Contacting Fidelity to withdraw money from your pension
Withdrawing money from your pension is one of life’s great events. You might have been saving for 20, 30 or 40 years, so taking it out should be a rewarding experience, and we’ll be delighted to help you understand the options available through your plan. To make your call go as smoothly as possible we’ve put together some things for you to think about first.
Important information: Remember, you can’t normally withdraw money from your pension until you are 55, rising to 57 from April 2028.
If you want to withdraw any of the money in your pension, you’ll need to speak to us. Before you do, there are a number of things you should think about carefully. If you are unsure what the right choice is for you, or what the tax implications of each option might be, we recommend that you speak to an authorised financial adviser. We can explain the options offered by your plan, but we can’t give you advice. Free and impartial guidance on your options is available from the government’s Pension Wise service – go to pensionwise.gov.uk or call 0800 011 3797.
It may help if you take a look at some of our tools. They can help you work out how much income you might get from your savings. And you should ask yourself the following questions:
As you get closer to your retirement age, we’ll send you information about the options that are available from your plan. It’s usually possible to take 25% of your pension pot as tax-free cash up to your available lump sum allowance. You then have the option of setting up a guaranteed income for life (an annuity) with the rest. Depending on the rules of your plan, you may be able to withdraw money as one or more lump sums, or take a flexible or regular income. Please remember that not all pension plans offer all these options.
You don’t need to take all your tax-free cash in one go, and some plans let you withdraw lump sums made up of both tax-free and taxable cash. These are technically known as ‘uncrystallised funds pensions lump sums’.
You can find out more information about your income options on this page.
A guaranteed income (an ‘annuity’) will last for as long as you live, but if you withdraw lump sums from your pension or take a flexible or regular income, there is no guarantee that the money in your pension will last that long.
Our Pension Drawdown Calculator will help you see how long your money might last.
When planning a withdrawal, you should think carefully about how much you need to live on in later years. You may want to try our Retirement Calculator – it will help you work out how much you may need.
Unless you withdraw all the money in your pension in one go, you will have some left in the account, and you need to decide how you would like to invest it. You’ll have the same range of funds to choose from as before your withdrawal.
If you just take tax-free cash, you will have a Pension Drawdown Account. Depending on your plan, this may also give access to four investment pathways, each of which is based on a different retirement income objective.
The Investment Pathways initiative from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is designed to ensure that anyone with a Pension Drawdown Account should have access to simple, good-value investments that broadly match their retirement income goals. They've laid out four broad financial goals that you may have and we've designed four Investment Pathways which mirror them. You can find out more about this here.
If you’re not sure what to do, we recommend that you get advice that is tailored to your particular circumstances. We can give you information about your options but we cannot tell you what you should do. If you need that sort of help, you can use the Money Advice Service Retirement Adviser Directory or visit unbiased.co.uk to find the right adviser for you. Please note that there will be a cost associateed with using an adviser.
Calling us
Once you have decided to make a withdrawal, you should call us on 0800 3 68 68 73 between 8am and 6pm on a UK business day. One of our associates will guide you through the process over the phone. Please allow up to an hour for the initial phone call as there is a lot we need to cover. We appreciate that this may seem a long time, but we find that members tend to prefer doing it this way than completing a long, complicated form.
If you just take your tax-free cash, the rest of your savings will be moved into a Pension Drawdown Account. Please note, you don't have to take your tax-free cash in one go. During the phone call you’ll be asked what you want to do with your remaining money, and our associate will explain your options. These will be:
- Choosing one of the four Investment Pathways, if they are available through your plan.
- Keeping your current investments (make sure you’re familiar with what these are).
- Choosing new investments.
The decision you make regarding how the remainder of your savings is invested is really important and you should make sure you have considered this carefully and considered whether you need to take advice from an authorised financial adviser.
You always have the option of setting up a guaranteed income with money from your Pension Drawdown Account.
If you take a lump sum that is 25% tax-free cash and 75% taxable income, any money that is left in your pension will stay in the same investments as before. You’ll have the same options for switching this money into different funds.
You also have the option of buying an annuity with any money that is left in your pension.
Once we have all the details of the withdrawal you're planning, we'll send you details confirming everything we've talked about on the phone. The letter will contain a pension withdrawal declaration which you will need to read and sign to confirm that you want to go ahead with the withdrawal.
We may need to ask you for identification and bank verification documents before we can go ahead with your payment.
How long will your withdrawal take?
We will start working on your withdrawal as soon as we receive your signed declaration. If you are withdrawing a lump sum, it should take around seven working days for the money to arrive in your bank account. We usually need 18 working days to set up regular income payments. This means that if we receive your form less than 18 working days before a scheduled payment date, you may receive your first payment the following month. We’ll write to you confirming when your first payment will be.
Call us
Once you have decided to make a withdrawal, you should call us on 0800 3 68 68 73 between 8am and 6pm on a UK business day. One of our associates will guide you through the process over the phone.