When can I access my pension?

At the moment, you must be aged 55 or over before you can access your pension. The UK Government is increasing this to 57 from 6 April 2028. 

You may be able to take your pension earlier if you’re suffering from ill-health or have a protected pension age (PPA).

If you have a PPA, you can still take money from your pension before age 57. A PPA only applies to certain pension plans or schemes, so it may not apply to all your personal pension plan savings.

Who's affected by this change?

  • If you don’t have a PPA and were born after 6 April 1971, this change may affect you. For example, if you planned to access your pension savings before you turn 57.  
  • If all of the following applies to you: 
    • you don’t have a PPA 
    • you were born on or after 6 April 1973
    • you’d previously told us you wanted to access your pension savings before age 57 – known as your selected pension age
  • You won’t be able to access your pension savings until you are 57. If your selected pension age was previously set to 55 or 56, we’ll have automatically updated it to 57. The new selected pension age will appear on your annual benefit statement. 
  • If you don’t have a PPA and you were born between 6 April 1971 and 5 April 1973 and you’re planning to take money from your pension before 6 April 2028, any money left in your plan on or after that date might not be available until you turn 57. 
    • For example, if you take part of your pension as a cash payment and/or an income on one or more occasions before 6 April 2028, after that date you might need to wait until you are 57 before you can ask for any further payments.
  • You may also need to contact us in good time before 6 April 2028 in order that we can pay the monies you’re expecting. For example: 
    • Before 6 April 2028, you may need to complete all the steps we will set out. Once completed, these steps will give you a right to payment of your benefits, meaning that pension or lump sum payments can be made/continue to be made on or after 6 April 2028.
    • If you are looking to take a cash payment out of your pension, the transaction may need to be fully completed before 6 April 2028 or you will have to wait until you are 57 before you can take your money.  
  • We’re expecting HMRC to publish more detailed rules to cover these situations and will update this page once we’re able to give more information. 

If you’re considering making changes to your selected retirement date, or how your plan is invested, we recommend that you get financial advice. You’ll normally be charged for any advice given. If you don’t have a financial adviser, you can find one at www.unbiased.co.uk. 

Or, you could go to MoneyHelper for free and impartial help with money, backed by the government.