About retirement
Normal pension age in the Scheme is 65, although you can retire earlier from age 55 if you wish.
If you retire between 55 and 59, your benefits will be reduced for early payment. In most cases you can take your pension from 60 without any reduction. If you left the Scheme because of redundancy, you may be able to take your pension from 50.
If you retire early and take your benefits before you reach State Pension age, you have the option to Bridge the Gap.
Different early retirement rules apply to the Manual Workers Pension Scheme. If you were a member of this scheme, please contact us for more information.
You can retire at any time due to ill health without a reduction, but you will need to satisfy strict ill-health criteria to do so.
To find out more about when you can retire from the Scheme, visit My Retirement Planner. There is a Q&A about My Retirement Planner available on the Documents page.
Retiring from the Scheme
What's the process?
1Visit My Retirement Planner at any time to understand more about your retirement benefits and options, and when you can retire
2A few months before you turn 60, we'll write to you with:
- your final retirement quote; and
- forms to complete.
If you left on redundancy terms, we will write to you before you turn 50 with this information.
Ill health
If you’re seriously ill and unable to work, you may be able to receive your deferred pension from the Scheme immediately, without it being reduced for early payment.
What's the process?
2The pack includes:
- Process information
- Forms
If
granted
If ill-health retirement is granted:
- We write to you with a pension quote, your options and forms
- You send the completed form back
- We pay your pension on the 15th of every month
- If you take a lump sum, this is paid from the first Friday after your retirement date
Terminal illness:
If your life expectancy is less than 12 months, you could surrender all of your ill-health pension for a lump sum
Early retirement
If you retire between 55 and 59 there will be a reduction in the amount you receive. You can take your pension from 60 without a reduction in your benefits, or from 50 if you left because of redundancy. Visit My Retirement Planner to find out more.
There are different processes if you want to retire early due to ill health.
What's the process?
3We will send you:
- your options;
- your quote; and
- your forms