When you can get State Pension

The earliest you can get your State Pension is when you reach your State Pension age. If you retire before you reach this age, you’ll have to wait till then to claim your State Pension.

How much State Pension you get

Your State Pension depends on the number of years you’ve paid National Insurance or got National Insurance credits while claiming certain benefits.

You need 30 years to get a full State Pension of £113.10. If you have fewer years when you retire you’ll get less State Pension.

Use the State Pension calculator to get a quick estimate of your basic State Pension.

When you get your personal or workplace pension

When you can get your pension will depend on your pension scheme’s rules, but it’s usually after you’re 55.

You may be able to take your pension before this age if you’re retiring because of ill-health.

If you have serious ill-health

You can retire at any age if you have serious ill-health and you have less than a year’s life expectancy.

You can take up to 100% of your pension fund as a tax-free lump sum if:

• you’re under 75
• you haven’t used up your lifetime tax allowance (£1.25 million)

If you’re over 75 the whole lump sum will be taxed at 55%. If you’ve used up your lifetime allowance you’ll be taxed 55% on the excess.

Some pension schemes keep at least 50% of your pension pot to provide a pension for your husband, wife or civil partner.

Defined contribution pension schemes

These are also known as 'money purchase schemes’.

Your pension pot is put into various types of investments, eg shares. The amount in your pension pot at retirement is based on how much has been paid in and how well the investments have performed.

Normally, when you retire, you can take some of your pension pot as a tax-free lump sum. You use the rest to buy yourself an income, on which you may pay tax.

Your pension will be smaller if you retire early. This is because:

• you’ve had fewer years to pay into your pension
• your pension will need to last longer

Defined benefit pension schemes

These are sometimes called 'final salary' or 'career average' earnings-related pension schemes.

The amount you get at retirement is based on a number of things, eg your earnings and how long you’ve been a member of the scheme.

In most schemes, when you retire you can take some of your pension as a tax-free lump sum. The rest you get as a regular income, on which you might pay tax.

If you’re considering early retirement you’ll probably get a smaller pension.