A defined benefit pension plan, often known as a final salary or career average pension plan, commits to paying out an income based on your pre-retirement earnings. Although they are not very flexible and are regarded as the gold standard for retirement savings, the advantages in retirement can be very important. The income you receive from your pension is a guaranteed, pre-agreed upon amount, that’s why they are called “defined benefit
pension” There are two kinds of defined benefit pension:

 Final salary schemes, which are based on how much you are paid when you retire
 Career average schemes which are based on an average of your salary across your career

The main advantage offered by both pension plans is something known as "index-linking." This means that your pension income will always increase to keep up with future price increases. Additional advantages of final salary pension plans include:
 Death-in-service benefits for surviving wives, partners, or dependents in the event of an early death
 Full pension if you must retire early due to illness
 If you retire before the age of 55, you will receive a reduced pension.

In 2015 people started having more control over their pension including the ability to transfer money from a defined benefit pension pot to a defined contribution pot. The government became concerned about these transfers and recommended that appropriate financial advice from a suitably qualified adviser must be taken before the transfer of defined benefit pensions worth £30,000 or more. Despite the valuable benefits of defined benefit pensions, after a series of cold – calls and free “pensions review” many people were negligently and appropriately advised to transfer out of their final salary pension. Types of pensions that may be affected:

 Armed Forces Pensions
 BAE Systems Pensions
 Barclays Pension Scheme
 British Airways Pension
 British Steel Pension Scheme
 BP Pension Scheme
 BT Pension Scheme
 Dolphin Pension Trust Claims
 Electricity Supply Pension Scheme

 Greater Manchester Pension Fund
 Jaguar Land Rover Pension
 Local Authority Pension Scheme
 Marks & Spencers Pensions
 Merseyside Pension Fund
 Mineworkers Pension Scheme
 Nestle Pension Fund
 NHS Pension Transfers
 Police Pension Schemes
 Railway Pensions
 Rolls Royce
 Royal Mail / Post Office Pension Scheme
 Strathclyde Pension Fund
 Teacher’s Pension
 Tobacco Company Pension
 Transport For London
 Universities Superannuation Scheme
 West Midlands Metropolitan Pension
 West Yorkshire Pension Fund