The EAPF is part of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
From 1 April 2014, the LGPS became a Career Average Revalued Earnings Defined Benefit Scheme (CARE). This means that your pension is calculated by taking a proportion of your pensionable pay each year and revaluing this based on changes to the cost of living. For more details on how your CARE pension works, read our factsheet called How is my pension worked out?.
The age at which you can retire and receive the full benefit from your LGPS pension known as your Normal Pension Age (NPA), is either the later of your state pension age (SPA) or 65. It’s worth being aware that your SPA now, may not be the same in the future so your NPA will be assessed at the point at which you come to retire.
You could choose to retire before your NPA, although the pension you receive may be reduced because it's being paid early.
From 1 April 2014 you'll have a pension account for each pensionable role you hold. So, for example, if you hold two separate pensionable part time employments you'll have two pension accounts.
Your pension account for an employment will hold the pension you've built up in that employment.
There is also the possibility of taking 'partial retirement' which gives you the option to take some, or all, of the pension that you’ve built up while you continue working on either reduced hours or at a lower grade. For more details about this and other retirement options, see our 'Taking your pension' page.
If you were a member before April 2014, you'll have also built up benefits in the final salary arrangement. For more details about final salary benefits, please see our factsheet How is my pension worked out?
For more detailed information about CARE and final salary benefits, you can read our Scheme guide.
If you stopped contributing to the LGPS prior to April 2014, please click here for more information.