Disclaimer

Our figures are estimates

Our calculators apply the published AFPS 75, AFPS 05 and AFPS 15 formulas and current factors to the numbers you enter. They use reasonable assumptions and rounding, and they cannot reflect every detail of your individual circumstances, such as breaks in service, promotions late in your career, transferred-in benefits, divorce or pension sharing, ill-health retirement, or the choices you make under the McCloud remedy. Treat every result as a ballpark guide, not a promise.

An estimate is only as good as the data behind it. We rebuild the maths from the scheme rules and the factors published by the Government Actuary's Department, but those factors are reviewed and reissued from time to time, and a calculation that was correct last year can shift when new factors land. Your own record held by Veterans UK is the single source of truth for your service dates, your pensionable pay and any added years or transfers. If the numbers you type in differ from your record, even by a little, your result will differ too. That is why we describe every output as an estimate and never as a statement of your entitlement.

What the calculators assume, and where they stop

To turn a few inputs into a figure, every pension calculator has to make assumptions. Being open about ours is part of being useful. Here is what sits behind the numbers, and the situations where you should treat the result with extra care.

The assumptions we make

• We assume the scheme you tell us you are in, and the pay or final salary you enter, are accurate and pensionable. We cannot see your record, so we take your figures at face value.
• For AFPS 75 we apply the final-salary basis, up to 48.5% of final pay at full service, with the automatic tax-free lump sum of three times the annual pension and a normal pension age of 60.
• For AFPS 05 we apply the final-salary basis at one seventieth of final pay for each year, up to around 57%, with the automatic three times lump sum and a normal pension age of 65.
• For AFPS 15 we apply the career average (CARE) basis, banking one forty-seventh of pensionable pay each year and revaluing it for inflation, with no automatic lump sum, an option to commute up to 25% at roughly 12 pounds of lump sum for each 1 pound of annual pension given up, and a normal pension age equal to your State Pension age.
• Where we show inflation uprating, we use the published Consumer Prices Index figures: pensions in payment rose 6.7% in 2024 and 1.7% in 2025, and rise 3.8% from April 2026.
• Where a calculation depends on Early Departure Payments, we use the broad qualifying rules: 18 years of service and age 40 for AFPS 05, and 20 years and age 40 for AFPS 15, with the AFPS 15 EDP lump sum set at 2.25 times the preserved pension.

The limits you should keep in mind

• We do not model tax. Income tax, the annual allowance, the lump sum allowance and any other tax charges depend on your wider finances and are outside our scope.
• We do not model the McCloud remedy choice in full. The remedy period runs from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022, and your eventual benefits depend on a choice you make at retirement between the legacy and reformed schemes for those years. Your remedial savings statement from Veterans UK is the place to see this properly.
• We do not handle pension sharing on divorce, pension debits or credits, added pension, transfers in from other schemes, or service that does not count as pensionable.
• We do not calculate ill-health retirement, death-in-service benefits or dependants' pensions, which follow separate rules and tiers.
• We assume continuous service unless you tell us otherwise. Breaks, periods of reserve service and re-joining can change the picture in ways a simple input cannot capture.

An illustrative worked example

The following is illustrative only, to show how an estimate is built and why it is not the same as an official figure. Suppose an AFPS 15 member has banked a pension of 9,400 pounds a year by the time they leave. If they commute the maximum 25%, they give up about 2,350 pounds of annual pension in exchange for a lump sum, at roughly 12 pounds per 1 pound, which is around 28,200 pounds of cash up front, leaving a residual pension near 7,050 pounds a year before any further uprating. A calculator can show that trade-off in seconds. What it cannot tell you is whether commuting is right for you, because that depends on your tax position, your health, your other savings, your partner and your plans, none of which a formula can see. The maths is the easy part; the decision is the part that needs your own record and, often, regulated advice.

Not regulated financial advice

We are not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and nothing on this site is a personal recommendation. Decisions like commuting part of your pension, transferring out, or choosing between schemes can have lasting financial consequences. For advice tailored to your situation, speak to a regulated financial adviser, ideally one experienced with armed forces pensions.

Not regulated financial advice, and what that means

It is worth being clear about why this matters. Regulated financial advice is a formal service: the adviser is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, must understand your full circumstances, gives you a personal recommendation, and is accountable for that recommendation, with access to the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if things go wrong. This website offers none of that. We give general education and ballpark estimates. Nothing here is a personal recommendation, a suitability assessment, or a regulated activity. Reading our pages does not create an adviser relationship between you and us.

The decisions where this gap matters most are the irreversible ones. Commuting part of your pension for a lump sum, transferring benefits out of a public service scheme, deciding when to leave, and, for those affected by the remedy, choosing between the legacy and reformed schemes for the remedy years, can all have lasting consequences that a quick estimate cannot weigh. For any of these, speak to a regulated financial adviser, ideally one experienced with armed forces pensions.

Independent & not affiliated

Armed Forces Pension Calculator is an independent educational website. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated bythe Ministry of Defence, Veterans UK, JPAC, the Government Actuary's Department or HM Government. Scheme names and official data are referenced for information only.

We built this site because the rules across AFPS 75, AFPS 05 and AFPS 15 are genuinely hard to follow, and a clear, plain-English explanation helps people understand roughly where they stand before they ask for an official figure. That independence cuts both ways. We have no access to your service record, no ability to issue or amend an official forecast, and no authority to confirm what you are entitled to. Only the official bodies can do that. Where we link to a page on gov.uk, Veterans UK, JPAC or MoneyHelper, we do so to point you toward the authoritative source, not because we speak for them.

Where to get the real numbers

For an official forecast of your own pension, contact Veterans UK, the body that administers armed forces pensions. For guidance, see gov.uk or the free, impartial MoneyHelper service. For decisions about your money, get advice from a regulated adviser. To see exactly how we work out our estimates, read how we calculate.

An official forecast is the figure that actually counts, and it is free. There are two main routes, depending on where you are in your career:

• Form 12 if you are still serving. This asks Veterans UK for a pension estimate based on your live record, and is the right starting point before any decision about leaving or commuting.
• Form 14 if you have left with a preserved pension. This asks for an estimate of your preserved benefits and when they become payable.

Request one well before any deadline, because official forecasts take time to come back and you do not want to be making a decision against the clock. If you are affected by the McCloud remedy, you should also receive a remedial savings statement that sets out your benefits under both the legacy and reformed schemes for the remedy period, so you can compare them properly. Use our estimate to get oriented, then act on the official figures.

Limits of liability

We work hard to keep this site accurate and up to date, and we correct mistakes as soon as we learn of them. Even so, we provide the site and its calculators on an "as is" basis, without warranties of any kind, and we cannot guarantee that every figure, factor or explanation is current or free from error. Scheme rules, factors and inflation figures change, and there may be a gap between an official change and our updating of the site.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we accept no liability for any loss or damage arising from your use of, or reliance on, this site or its estimates, including any decision you make or do not make as a result. You remain responsible for checking your own position against your official record and, where appropriate, taking regulated advice. Nothing in this disclaimer limits any liability that cannot be limited under law. Where we link to external sites, we are not responsible for their content. By using this site you accept these terms; if you do not, please do not rely on the figures. This sits alongside our full terms and our privacy notice.

Why pension decisions are high stakes

Pension choices are what is often called "your money or your life" decisions: they affect your long-term financial security, and many of them cannot be undone. A lump sum you commute cannot be uncommuted. A transfer out of a defined benefit scheme cannot usually be reversed. Leaving a few months before an Early Departure Payment threshold can change the shape of your income for years. The difference between a rough estimate and your real entitlement, multiplied across a retirement that may last decades, can be substantial.

That is exactly why we are so insistent on the boundary between what we do and what we do not do. A calculator is a brilliant way to understand the mechanics and to ask better questions. It is not a substitute for your official forecast or for advice that takes account of your whole life: your tax, your health, your family, your other savings and your plans. Use the estimate to learn; use the official figures and, where it matters, a regulated adviser to decide.