How long is a Pension Wise appointment? MoneyHelper says a phone appointment lasts up to 60 minutes, and an online one usually takes around 30 and can be paused.

That covers the headline, but an appointment is more than a length of time. It is a structured conversation about how you could take money from a defined contribution pension, and what you do beforehand changes how much you get out of it. Some people also want a second view on their own numbers once they have the guidance; if you would like that, an FCA-authorised adviser will phone, at no cost, to set your pots and plans side by side; you need only complete the form on this page.

How long is a Pension Wise appointment?

It depends on the route. For a phone appointment, MoneyHelper's booking page, as archived on 4 August 2026, says the appointment "lasts up to 60 minutes", with slots between 8am and 8pm on weekdays. Its guide to preparing, as it stood on 29 December 2025, repeats the limit with a condition: "Appointments usually last up to 60 minutes, unless you’ve requested an access adjustment."

The online appointment is shorter and self-paced. The same preparation guide says: "Online appointments usually take around 30 minutes to complete. You can also save your progress and come back later." The booking page says you go through it at your own pace and can stop and return to it whenever you like.

Those are MoneyHelper's own figures, and they are ceilings and averages, not promises about your call. MoneyHelper says you will usually get more from an appointment if you prepare, so it helps to know what an appointment is for and what to have ready, both covered below.

Phone, online or in person: how each appointment runs

The preparation guide says there are three types of Pension Wise appointment, all covering the same ground and ending with next steps. The routes differ in who sets the pace.

By phone

You book a date and time, and a pension specialist rings you. They call the number you gave and read out your memorable word, so you know the call is genuine. Being ready matters: "If you’re unavailable at your booked time or you’re driving, we won’t be able to complete your appointment." You can book a new slot or switch to the online route. The booking page also warned, in August 2026, that phone appointments had a longer wait than normal.

Online

The online appointment can be started at any time, with no booking. The booking page limits it to people aged 50 to 74.

Face to face, video and sign language

Face-to-face is the route to check before you plan around it. The preparation guide as it stood in December 2025 described a pension specialist meeting you in a Citizens Advice location. The booking page archived on 4 August 2026 says: "We’ve paused new bookings for face-to-face appointments." Instead, if a phone appointment would be hard for you, MoneyHelper can arrange a video call, and appointments can be booked in British Sign Language. Details change, so use MoneyHelper's booking page for today's position.

If something makes a standard appointment hard, tell MoneyHelper when you book; it offers access adjustments, and the preparation guide notes these can change the usual 60-minute length. You are not limited to one: MoneyHelper allows more than one appointment.

Who can book a Pension Wise appointment?

In brief, you qualify from 50 if your pension is a UK defined contribution one, and earlier only in three cases: retiring early through ill-health, having inherited a pension, or belonging to a scheme that pays out before 55. Our guide to what Pension Wise is covers eligibility in full, including pension type and small pots.

What this page adds is how eligibility changes the booking. MoneyHelper’s booking page lets people aged 50 or over book a phone appointment online or by calling, while anyone under 50, or arranging an appointment for someone else, has to call to book. For the second case it says: "If you’d like someone to have the appointment on your behalf, either one of you can call."

The age at which a pension can usually first be taken is a separate question, answered in our minimum pension age guide. If you are not eligible, MoneyHelper still offers free guidance by phone, webchat or online form. For where else free help comes from, see our guide to free pension help.

What happens in the appointment, and what it does not do

The ground covered is the defined contribution menu: when you can take the money, the ways of taking it, how each is taxed and how to avoid scams. The preparation guide adds how the options fit your retirement plans.

To tailor it, the specialist will usually start by asking about your pensions, your other finances and your retirement plans. The options themselves are set out in our guide to the choices at retirement, pension drawdown and buying an annuity, so this page does not repeat them.

What you leave with is a list, not a recommendation. MoneyHelper says: "After your appointment, you’ll get a list of next steps you can take. We cannot recommend specific products or provide advice on what’s best for you to do." That is the practical difference between guidance and regulated advice. Guidance helps you understand the menu and what to ask next. Advice means a regulated firm recommends something for your circumstances, and it is paid for. Afterwards MoneyHelper lets you view, download or print a summary of the options explained. How to tell advice from guidance has its own page, and what Pension Wise is covers the service as a whole.

The appointment is built around defined contribution pensions. How your State Pension or a defined benefit pension fits beside those choices turns on your own figures, which an FCA-authorised adviser could look at alongside you in a free phone conversation, booked using the short form on this page.

Pension Wise stays free whether or not you also use an adviser, and our page on adviser fees explains how advisers charge.

What to have ready before your Pension Wise appointment

MoneyHelper's service page asks you to learn as much as you can about your pensions and other finances, and to think about your retirement plans, including when you would like to start taking your pension. Its preparation guide turns that into a list. It says: "You’ll usually benefit more from a Pension Wise appointment if, before your appointment, you:"

  • ask each pension provider "how much your pension is currently worth" and "if your pension has any special features, like a guaranteed pot value or annuity rate";
  • check your State Pension forecast, online on GOV.UK or by phone;
  • have details of your other finances, such as savings and investments, and debts and repayments;
  • think about when you would like to stop working and what type of pension income you would like.

On paperwork, the guide says: "You can bring relevant paperwork with you if you’ve booked a face-to-face appointment, but there won’t be time for us to sort through it for you." The sensible reading for every route is the same: gather the figures first, so the time goes on options rather than on finding numbers. Our guide to the State Pension shows where the forecast fits.

The stronger nudge: when your provider must point you to guidance

You may also be offered an appointment without asking. For providers regulated by the FCA, the rules sit in COBS 19.7, headed "Pensions nudge and retirement risk warnings". A provider must act "at the point when the retail client has decided (in principle)" to take money out, for example by buying an annuity, moving into drawdown or cashing in a pot, or to transfer in order to do so, and before that is completed. It must explain pensions guidance and that it is free, offer to book you an appointment, and not carry on until you have had guidance or advice or have opted out. The rules have exceptions, including where a firm is giving you regulated advice. USS is one scheme that uses the name "Stronger Nudge" for its own version of this step.

Whether the nudge applies to your provider or scheme depends on the kind of arrangement you hold and what you are asking for. Our page on whether you have to use Pension Wise takes that question on, including what opting out means.

The pensions safeguarding appointment is a different booking

A transfer can bring a different booking. Where a scheme finds an amber flag on a request to transfer under your legal right to do so, the member must take guidance from MoneyHelper before the transfer may proceed; our guide to the transfer rules explains the flags and how that session works. Two points differ from Pension Wise. The Pensions Regulator tells schemes that a Pension Wise appointment "will not fulfil the requirement to have a pensions safeguarding guidance appointment", and that "Sessions must be booked and attended by the member, not any person acting on their behalf." For free help with a transfer decision, see our page on transfer guidance; if scams worry you, see how pension scams work.

Booking, missed calls and other practical points

Can someone else take the appointment for me?

Yes. MoneyHelper says either of you can call to book it; its booking page sends appointments on someone else’s behalf to the phone line rather than online booking. The separate safeguarding appointment is different: the Regulator says that one must be attended by the member.

What if I miss my phone appointment?

MoneyHelper says that if you are unavailable at the booked time or driving, it cannot complete the appointment. You can book a new date and time, or use the online route if you are aged 50 to 74.

Do I get anything in writing afterwards?

You get a list of next steps, and a summary of the options explained that you can view, download or print from MoneyHelper. It is a record of guidance, not a recommendation.

Is there somewhere to ask questions before I start?

Yes. The booking page says you can ask the pension specialists questions by webchat, with replies Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm UK time except on bank holidays.

Is there an upper age limit?

The online appointment is for those aged 50 to 74. Phone appointments are offered to people aged 50 or over, booked online or by calling, so if you are above the online age limit the phone route is the one to use.

Afterwards, if you would like your own pots, tax and plans looked at by a professional, the enquiry form here hands your request on to an FCA-authorised adviser; the first conversation is free.

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