What is your retirement age?
Your retirement age is the age you plan to start using your pension savings. You can usually access your pension savings from age 55 (rising to 57 from 2028), but many people choose to retire later.
There’s no ‘right’ retirement age. It depends on your goals, the lifestyle you want, and your financial situation. The retirement age you choose should reflect what works for you.
Why your retirement age is important
It’s an important milestone that helps shape both how much you may need to save and how your pension could be invested over time.
Choosing a retirement age helps you balance saving and spending. The earlier you plan to retire, the longer your savings may need to last, and the more careful you may need to be with how much you take along the way.
It also helps guide how your pension is invested. As you approach your chosen retirement age, your pension is typically moved into lower-risk investments through something known as an investment glide path. This is designed to help protect your savings as you get closer to using them.
There’s no right retirement age. It’s something you choose based on your goals, lifestyle and financial situation.
When you can access your pension
You can usually start accessing your pension from age 55 (rising to 57 from 2028), but your retirement age is something you choose based on when you want to start taking money.
Your chosen retirement age helps shape your planning, but it doesn’t mean you have to take your pension all at once.
You can:
take money gradually over time
take lump sums when you need them
leave your money invested and access it later
It’s about giving you flexibility in how you move from saving to using your pension.
H2: How your pension is invested
Your pension is invested in one of two ways: either we manage it for you through our default investment strategy, or you can choose your own investments.
If you don’t do anything, your pension will be automatically invested in our default funds and managed for you. We’ll also adjust your investments over time as you approach your retirement age.
As you move closer to your chosen retirement age, your pension is typically moved into lower-risk investments through an investment glide path. When you are further from retirement, your pension is usually invested for growth.
This helps balance growth in the earlier years with greater protection as you approach retirement.
If you prefer more control, you can choose your own investments and manage them directly.
You can check your investments and make changes at any time in your Smart Pension account.
How long your money may need to last
Your retirement age helps determine how long your pension savings may need to support you.
If you retire earlier, your savings may need to last longer. If you retire later, you may have more time to build your pension and fewer years to fund in retirement.
This is why your retirement age is an important part of planning, it helps you think about both:
how much you may need to save
how long your money may need to last
Not sure how much you might need in retirement? You can use our tools to help you plan ahead, or read more here.
Check your retirement age
Sign in to your Smart Pension account and check your selected retirement age. You can review and update it at any time to keep your savings plan aligned with your retirement goals.
Final thought
There’s no fixed path to retirement. Your retirement age is something you choose, and it can change as your plans change.
With Smart Pension, you can manage your savings in one place and move from saving to taking your pension in a way that suits you.
Whether you retire earlier or later, the flexibility is yours.
So whether you choose to retire early or later on in life, you can retire your way.