that could be lost, all product and advice charges, the assumptions used, the recommended contribution or retirement strategy and the next review date. A personal recommendation should follow a full fact-find and suitability assessment.
Last reviewed: 21 September 2026. Rules depend on your circumstances.
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