How to withdraw money from a Legal & General pension

Legal & General pension withdrawal starts with a Pension Options Pack, requested in your online account or app from age 55 (57 from April 2028).

You ask for the pack, read it, then begin the process online. Pension Wise, a MoneyHelper service for anyone aged 50 or over, offers free impartial guidance on your options first. How your L&G pots sit beside your other savings is something an FCA-authorised adviser goes through on a free call; request one via the form on this page. What follows draws on L&G's own pages and its April 2026 Personal Pension Key Features, read in October 2026.

How do I take money out of my Legal & General pension online?

Log in to your L&G online account or app and request the pack. L&G's retirement contact page says that to reach your tax-free cash and pension savings "you'll need to request a Pension Options Pack", after which you can begin the process online in the same place. Workplace members are pointed to the member site shown on their account or statement, and L&G's workplace FAQs say the best place for your scheme's options is your employer's pension scheme website.

Personal Pension Drawdown is a separate application. L&G's contact page says you request an Open Market Options statement pack first, through your account or app, by emailing PersonalPension@landg.com, or by phoning 0345 678 0020 (option three). The application itself has limits:

• It is online only: "we're unable to process applications over the phone".
• You cannot pause and return: "if you can't complete your application then you won't be able to save it for later".
• You will need your current provider's details, the estimated pot value, your policy number and your National Insurance number.

How to set up pension drawdown covers the general steps.

At what age can I take my Legal & General pension, including early?

From 55, rising to 57 from April 2028, you can take some or all of it, or leave it invested until you are ready. You do not need to have stopped work: the WorkSave Key Features say you can take money "at any time after your NMPA regardless of whether or not you've stopped working", and that reaching it "is not a deadline to act". NMPA is the normal minimum pension age.

L&G's Key Features name two exceptions: a Protected Pension Age, and retiring due to ill health. For the Personal Pension, someone certified by a medical practitioner as suffering from ill health or serious ill health "may be able to take it earlier", with detail in the plan's terms and conditions booklet. Wider rules are in the early withdrawal penalty guide, cashing in for ill health and taking your pension at 55.

Can I take a lump sum or tax-free cash from my Legal & General pension?

Yes, from the minimum age. L&G sets out these ways of taking money:

• Tax-free cash alone. You can usually take up to 25% of the pot as tax-free cash and leave the rest invested.
• A partial or full lump sum. Usually 25% is tax-free and 75% is subject to income tax, which may be deducted under an emergency tax code; overpaid tax can be reclaimed from HMRC. See UFPLS explained and claiming the tax-free lump sum.
• A flexible income. Flexi-access drawdown, covered next.
• An annuity. A guaranteed regular income for a fixed period or for life; Legal & General annuity rates has more, and annuity or drawdown compares the routes.

The Key Features give the Lump Sum Allowance as £268,275, higher for anyone with protected tax-free lump sums or a protected lifetime allowance; money over it is taxed as income. L&G also says to look first at any Guaranteed Annuity Rate, Guaranteed Minimum Pension or protected tax-free cash above 25%: valuable benefits that, it says, could give you better retirement outcomes if you keep them.

What you would keep after tax turns on your other income. An adviser can go over the tax on your own mix of income at no cost, should you complete the form here.

How does Legal & General Personal Pension Drawdown work?

L&G's drawdown page sets out these terms for defined contribution pots, from age 55:

• Whole pot only. L&G can accept only full pension transfers into drawdown. It can take pots you have already taken tax-free cash from, and an existing drawdown can be moved in.
• Tax-free cash at the start. It cannot be taken after the pot has moved into drawdown, and if you take less than the full 25% at the outset the Key Features say it cannot currently be taken later.
• Income your way. Choose regular monthly payments or occasional ones; the minimum withdrawal is £1. A change within five working days of a payment date takes effect later.
• No more paying in to the drawdown plan.
• Bank account. A UK bank or building society account in your name, which can be joint.

The Key Features say there is no charge to withdraw, though the plan has a service charge of 0.25% of its value each year plus fund charges; Legal & General pension fees goes into those. You pick one of four objectives for the next five years and L&G links it to an investment solution.

L&G warns that the value can go down as well as up, and that taking too much too quickly could mean running out of money. If you have not flexibly accessed a pension before, the first income payment triggers the Money Purchase Annual Allowance, which cuts the yearly limit on paying into pensions to £10,000 (the 2026/27 figure for most people); the MPAA explained has the rules. Is a Legal & General pension good asks whether the plan fits.

How long does a Legal & General pension payout take?

An adviser can say how long yours is likely to take, and the explanation costs nothing once the enquiry form here has gone in. For the general picture, see how long it takes to cash in a pension.

Changing your mind has limits. For the Personal Pension, the Key Features give 30 days to cancel your first withdrawal, but you must pay back what you received in full, and it is reinvested. Once tax-free cash has been paid you cannot cancel, and if it is paid within the first 30 days you agree to waive your cancellation rights. You can stop withdrawals at any time, yet only income taken in the first 30 days can be repaid.

Smaller questions on drawing from L&G

Must I start my L&G pension on the retirement date it shows?

No. Your WorkSave plan's retirement date is first set by your employer and you can change it, and L&G says that you can leave your money invested until you are ready.

Can someone with power of attorney take money out for me?

They register it with L&G first through its online form, uploading the document (original or certified copy) or, for a digital one, the Office of the Public Guardian's access code. If you have lost capacity, L&G may need a GP's letter, and a drawdown under way waits until the attorney is set up.

Will withdrawing limit what I can pay in later?

It can. Flexibly accessing a pension, for instance taking drawdown income, brings in the Money Purchase Annual Allowance, while L&G's Key Features say taking only your tax-free cash does not. Cashing in a pension covers the wider picture.

Before you ask Legal & General for a pack

Taking money from a pension is hard to undo, and investments left in drawdown can fall as well as rise, so you may get back less than you put in. Pension Wise costs nothing to book, and the form here also lines up a free conversation with an adviser who sees pots, tax and health together. Pension drawdown explains the wider rules.