Receiving and reviewing your pension
Receiving your pension
You can currently take your pension from age 50, if the rules of your pension scheme allow, but this is going up to 55 by 2010. You'll need to check with your pension provider to see when they will increase the minimum retirement age as they can do this at any time between April 2006 and April 2010.
The way you receive your pension will depend on the type of scheme you are in – see Retirement options
All income from pensions and annuities bought with your pension fund is normally taxable. You may pay less tax once you retire because most people aged 65 and over are eligible for a higher personal allowance.
Reviewing your pension
Retirement planning is not a one–off task. Review your plans regularly to make sure you’re setting aside enough and that you’re saving in the best way. You should always review your plans if your circumstances change.
Make sure you get an annual statement from your pension provider and check to see how much your fund has accumulated. If you’ve had a gap in employment, for example to study, or look after children or a relative, you may find that it’s not enough to give you the income you want in retirement.
Topping up your pension
If you contribute to an occupational pension scheme, the scheme itself may offer the option for making additional voluntary contributions (AVCs).
You can also top up through a private arrangement with either:
- a stakeholder pension scheme; or
- a personal pension scheme.
If you already contribute to a group personal pension, personal or stakeholder pension you can top up your fund by increasing your contributions. For more information get a free copy of our Pensions booklet. You can download or order it online – see Publications
Use our Pension calculator to estimate the amount of pension income you could get when you retire. This is worked out from the level of regular contributions that you choose to pay into a personal or stakeholder pension. Just enter the amount you can contribute and it will calculate what your pension fund could be worth if it grows at certain rates each year.
The figures you see in the Pension calculator are estimates – they are not guaranteed. The actual pension income you receive will be affected by future changes in things like interest rates, inflation and investment growth.
You can compare personal and stakeholder pensions at Compare pensions.
Top tips
- Review your plans regularly, especially if your circumstances change.
- Check your annual statement and if you don’t get one, ask for one.