Taking a pension at 55 in the UK: 55 is the usual earliest age for a private or workplace pension, rising to 57 on 6 April 2028, with a few exceptions.
The age at which you can first take money from a pension is set partly by tax law and partly by your scheme's own rules, and the State Pension follows a separate timetable altogether. Below: the legal minimum, the 2028 change, the narrow routes to earlier access, and what 55 actually allows.
From age 50, anyone with a UK-based defined contribution pension can book a free Pension Wise appointment to go through when and how it can be taken; MoneyHelper describes Pension Wise as a free, impartial service with government backing. For a conversation about how your own pots, tax and plans fit together, an FCA-authorised adviser can be reached through the form on this page, which is free to use.
The minimum pension age: 55 now, 57 from April 2028
The earliest age is written into the Finance Act 2004, which calls it the "normal minimum pension age". Section 279 of that Act defines it, for most schemes, as 50 before 6 April 2010, then "on and after that date but before 6 April 2028, 55, and (iii) on and after 6 April 2028, 57". The rise to 57 was made by section 10 of the Finance Act 2022, so it is law, not a proposal.
What the age controls is set out in the Act's first pension rule, which says plainly:
No payment of pension may be made before the day on which the member reaches normal minimum pension age, unless the ill-health condition was met immediately before the member became entitled to a pension under the pension scheme.
— legislation.gov.uk, Finance Act 2004, section 165, accessed 17 October 2026
Lump sums are caught too, tax-free cash included: GOV.UK lists "any payments before you're 55" among the payments that fall outside the tax rules.
Two points are easy to miss. First, the legal minimum is a floor, not a starting gun. GOV.UK says of personal pensions that "Most personal pensions set an age when you can start taking money from them. It's not normally before 55", and of workplace schemes that they set an age "usually between 60 and 65", with 55 usually the earliest for early retirement (GOV.UK, Workplace pensions: managing your pension). Your scheme's rules decide what it will actually pay, and when.
Second, reaching the minimum age obliges you to do nothing. The old forced retirement age has gone: "'Default retirement age' (a forced retirement age of 65) no longer exists" (GOV.UK, Check your State Pension age). Whether to start at 55 or leave the money untouched is the subject of taking a pension early or waiting.
Which pensions the age applies to
The minimum age applies to every registered pension scheme, but how much it matters depends on the kind of pension you hold.
| Type of pension | Earliest you can usually take it | What usually happens at that point |
|---|---|---|
| Personal pension, SIPP, stakeholder pension, or a defined contribution workplace pot | 55 (57 from 6 April 2028), unless the scheme sets a later age or you have a protected pension age | You choose how and when to draw it: cash, drawdown, an annuity or a mix |
| Final salary or career average (defined benefit) workplace pension | The scheme's normal pension age; early payment from 55 only if the scheme allows it | An income set by the scheme's rules, usually lower if taken early |
| Armed forces, police and firefighters' schemes | 55 in tax law, with no rise to 57; the scheme's own rules set the actual age | The scheme's own benefits |
| State Pension | Your State Pension age; it cannot be taken early | A weekly payment from DWP |
Defined contribution pensions (personal pensions, SIPPs and most modern workplace pots) are where the age matters most, because from the minimum age the pot is broadly yours to use. Your options from that point are set out in your defined contribution pension options at retirement, and the SIPP-specific points in what a SIPP is and how it works.
Defined benefit pensions work differently. MoneyHelper says "You can usually take your defined benefit pension when you reach your State Pension age", and adds that early payment is available from some schemes but usually at a reduced income compared with what was promised (MoneyHelper, Defined benefit or final salary pension schemes explained). For a final salary member at 55, the real question is what the scheme would pay, which only the scheme can answer. See final salary pensions.
Uniformed services schemes are treated separately in the law. The Finance Act 2004 definition keeps the minimum at 55 "in relation to, and to a member of, a uniformed services pension scheme", and the Finance Act 2022 defines those as schemes for "members of the naval, military or air forces of the Crown", "members of a police force other than the Civil Nuclear Constabulary" and "firefighters". Their actual ages are in the scheme guides; see police pension age.
The State Pension runs separately. GOV.UK: "Your State Pension age is the earliest age you can start receiving your State Pension. It may be different to the age you can get a workplace or personal pension." It is rising from 66 to 67 in monthly steps for people born between 6 April 1960 and 5 March 1961, under section 26 of the Pensions Act 2014; the first group reach it at "66 years and 1 month". See State Pension age and retirement age and taking the State Pension early.
Who keeps 55 after April 2028: protected pension ages
From 6 April 2028 the normal minimum pension age becomes 57 for every scheme outside the uniformed services. The change runs by calendar date, not by year of birth: the Act's definition gives 55 "before 6 April 2028" and 57 "on and after" that day. If you are 55 or 56 and have already started drawing before that date, ask your provider in writing how the change treats you. If you are near 55 now and expect to want money before you reach 57, the exact dates matter, and they are covered in detail in the minimum pension age rising to 57.
Some people keep the right to take their pension at 55 after April 2028. The Finance Act 2022 added a new "protected pension age" for members of schemes whose rules already gave a right to take benefits before 57. In the Act's words, the condition is met where:
(a) immediately before 4 November 2021 the member had an actual or prospective right under the pension scheme to any benefit from an age of less than 57, (b) the rules of the pension scheme on 11 February 2021 included provision conferring such a right on some or all of the persons who were then members of the pension scheme, and (c) the member either had such a right under the scheme on 11 February 2021 or would have had such a right had the member been a member of the scheme on 11 February 2021.
— legislation.gov.uk, Finance Act 2022, section 10, accessed 17 October 2026
Where it applies, "The member's protected pension age is the higher of 55 and the age from which the member had an actual or prospective right to any benefit immediately before 4 November 2021." In plain terms, a scheme whose rules on those dates allowed benefits from 55 may keep paying from 55, but not earlier under this protection. Whether your scheme qualifies turns on its own rules and documents.
Moving a pension need not lose this 2022 protection: the Finance Act 2022 keeps it on a block transfer, one that moves in a single transaction everything held for you and at least one other member, and on money that arrives by a relevant transfer it applies only to the sums moved. The receiving scheme's own rules still decide when it will pay, so ask both the old and new provider in writing before moving a pension you hope to take before 57. The full position is in protected pension ages and how to transfer a pension.
For someone who planned to stop work at 55 or 56, the change can leave a gap to fill from other money. An FCA-authorised adviser can work through that alongside your savings, State Pension date and tax; to start that conversation, use the form on this page.
Taking a pension before 55: the exceptions, and the offers to avoid
Before the minimum age, a registered pension can pay out only in narrow cases. GOV.UK sums them up: "You may be able to take money out before this age if either: you're retiring early because of ill health you had the right under the scheme you joined before 6 April 2006 to take your pension before you're 55" (GOV.UK, Early retirement, your pension and benefits).
- Ill health. If you are too unwell to carry on working, your scheme may pay early under its ill-health rules, and GOV.UK notes you "might be able to get higher payments" in that case. Separately, someone expected to live less than a year may be able to take the whole pot as a lump sum, tax-free if they are under 75 and within their lump sum and death benefit allowance. Who qualifies, and how to apply, is in ill health retirement and the age for ill-health retirement.
- A protected pension age from before 2006. The test is a right, under a scheme joined before 6 April 2006, to take the pension before 55. HMRC's Pensions Tax Manual describes one group, personal pension members with a right to take benefits before 50: "These were mainly sports persons and individuals in hazardous occupations, who had a normal retirement age below 50 approved by HMRC." It also warns that "A member may lose their protected pension age if they transfer to another pension scheme" (HMRC, PTM062220).
Outside those cases, money taken early is an unauthorised payment, and the tax is heavy. GOV.UK: "You'll pay up to 55% tax on payments from your pension provider if they make an 'unauthorised payment'", which "usually includes: any payments before you're 55", subject to exceptions. It adds that some companies advertise personal loans or cash advances if you take your pension early, and that these payments are unauthorised and you have to pay tax on them (GOV.UK, Tax on unauthorised payments).
The FCA is blunter. Its pension scams page says: "You should be very wary of any scheme offering to help you release cash from your pension before you're 55. It's almost certainly a scam." Such offers "may be called 'pension liberation' or a 'pension loan'", and the FCA warns you "could also face a tax bill of 55% on what you withdraw, even if" you put the money back. If you want an adviser, it says to make sure the FCA has authorised them (FCA, Pension scams). See also early pension withdrawal penalties.
Stopping work before 55 is not the same as taking a pension before 55: the pension stays with the scheme until it can pay. Bridging that gap is covered in retiring early in the UK, and what to look for in an employer's offer in a good early retirement package.
What reaching 55 lets you do with a defined contribution pension
From the minimum age the main choices open up, though GOV.UK says providers may not offer them all. The usual starting point is the tax-free part: usually up to a quarter of the savings built up in any pension, capped at £268,275 in all, with a protected allowance able to raise it (GOV.UK, Personal pensions: your rights, the chapter on how you can take your pension). The rest is taxed as income when it comes out, and a large amount can mean paying Income Tax at a higher rate.
You need not take everything at once. Taking part of a pot and leaving the rest is covered in taking some of your pension at 55, the tax-free cash in the pension tax-free lump sum, and the main routes in pension drawdown and pension annuities. Money left invested can lose value as well as gain it, and you could receive less than you paid in.
Three consequences of starting early are worth knowing before you ask for any money:
- Paying in afterwards. HMRC's Pensions Tax Manual says that people who flexibly access a money purchase arrangement in certain circumstances will trigger the money purchase annual allowance, which HMRC puts at £10,000 from the 2023-24 tax year (HMRC, PTM056510). For someone still working and saving into a pension at 55, that can matter more than the withdrawal itself; see taking a pension while still working.
- Means-tested benefits. Taking your pension early may change what income-related benefits pay: Housing Benefit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit and Universal Credit (GOV.UK, Early retirement: benefits).
- A smaller pot for later. GOV.UK's plain point is that the pot you build up "will probably be smaller if you retire early, because it's had less time to increase in value." The money may also have to last a long time; how much pension you need covers that side.
Before you ask for money at 55: the checks
- Find every pension you have. Old workplace pots are easy to lose track of; The free Pension Tracing Service can help find contact details.
- Ask each scheme for its own earliest age, whether you hold a protected pension age, and what it would pay at that age. MoneyHelper suggests checking whether you will miss out on certain benefits if you take money before your scheme is designed to pay out, giving the example that "you might lose a bonus payment". Look for guarantees, such as a guaranteed annuity rate, before moving or cashing anything.
- Ask which options the provider offers. If it does not offer the one you want, GOV.UK says moving the pot to another provider is possible.
- Get guidance. A Pension Wise appointment covers when you can access your pension pots and how to spot and avoid scams, along with the ways to take money and the tax on each. You qualify if you have a UK defined contribution pension and are 50 or over, or younger in some cases, including where "your scheme lets you take your pension before age 55" (MoneyHelper, Pension Wise). It is not for State Pension or final salary questions. More in what Pension Wise is.
Guidance explains the options; it does not choose between them for you. If your answer depends on how several pots, your tax band, a partner's income or your health fit together, an FCA-authorised adviser is able to weigh all of it in one conversation, and a minute spent on the form on this page connects you with one. Asking costs nothing, though advice itself is usually charged for, as GOV.UK says.
Questions people ask about pension age
Can I take my workplace pension at 55?
For a defined contribution pot, usually yes, if the scheme's rules allow it. A final salary scheme may pay from 55 only if its rules allow early retirement, and usually at a reduced rate. Ask the scheme administrator for both answers in writing.
Can I take 25% tax-free at 55 and carry on working?
The tax rules tie access to age, not to retiring: pension rule 1 in the Finance Act 2004 turns on reaching the normal minimum pension age (or meeting the ill-health condition), not on stopping work. The catch is the £10,000 money purchase annual allowance if you go on to draw taxable money flexibly. See taking a pension while still working.
Can I still take 25% tax-free if I wait until 67?
Usually, yes. The tax-free lump sum is linked to the pension, not to turning 55: GOV.UK describes it as usually up to a quarter of the amount built up in a pension, within the £268,275 overall limit. Some rules change at 75, set out in pension rules at 75.
Can I take my pension at 50?
Not under the normal rules. The Finance Act 2004 set the minimum at 50 only "before 6 April 2010"; since then it has been 55. Earlier access is limited to ill health and protected pension ages, and the FCA says an offer to release cash before 55 is "almost certainly a scam."
Is the pension age different for women?
Under the Finance Act 2004 the normal minimum pension age for a scheme member depends on the date: 55 from 6 April 2010 and 57 from 6 April 2028, except in uniformed services schemes, where it stays at 55. For the State Pension, GOV.UK's State Pension age checker gives your date from your date of birth.
What is the minimum age for a QROPS?
UK pension money moved to a qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme stays tied to the UK rule: the regulations require that the transferred funds "are payable no earlier than they would be if pension rule 1 in section 165 applied", unless the payment would be authorised in a UK scheme (SI 2006/206, regulation 3). Tax in the country you live in is a separate question that needs advice there.
Your next step
Start with your own schemes: what each will pay, from what age, and whether any keeps a protected age after April 2028. If you then want those options weighed against your income, tax and family, an FCA-authorised adviser can do that with you; the form on this page starts it.