Turn your pensions into a retirement income plan

This guide is for anyone in the UK approaching retirement, or already there, who has one or more defined contribution pensions and wonders how to turn them into a steady income. The choices you make when you first take pension money can be hard or impossible to undo, and getting them wrong can mean an unexpected tax bill or running out of money too early. You will gather every pot, work out what you need to live on, compare the main ways to take income and prepare for a free Pension Wise appointment or paid advice. By the end you will have a one-page retirement income plan you can act on; this is general information, not personal financial advice.

What is inside

• Full step-by-step method9 detailed steps with decision points
• Ready-to-use templatesRequest to your pension provider before retirement · One-page retirement income plan · Questions to ask a financial adviser at the first meeting
• Timed action plan7 stages from “5 years before retirement” to “Every year”
• Costly mistakes to avoid4 traps and what to do instead
• Complete checklist12 items to tick off
• Insider tips and fixes4 tips and 4 common problems solved

Step by step

1. Gather every pension and your State Pension forecast

   List every pension you have ever paid into: current and past workplace schemes and any personal pensions. Use the Pension Tracing Service on GOV.UK for any you have lost track of. Request your State Pension forecast on GOV.UK to see the amount, the date you can claim it and any gaps in your National Insurance record. For each private pension, ask the provider for a current value, whether it is defined contribution or defined benefit, any guaranteed annuity rate or protected tax-free cash, and any exit fees. Put everything in one table; this is the foundation of every later decision.