When can I take my benefits?
At a glance
Did you know that although the default pension age for the Plan is 65, you have the option to take your retirement savings from age 55?
Due to a change in the law, from April 2028 the earliest age you can retire will increase to 57.
When you’re thinking about when to access your savings, it’s worth thinking about this in the context of how much pension you have (including any other pensions you may have and other assets or personal savings), and then consider the following:
Think about your current income, and how much you could afford to live on when you retire, and do all the things you want to do. There are tools available that can help you with this. You’ll need to take these factors into account to work out what annual income you’ll want (and need) when you’re no longer working. If you feel like you need more, it may be worth delaying accessing your savings until you’ve saved enough to meet the income you think you’ll need. Find out more about how much you’ll need.
You might have set a target retirement age some years ago, and you may now want to retire earlier or later. You may find you’d like to build your retirement savings further, and so want to carry on working and contributing. In that case, if you’re invested in the Journey Plan options, you need to let us know your new target retirement age by logging on to the secure area of the website. Otherwise, your savings might not be invested in the most appropriate way.
You don’t need to have stopped working to be able to take your benefits. But if you decided to take some of your retirement savings while you’re still earning you need to bear in mind that you might end up paying more tax if it takes you into a higher tax bracket. And you need to be especially careful if you start taking some benefits while still saving in another pension scheme – if you’re considering doing this we recommend taking financial advice.
You can retire later than age 65 if you wish. You have some more choices if you do decide to do this:
You can continue to save in the Plan until you do decide to retire.
You can take your retirement savings whilst you continue to work.
You can stop contributing into your Account but not take any of your retirement savings until you actually retire. Your savings would remain invested even though no contributions would be paid in by either you or the Company.
If you have benefits in both the DB section and the DC section of the Plan, you don’t have to take your benefits at the same time. So, for example, you could take your benefits from the DC section at age 55 to supplement your income as you go part time, and take your DB benefits at 65 when you retire.