When you use your pension savings for flexi-access drawdown with us:

• you can take your tax-free cash (normally up to 25% of your pension pot) a bit at a time or as one lump sum
• under HMRC rules, for every £1 you take as tax-free cash, £3 will move to a flexi-access drawdown (FAD) account that we’ll set up for you
• you need to have a minimum pension pot of £10,000 (or £2,000 if you’ve already taken money from your pot with The People’s Pension)
• each withdrawal from your FAD account must be a minimum of £200
• you can take 1 lump sum a tax month, for example from 6 May to 5 June – we don’t charge you for taking lump sums
• if you’re invested in multiple funds, every time you make a withdrawal, we’ll reduce your holding in each fund proportionately.

Find out more about taking your tax-free cash up front with The People’s Pension through flexi-access drawdown

When you use your savings for a lump sum (UFPLS) with us: 

• you need to have a minimum pension pot of £10,000 when you take your first lump sum (or £2,000 if you’ve already taken money before)
• each lump sum you take must be a minimum of £2,000 (or the rest of your savings in your pension pot if lower)
• you can only take 1 lump sum a tax month, for example from 6 May to 5 June – we don’t charge you for taking lump sums
• if you’re invested in multiple funds, every time you take a payment, we’ll reduce your holding in each fund proportionately.

Find out more about taking your tax-free cash across all withdrawals with The People’s Pension by taking a lump sum

With this option you can usually take up to 25% tax-free cash up front either in chunks or in one go. Under HMRC rules, for every £1 you take as tax-free cash, £3 will be moved to a flexi-access drawdown account that we set up for you. Then, each time you take money out of your flexi-access drawdown account, you may pay income tax on the full amount of each lump sum. With flexi-access drawdown your money purchase annual allowance (MPAA) isn’t triggered when you take the initial 25% tax-free cash, it’s only triggered once you take your first withdrawal from your flexi-access drawdown account.

You can take one lump sum a tax month. For example, from 6 May to 5 June. We don’t charge you for taking lump sums.

If you’re still going to be working after you start taking money from your pension pot, you might want to continue saving into a pension to make the most of your employer’s contributions. Or even if you’re not going to be working, you might want to continue making your own contributions.

Any future contributions will go into your current pension pot with The People’s Pension, so it’ll be separate from your money in your flexi-access drawdown account – you’ll be able to keep an eye on both balances through your online account. All of your savings, including monies held in flexi-access drawdown, will be taken into consideration when calculating your rebate on your management charge.

Find out more about taking your tax-free cash up front with The People’s Pension

Once you’re logged in, you’ll see a summary table for the ‘funds’ in your pot with The People’s Pension on the welcome page of your account. If you’re eligible to access your pension, you’ll see a blue ‘Take your money’ button within this table.

Click the ‘Taking your money’ button and answer all the questions to submit your request to take your money.

You’ll also need to confirm you’ve read and understood the important information we’ve shared with you (such as the ‘Your options at retirement’ booklet) and if you’ve taken guidance and advice.

How do I get to the welcome page?

You automatically land on the welcome page when you log into your account. To get back to the welcome page:

• if you’re using a desktop computer, click on ‘Home’ or on the People’s Partnership logo in the top left-hand corner
• if you’re using our app, select the ‘Home’ button to get back to the welcome page.

I can’t see the ‘Take your money’ button on the welcome page

You can only access your pension once you reached your normal minimum pension age. So, if you’re younger than this, you won’t be able to see the ‘Take your money’ button in your account.

However, if you’re suffering from ill health you may be able to access your pot earlier than your normal minimum pension age – find out more.

I’m having problems logging into my account

If you need help setting up or resetting your visit our webpage about accessing your account for more information.

We will never contact you out of the blue to ask for any of your personal or account information, such as your password or sign-in details.

Get started

When you’re ready, find out more about taking your savings through your account on our how to take your pension money webpage.

Some of the details you’ll need to know include:

• How much your other pension pots are worth
• Details of other pensions you’ve taken money from
• Whether or not you’ve registered for lifetime allowance protection
• Your bank account details

How much your other pension pots are worth

If you’re not sure how much your other pensions are worth, you’ll need to find out from your other pension providers.

If you’re not sure what other pensions you have, you can use the government website to find pension providers you might have had an account with in the past.

Trace your lost pension pots

Details of other pensions you’ve taken money from

If you’ve taken money from other pensions, you may be able to get the details you need from correspondence at the time.

If not, you’ll need to contact your other pension provider to find out.

Whether or not you’ve registered for lifetime allowance protection

Between 2006 and 2024, the lifetime allowance (LTA) limited the amount you could save into your pension scheme(s) and receive full tax benefits.

Prior to the 2023/24 tax year, any amount over the LTA was subject to a tax charge. Between 2012 and 2015, the LTA was cut several times. When it was introduced in 2006 and every time it’s been reduced, the government has allowed savers to ‘protect’ their pension at the level of the previous higher allowance if their pension savings were more than the new lower allowance. You may see this referred to as ‘LTA protection’ in general, or ‘enhanced protection’, ‘fixed protection’, or ‘primary protection’ in relation to specific LTA changes.

From 6 April 2023, the tax charge was removed, and from 6 April 2024 the LTA was abolished and new allowances came into effect. However, individuals can still keep entitlements to a higher allowance if they’ve previously obtained LTA protection. A financial adviser could help you understand your options with this, and you can find out more on the HMRC website.

Your bank account details

You’ll also need to provide details for the account you’d like your pension money paid into.

If you’d like your money paid into a bank account, you’ll need to provide:

• the account holder name (your name as it appears on your bank card)
• the account number
• the account sort code.

If you’d like your money paid into a building society account, you’ll need to provide:

• the building society roll number (as seen on your statement)
• account number
• account sort code.

You should be able to get these details from your statement, account card, online account or from correspondence with your building society or bank.

Get started

Once you’ve gathered these details, find out more about taking your savings online on our how to take your pension money webpage.

If you don’t have access to a smartphone, tablet or computer, or you just don’t feel confident accessing your pension money online or on your own – get in touch and we’ll help guide you through the process.

If you have a vulnerability or disability which stops you from being able to request to take your pension money online, you can contact us to ask about the best way to access your money. If needed, we can send out paper forms for you to fill out, but this may mean it’ll take longer for you to receive your pension money from us.

Find out more about how to take your pension money

If you’ve invested in multiple funds – each time you make a withdrawal, we’ll reduce how much money you have in each fund proportionately.

For example, if you decide to withdraw £2,000 from your pension savings and the value of your pension savings was split between 3 different funds (£65,000 ‘adventurous’, £25,000 ‘balanced’ and £10,000 Cash) – £1,300 (65%) of your withdrawal would come from the ‘adventurous’ fund; £500 (25%) from the ‘balanced’ fund; and £200 (10%) from the Cash fund.

You can find out more on our website about:

• Taking your pension pot a bit at a time through flexi-access drawdown
• How your pension money is invested and your investment options

Find out more about taking your pension a bit at a time through flexi-access drawdown

If you’ve already nominated a beneficiary for your pension pot with The People’s Pension, the same beneficiary will be registered for your flexi-access drawdown account with us. If not, you can nominate a person through your account online.

If you die before you’re 75, your beneficiaries can normally receive your remaining pension pot as tax-free lump sums. If you die after you’re 75, your beneficiaries will have to pay tax on any lump sums paid.

Find out more about taking your tax-free cash up front with The People’s Pension