Armed forces pension and the State Pension

Two pensions, two paymasters

Think of them as two pensions with two different paymasters. Your armed forces pension is an occupational pension: earned through service, run under the AFPS rules, and paid out by the scheme. The State Pension is a separate benefit built up through your National Insurance record over your working life and paid by the government once you reach State Pension age. They are not the same pot, not administered by the same people, and neither one is a top-up of the other.

Because they sit on different records, they build up independently. Your years of service feed the AFPS side; your qualifying National Insurance years feed the State Pension side. Most veterans therefore end up entitled to both, and for a full career the State Pension can be a useful second layer that starts later than the scheme pension you draw first.

So you plan for two incomes that start at different times and rise in different ways: get each clear on its own, then look at where they interact, which is mainly at the point AFPS 15 hands you over to your State Pension age.

Different pension ages

Every AFPS scheme has a normal pension age fixed by its own rules, and in the older schemes none of them is tied to the State Pension. AFPS 75 has a normal pension age of 60. AFPS 05 has a normal pension age of 65. AFPS 15 pays an immediate pension at 60 if you serve to that point. Your State Pension age, by contrast, is set by the government and has been rising, so for younger members it usually falls later than these scheme ages.

This staggering is the whole reason the two need planning together. It is common to draw an armed forces pension years before the State Pension starts, so the AFPS income has to carry you through the gap. Knowing both ages, and the space between them, is the single most useful thing to pin down.

Where AFPS 15 meets your State Pension age

AFPS 15 is where the two systems actually touch. If you serve until 60, AFPS 15 pays you an immediate pension at that age. If you leave earlier, with at least 2 years' qualifying service, your AFPS 15 pension becomes a deferred pension that is paid at your State Pension age. That is the clearest link between your service pension and the State system: the government's timetable for the State Pension also sets when your deferred AFPS 15 pension lands.

You do not have to wait right up to State Pension age if you leave early. A deferred AFPS 15 pension can be drawn from 55, but taking it before your State Pension age means a permanent actuarial reduction, because the scheme is paying it out for longer. For more on how a left-behind pension works, see our guide to the preserved pension. An Early Departure Payment is a separate bridge, available under AFPS 15 from age 40 once you reach 20 years' service.

The older schemes are simpler here because they do not lean on your State Pension age at all: an AFPS 75 deferred pension is paid at 60 and an AFPS 05 preserved pension at 65, whatever your State Pension age turns out to be. So if you hold a mix of older and AFPS 15 service, which is normal after 2022, one slice can be pegged to a fixed scheme age and another to your State Pension age.

How your armed forces pension is increased

Once an armed forces pension is in payment, or preserved waiting to be paid, it is index-linked to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). The rate is set from CPI in the September before each April uprating, and the increase from April 2026 is 3.8%. That keeps the buying power of your pension roughly steady rather than growing it in real terms.

There is a wrinkle in the older schemes worth knowing. AFPS 75 and AFPS 05 pensions are paid flat until age 55, and at 55 all the inflation that built up in the meantime is applied in one go, after which they rise by CPI each year like everyone else. EDP income under AFPS 05 and 15 works the same way, flat until 55 then CPI-uprated. While you are still serving on AFPS 15, your pot is revalued by average earnings rather than prices; it only switches to CPI once the pension is deferred or in payment. You can model how a given increase changes your figure with our pension increase calculator.

How the State Pension is increased

The State Pension goes up on a different basis. It is uprated under the triple lock, which raises it each year by the highest of a set of measures rather than by CPI alone, so it does not have to move by the same amount as your AFPS pension. In a given year the two can rise by noticeably different percentages.

Because the mechanisms are separate, do not assume one figure tells you about the other. Your armed forces pension follows the CPI figure (3.8% from April 2026); your State Pension follows the triple lock, set through a separate government process. Treat them as two independent escalators when you forecast your later income.

How both are taxed as income

Both pensions are taxable income. Your armed forces pension is taxed through PAYE, with tax taken off before it reaches you, just as it was on your service pay. The State Pension is taxable too, but it is paid without any tax deducted at source, so the tax due on it is usually collected through the PAYE code on your other income or through self assessment. Neither is tax-free just because it is a pension.

Stacked together, the two can lift your total income into a higher tax band than either would on its own, which sometimes catches people out in the first full year both are in payment, so check your tax code once the State Pension starts. The separate question of tax while you are still building AFPS 15 is covered in our guide to the Annual Allowance and tax.

This site is independent and is not affiliated with the MOD, Veterans UK, JPAC or HMRC, and the figures here are estimates rather than regulated financial or tax advice. For anything you intend to act on, confirm with an official forecast and, for a complicated tax position, a qualified adviser.

Bringing the two together

The two pensions are easiest to handle if you forecast them separately and then line them up on a timeline. Start with your scheme age (60 on AFPS 75, 65 on AFPS 05, or 60 on AFPS 15 if you serve to that point) and note where a deferred AFPS 15 pension would instead track your State Pension age. That tells you which income arrives first and how long it has to stand on its own.

Then get the actual numbers. For the armed forces side, a Veterans UK forecast (form 12 if you are serving, form 14 if you hold a preserved pension) reflects your real record and accrued rights across schemes. For the State side, a State Pension forecast from gov.uk shows what your National Insurance record has built and confirms your State Pension age. Between the two you can see the gap you need the AFPS pension to bridge.

Finally, remember they rise differently and are taxed together: your armed forces pension moves with CPI (3.8% from April 2026) while the State Pension follows the triple lock, and both count as income at tax time. Plan for two start dates, two escalators and one tax bill, and the pieces stop fighting each other.