Normal minimum pension age
Find out when you can start withdrawing money from your pension and how this will change from 2028.
What is the NMPA?
The normal minimum pension age (NMPA) is the earliest age most people can start withdrawing money from their Personal and Workplace Pensions.
It’s currently 55 years but this will increase to 57 from 6 April 2028, unless you have a Protected Pension Age or you’re retiring because of ill health. The NMPA is set by the UK government.
Why is the minimum pension age changing?
The government is raising the NMPA to coincide with the rise of the state pension age to 67. These increases are designed to reflect our longer life expectancies.
How does the change affect me?
If you don’t want to take your pension before you reach 57, then you won’t be affected by the NMPA increase. If you’re looking to take your pension before this age, your date of birth plays an important part in how the NMPA affects you.
| Born before 6 April 1971 | Born between 6 April 1971 and 5 April 1973 | Born on or after 6 April 1973 |
|---|---|---|
| You won’t be affected by the NMPA change as you’ll already be 57 by 6 April 2028. | As you’ll be 55 before 6 April 2028 you’ll be able to take your pension benefits at any time from your 55th birthday up to 6 April 2028. It’s currently unclear whether you’ll have to stop taking pension payments after 6 April 2028 (such as regular pension drawdown payments) until you reach the age of 57. This page will be updated once the government provides more information. | You’ll have to wait until you’re 57 to take your pension, unless you have a pension with a Protected Pension Age. |
What is a Protected Pension Age - and does my pension scheme have one?
A Protected Pension Age lets you withdraw money from your pension earlier than the normal minimum pension age.
Some workplace schemes have this, and others don’t. For workplace pensions administered by Fidelity it will depend on the rules of your pension scheme. You can contact us to confirm this to you, although in some cases we may need to check with the scheme trustees. You can contact us via email or phone.
If you have a pension with another provider, you’ll need to contact them to confirm whether you benefit from a Protected Pension Age.
If you joined a pension scheme on or after 4 November 2021, you’re unlikely to qualify for a Protected Pension Age, unless you later transferred benefits with a Protected Pension Age into the scheme (see the ‘If I transfer my pension…’ questions in the FAQs below).
NMPA FAQs
The changes the government are making impact nearly all pension schemes; however, some public service schemes won’t be affected by this increase.
There are special provisions that may allow you to withdraw money from your pension before the normal minimum pension age if you’re permanently unable to work due to ill health. These provisions aren’t changing. Contact your pension provider for more information.
The rules above only apply to a Protected Pension Age of 55. Any existing Protected Pension Ages won’t be affected by the increase of the NMPA to 57 and the pre-existing rules are not impacted by this change.
If the government decides to increase the NMPA again after 2028, all pension providers will be informed. The government will also provide information on their website, www.gov.uk.
If you don’t qualify for a Protected Pension Age under your scheme, you’ll normally only be able to receive pension benefits from the scheme from age 57. However, if you transfer benefits in from another pension scheme which did qualify for a Protected Pension Age, we will be able to keep these benefits separate from your other benefits held under the scheme and pay these benefits from its Protected Pension Age.
If you transfer a plan with a Protected Pension Age to another scheme, the transferred funds may be able to retain the Protected Pension Age. You’d need to check this with your new provider.