The government is preparing to allow people who have started taking money from their pension to continue receiving it, even after the minimum pension access age changes.<\/p>\n
The normal minimum pension age<\/a> (NMPA) \u2013 the age at which you can start accessing your private pension savings \u2013 is set to rise from 55 to 57 in April 2028.<\/p>\n The aim of this is to keep pension access in line with the state pension age, which rose to 66 in 2020 and will rise to 67 in March 2028.<\/p>\n Pensions experts had been concerned that under current rules, retirees who reach 55 and start drawing on their pensions before April 2028 could lose access for up to two years once the new NMPA of 57 kicks in, potentially disrupting their retirement plans.<\/p>\n For example, if you turned 55 in March 2028, you could potentially have accessed your pension for one month, then would not be able to take more money. <\/p>\n But it is understood that the government is currently drafting transitional regulations in which it will set out that anyone who has started to receive pension payments can continue to do so after April 2028, regardless of their age at the time.<\/p>\n New FeatureIn ShortQuick Stories. Same trusted journalism.<\/p>\n However, if you have not begun drawing on your pension by April 2028, it is understood you will have to wait until you turn 57 to begin accessing it. This could leave you in a situation where you have access to some of your pensions but not others.<\/p>\n Jamie Jenkins, director of policy at Royal London, said his company has seen an increase in questions from financial advisers and customers this year who have been concerned about drawing from their pensions<\/a> and potentially losing access later on.<\/p>\n \u201cAs far as we\u2019re aware, someone turning 55 after April 2026 could start taking money from their pension but may have to cease doing so from April 2028 until such time as they turn 57,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe pragmatic approach would be to allow people who are already taking benefits to continue to do so after 6 April 2028, regardless of what age they are.\u201d<\/p>\n The government is also planning to introduce certain protections for people who have a \u2018protected pension age\u2019 of 55 and transfer their pension to another provider.<\/p>\n A protected pension age means you can access your pensions for the first time at 55, even once the minimum pension age rises, this is often available to members of uniformed services such as police and the armed forces.<\/p>\n However, there has long been confusion around whether transferring out of a pension with this protection means you lose your protected pension age on that money.<\/p>\n The pensions industry has been undertaking a widespread \u2018sweep up\u2019 exercise over the past few years to track down people who have transferred their pensions where they had a protected pension age of 55 on their old pension and may have inadvertently lost it by transferring.<\/p>\n Renny Biggins, head of policy, products & long-term savings at The Investment & Savings Association (TISA), said: \u201cIt\u2019s good to know these rules are coming out, as consumers need certainty to give those who fall within the impacted age bracket the ability to plan with confidence.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven the initial NMPA rules came in November 2021, it\u2019s fair to say we were expecting the transitional regulations much earlier than now. But when they do come in, [these changes] will be very welcome for industry, as schemes have been waiting on these to update processes and make changes to their member communications. <\/p>\n \u201cThis may also act as a timely reminder for pension schemes which haven\u2019t provided protected pension age details for transfers out to do so as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Steve Webb, partner at consultancy LCP, added: \u201cIt would be quite wrong if the government were to switch off the ability to access pensions of those who had already started doing so when they reached 55. <\/p>\n