Could you do with a tax free cash lump sum now? If you’re in financial difficulty or require a lump sum for other reasons such as paying for a wedding or paying off a mortgage, accessing pension cash through pension release could be the answer.

How can I access my pension without retiring?

In the UK people over the age of 55 can unlock up to 25% of their pension fund in cash. This does not apply to State Pensions, just private ones and those obtained from employers. If tax free cash is released the remaining balance stays invested, and any further contributions you make, to provide pension income at a later date.

What if I have a company pension?

Most company pensions cannot be unlocked but there is an alternative solution. You can transfer your company pension into a personal scheme which allows for pension release. However, it is generally not advised to do this if you still work for the company as this may require that you leave the scheme and the financial loss of doing so is high.

Are there any drawbacks to pension release?

Yes, pension release is a serious financial decision which requires a lot of thought, and is not something to be taken lightly. By accessing pension cash earlier, you will have a smaller pension pot to exchange for an annuity. This will result in a lower annual income throughout retirement. There may also be guarantees and other benefits written into your pension scheme and qualified advice should considered so that you are not further disadvantaged by releasing cash.

How can I be sure it is right for me?

An independent pension review will assess your current pension scheme, personal circumstances, and financial situation to work out if accessing pension cash early would suit you. By ascertaining whether pension release could have a positive or negative impact on your quality of life in retirement earlier rather than later, you could save yourself some financial worries.

I only have a State Pension. Can I still access pension cash?

No, you can only release your pension if you have a personal or company pension. You are only eligible to access your State Pension when you reach retirement age.

How do I release my pension and how can Pensionlite help me?

Pensionlite carries the prestigious status of Chartered Financial Planners.

Our Chartered status, granted by the Privy Council, is our industries gold standard for financial planners and is currently held by less than 300 firms across the country.

This status brings with it serious obligations to ensure the advice, service and ongoing support we provide for you is of the highest quality, based solely on your researched needs and provided by someone of appropriate competency.

We offer whole of market choice and have no links or ties to any single business or organisation.

Our aim is to provide our clients with tailored solutions, created by advisers with particular skills and specialist qualifications.

Our advice process is always to gather a full understand our clients needs, circumstances and aspirations together with detailed analysis of any existing arrangements and make written recommendations before any decisions or actions are taken.

We provide free, independent, no obligation review and recommendation reports covering all aspects of our specialist areas of work.

Knowledge is power and unless you know, how can you decide on a course of action.

We look forward to being of service.

To contact us telephone 01952 279 379, e mail enquiries@pensionlite.co.uk to receive pension cash.