Yes. The Vanguard SIPP, called the Vanguard Personal Pension, offers drawdown, which Vanguard names flexible income, from age 55 (57 from 6 April 2028).
Vanguard SIPP drawdown is the same drawdown described on our pension drawdown page, run through your Vanguard account. Vanguard's key features document, printed November 2025, lists three ways to reach your money: "flexible income (drawdown), individual lump sums or the purchase of an annuity". Free, impartial guidance is available first from Pension Wise. For a view of Vanguard drawdown against your own pot, tax and other income, an FCA-authorised adviser firm offers a free phone conversation, arranged through the brief form on this page.
Does a Vanguard SIPP allow flexi-access drawdown?
It does, under Vanguard's own label. The key features describe flexible income (drawdown) as an option that, "following the payment of a tax-free lump sum, allows you to take a regular income from the remaining balance" while the pension stays invested. The same document refers to "the part of your Pension Account that is designated for flexi-access", and Vanguard's flexible income page says the taxable part of your pension moves into a drawdown account.
You can draw benefits "whether you have stopped working or not", at any age from 55, rising to 57 from 6 April 2028, according to the key features. Pension age rules explains the exceptions.
Starting drawdown takes an application. Vanguard's client terms, dated August 2026, say you apply with the form Vanguard provides, online, and that Vanguard can decline an application that would, in its opinion, go against the scheme rules.
How Vanguard drawdown works, step by step
- Tax-free cash. Vanguard states that you can usually take up to a quarter of the pension tax-free, up to a maximum of £268,275 across all your pensions; some people with protections have a higher limit. You need not take it all in one go. More at the tax-free lump sum.
- The rest moves to a drawdown account. You then decide how that money is invested, from Vanguard's full fund range or one of four investment pathways based on your plans for the next five years. Vanguard's SIPP fund options page covers the choices. Vanguard's managed pension, where Vanguard picks investments, does not currently do so for pensions in drawdown.
- You ask for income. Vanguard's own example: with a £100,000 pension you take £25,000 tax-free, leaving £75,000 invested, and could use it for a regular income of £1,200, taxed as income. That is an illustration, not a forecast of what you would get.
To apply, Vanguard says you log in, book a call with its pension specialists and submit your withdrawal request through your account. It then creates an illustration of how the withdrawal could affect your savings, you review it and book a second call, and payment follows. Vanguard says you will receive the money within 10 working days of telling it you are happy to proceed.
How much can you take, and how is it paid?
The key features say there is no upper or lower level on the income you can draw. You could take only the tax-free cash and no income, cash in the whole fund, or something in between. Vanguard's transfer page adds that it has no minimum withdrawal amount, so tax-free cash can come in smaller chunks, and that it does not charge a fee when you start using your pension savings. Other costs are on Vanguard SIPP fees.
Under the client terms, benefits can be drawn as a one-off lump sum, a series of single payments or monthly. You can name which holdings are sold to raise the cash for each payment. Vanguard's flexible income page says you can stop, start or change an income at any time. How much is sensible for your pot is covered at how much to take from drawdown.
Does drawdown income cut what you can pay in?
Starting a taxable income changes how much you can pay into pensions. Vanguard says taking income "will trigger the Money Purchase Annual Allowance and reduce how much you can save into pensions from £60,000 to £10,000 per year". Taking only the 25% tax-free cash does not: you can carry on saving up to £60,000 a year. The money purchase annual allowance page has the detail.
If you are still working or expect to pay in again, check this before you start income rather than after. An adviser can run the allowance rules against your own plans; this page's short form lines up that call-back at no cost.
Drawdown income counts towards your total income for that tax year, and your first payment will likely be taxed on an emergency tax code, Vanguard says. You do not need to contact HMRC to change the code, but you can claim back overpaid tax. See pension tax.
Limits to weigh before you draw
The value of investments can go down as well as up, and you could get back less than you invest. Vanguard's key features add that benefits "are not fixed and are not guaranteed for life", and its terms say payment of income ceases once the assets, including cash, are used up. Are drawdown pensions safe looks at the risks.
Vanguard does not provide annuities, but you can transfer out to an annuity provider. If an annuity appeals later, switching from drawdown to an annuity explains how. Moving a pension in is a separate matter: the key features say Vanguard cannot accept transfers of pensions in capped drawdown (see flexi-access and capped drawdown), and transferring to a Vanguard SIPP has the steps. If you already draw from a pension elsewhere, Vanguard's transfer page says it accepts pensions in flexible drawdown as a full transfer into the self-managed service, since its managed service does not currently take transfers in drawdown.
Vanguard's flexible income page links the Independent Governance Committee's annual reports on value for money, including the 2025 one.
Vanguard drawdown in brief
Can I take only the tax-free cash and leave the rest?
Yes. The key features say it is possible to draw only the tax-free lump sum and no income. Taking tax-free cash alone does not trigger the money purchase annual allowance, Vanguard says.
Is there a minimum amount I must take out?
No. Vanguard says it has no minimum withdrawal amount, and the key features set no lower level on the income drawn. More on this at the minimum drawdown page.
Can I take lump sums from a Vanguard SIPP without going into drawdown?
Yes. The key features describe a Single Cash Lump Sum, also known as an uncrystallised funds pension lump sum (UFPLS), taken as you need it, with up to 25% of each payment tax-free within the £268,275 cap and the rest taxed as income. Once you take one, your annual allowance for future contributions falls to £10,000. Drawdown or UFPLS compares the two.
Can I stop my income and restart it later?
Vanguard says you can set up an income that you can stop, start or change at any time.
Is drawdown the same as taking an annuity?
No. Drawdown keeps your pension invested and income varies, while an annuity is bought from an insurer. See pension annuities, and annuity or drawdown for choosing between them.
Choosing your own pace
Vanguard drawdown is flexible, but the choices that matter are yours: how much tax-free cash, how much income and which investments. Pension Wise is the free starting point. Anyone wanting an FCA-authorised adviser firm to weigh their whole position can leave their number in the short form here.