When you can access your savings

Our scheme's default retirement age is 65. You can change this by signing in to your Smart Pension account (you'll find all the details you need in the 'Account' section). While you can access your pension savings any time after your 55th birthday, the government intends to increase the minimum age at which you can access personal pensions to 57 in 2028.

You don’t have to stop working at 55, or when you reach your chosen retirement age. You can carry on contributing as long as you’re an active member of the pension scheme.  

In fact, you might want to carry on working and increase the amount you’re paying in – increasing the amount you can access when you do eventually retire. Or you could turn some of your pension savings into a regular income, topping up your salary or enabling you to work fewer hours.

It's important to review your retirement age regularly and update it if your situation changes. We'll use that date to help us manage your funds in your best interest.

Check your retirement age

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You'll be able to access your pension savings in one of three ways:

Flexible income (drawdown)

You may want to take a regular income directly from your pension savings. This will give you the flexibility to have more or less income, as you need it. But you'll still need to manage your investments after you retire and there's a risk that you could run out of money if they don't grow as much as you hoped.

Guaranteed income (annuity)

You may want to use the money in your Smart Pension account to buy a guaranteed income for life from an insurance company. That product is called an annuity. You'll be asked to decide if you'd like that annuity to give you an income that increases each year, and if someone else should receive an income after you die. It's important to shop around and find an annuity that's right option for you (we don't offer annuities); if you have poor health then an enhanced annuity might be appropriate for you.

Annuities can give you the security of knowing that your income is guaranteed however long you live. You can't change your mind when you buy an annuity. It's a one-off decision about how you'll access your pension savings for the rest of your life.

Most members can now access an annuity service. Please refer to the retirement options guide for further information.

Cash

You may want to take your account as a lump sum. You might pay a higher amount of tax if you take a large cash sum.

Yes, many people withdraw 25% of their pension savings as a one-off tax-free lump sum, and then convert the rest into a taxable income for life that's known as an annuity. Many decide to take 25% tax free cash and drawdown the rest. However, you might decide to leave your savings invested for longer, to help them grow and improve the income you'll receive overall.

If you've been diagnosed with serious ill health, and you are under 55, then you might be able to take out some or all of your Smart Pension savings early. You may have to provide  medical evidence to support your claim in that situation, but your financial adviser can tell you more about this.

Smart Retire is an innovative tool for individuals to flexibility plan and manage retirement savings in a personalised way in order to create a more sustainable income in retirement. Built around the idea of four purposeful pots which can be personalised to changing retirement needs, Smart Retire accommodates life’s unpredictabilities. It’s designed to guide individuals through their retirement journey, helping to ensure users avoid under-spending, which can lead to living in poverty unnecessarily, and struggling to make ends meet. It can also help to ensure that users don’t overestimate the growth of their savings and inevitably run out of money unexpectedly during their retirement. 

Members can use Smart Retire in conjunction with personalised advice from a professional independent financial adviser.  

Click here to learn more about Smart Retire.