Retired public servants to get 10% pension boost
The pension pot for retirees in the public sector has been budgeted for a “one-time 10 per cent increase” to be passed by legislators this year.
David Burt, the Premier, said in the Budget Statement for 2026-27 that the pensions boost would be made effective from April 1.
He noted that public service pensions had been frozen since 2014, and that retiring workers “should not be left falling further behind” as costs increase.
He added: “Many are living on fixed incomes, and when prices rise year after year, the pressure is real.”
Mr Burt said the Government was not yet in a position to give automatic cost-of-living adjustments until the Public Service Superannuation Fund was better placed.
However, he acknowledged that the move had been made possible by the Public Service Superannuation Fund Amendment Act 2025, passed in September 2025, which warded off a crash in the pensions fund predicted for 2045.
Those reforms raised the minimum age for uniformed services to collect full pensions from age 50 to 55, and for most other civil servants from 60 to 65.
Contributions to the fund also increased, with the changes phased to take effect from 2027 to 2035.
Recipients of the Contributory Pension Fund may also have to wait longer for their pensions as Mr Burt said the retirement age of 65 will gradually have to increase.
The Budget also addressed the “realities in front of us” on the Contributory Pension Fund — which Mr Burt called “the social insurance safety net for every working Bermudian”.
Citing the rise in “longevities across societies”, he told MPs there would have to be “a gradual increase in the age that one receives social insurance benefits”.
The Premier did not specify further — but said the collection of contributions also needed a review, telling the House of Assembly that “the cashier should not be paying the exact same a month as the owner of the supermarket”.
Mr Burt said a fairer approach would be a move toward “a percentage-based approach, with a suitable cap”.
• To read the 2026-27 Budget Statement in full, see Related Media
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