At Retirement
On reaching retirement, you use the money that has built up in your personal pension to purchase benefits. These benefits can be taken in the form of either income or income with a tax free lump sum. Alternatively, the benefits can be transferred to another type of plan which provides unsecured pension benefits. These types of plan allow additional flexibility in that pension benefits can be drawn whilst your pension fund remains invested. Benefits can currently be drawn from age 50 onwards (age 55 from 2010)
The value of your pension at retirement is mainly dependent upon:
- How much money you've paid in over the life of the plan
- How well the money has grown
- The annuity rate that the provider applies to your pension fund (if you choose to take an annuity)
- Level of tax free cash taken.
