Take your pension the way you want

The rules on how you can spend your retirement savings changed in April 2015. The changes mean that you no longer have to buy an annuity with your defined contribution (DC) retirement savings. Instead, you will be able to take your DC retirement savings as a cash lump sum or as a series of lump sums. Or, you could buy an annuity if you wanted to.

You will still (under current tax rules) be able to take 25% of your pension account as tax-free cash (up to a limit), and you will pay tax on the rest, as if it was income.

The minimum retirement age (which is the earliest you can normally take your pension without tax penalties) is going up – from 55 to 57 in 2028. The minimum retirement age will then track the State Pension Age by 10 years.

You can find out more here.