The earliest you can get a State Pension is when you reach State Pension age. Your State Pension age is based on your gender and date of birth. Presently this is 65 for both men and women. However, this will be increasing to 66 by October 2020. Also, the State Pension age is then scheduled to rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028.
You can find out when you will receive your State Pension by going to the government’s website.
You usually can’t take money from your pension pot before you reach the age of 55 but there are some cases when you can. An example would be if you had an illness and you could no longer work If you’re seriously ill, you may be able to take your whole pot tax-free if both of the following apply to you-
It’s best to speak to your pension provider to find out about their rules. It will depend on their definition of ‘ill-health’.
You may also have the right under the scheme you joined before 6 April 2006 to take your pension before you’re 55. You can contact your provider to find out if you have a “protected pension age”. We can also do this for you.
You need to be aware of fraudsters. If you are contacted unexpectedly by someone saying that they can help you get access to your pension early, it’s likely to be a scam. Furthermore, not only can you lose all of your pension money, you could face a tax charge of up to 55% of the amount taken out or transferred. Also, your provider may take further charges.
Check the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) website, “ScamSmart” for known pension scams. This is not a definitive list as unscrupulous people are always coming up with new ways of cheating you out of your money.
We are a firm of Independent Financial Advisers. This means that the advice we provide is unbiased. We will look at all the financial solutions for you, not just taking your pension early. The initial meeting is at our cost and without obligation. Why not arrange a meeting today?
We are presently making use of video meetings such as-
Also, we can arrange telephone conference meetings. Whatever is best for you.
If you have any thoughts or comments about this article, “Accessing your pension early? Should you?”, then please let us know your thoughts.
More information can be obtained from the Pension Wise, who we are registered with.
The information contained in this newsletter is for information purposes only and does not constitute advice. No action should be taken based on this information alone.