You can start withdrawing your pension from a defined contribution pension from age 55. Defined benefit pensions generally have a retirement age of 65, but you should check with your employer about this.

What are my options?

If you have a defined contribution pension, whether it’s a workplace or a personal pension, you have a number of options:

1) Leave it where it is – If you have a defined contribution pension and want to delay retiring, you can keep building your pension pot until you are 75.

2) Take 25% as a cash lump sum – You can usually withdraw up to a quarter of your pension as a tax-free lump-sum. You can withdraw more than 25% as cash, but you will be taxed for this. The rest of your pension pot you could either leave where it is, or use some or all of it for one of the options below.

3) Buy an annuity – An annuity is a product that provides a guaranteed income. There are different types of annuity you can buy depending on your personal circumstances.

4) Invest in drawdown products – You can transfer your pension pot to one or more funds that aim to provide a regular taxable income. The income you receive may be adjusted depending on the performance of your investments.

Moneybox offers options 1, 2 and 3: you can access your Moneybox pension by either withdrawing a lump sum directly from it, or by receiving a tax-free lump sum from Moneybox and using the rest of your pension to purchase an annuity from a provider of your choice. Further details about these options can be found in our Key Features document.

We do not currently offer drawdown, where you are able to take a tax-free lump sum and income directly from your pension, but we can transfer out your pension to a provider that offers a drawdown facility - we’ll make this as smooth and quick as possible for you.