Your retirement options

When you can use your money

The earliest you can start using your pension pot is age 55. This is set to increase to age 57 in 2028 for most people.

It’s important we have the right selected retirement age for you.

This is to make sure that any investments that automatically switch funds as you get closer to retirement make those changes at the right time. We’ll also contact you about your retirement options based on the selected retirement age we have for you.

It’s a good idea to regularly check that your retirement age is in line with your plans so that we don’t contact you at the wrong time. You can change your selected retirement date on PlanViewer.

Go to the investments section for more information about your investment options

Taking your money earlier due to ill health

If you become seriously ill and can no longer work, you may be able to start using your pension pot earlier than age 55.

Find out more about retiring due to ill health

Taking your money later

You usually have to take your pension pot by age 65, or whenever you stop working for Unilever if that’s later.

If the Trustees and Unilever agree, you might be able to take your pension pot later. The latest they'll usually agree you can take your money is age 75. You might also be able to take your pension pot later if you move your money to a different pension arrangement.

Find out about transferring your pot to another arrangement

How you can use your pension pot

You can use your pension pot to:

  • Buy a guaranteed income for life (annuity)
  • Take a cash lump sum
  • Take some cash and invest the rest

You can either choose one of these options or combine them.

With all of these options, you can also take 25% of your money as a tax-free cash lump sum.

The amount you can take tax-free may need to be restricted if you have used up the allowances for tax-free cash as set by HMRC.

A guaranteed income for life

You can buy a guaranteed income from an insurer - also called an 'annuity'. This will pay you a certain amount every year for the rest of your life.

There are different types of annuity. You can choose to have:

  • A pension that increases each year to keep up with inflation
  • A pension or lump sum for your dependants if you die

You buy an annuity through an insurance company. Different companies offer different rates, so it's a good idea to shop around before you choose one. A comparison tool like the one from MoneyHelper can help you see what is available. If you use an adviser, you should make sure that they are able to recommend annuities from any provider (known as a ‘whole of market’ service).

Find out more about financial advice

A cash lump sum

You can take all your money as cash in one go. Doing this might push you into a higher tax bracket in the year that you take it, so you may end up paying more tax. It may be more tax-efficient to take it as several lump sums paid out over time.

Taking cash and invest the rest

You can keep your pot invested and use it to provide cash or a regular income (known as drawdown) over time.

The money you leave invested will go up and down in value, so you’ll need to manage that and the amount of money that you withdraw. You’ll also need to consider how long you might live to make sure you have enough money in your pot to fund your retirement. If there is money left over when you die, you can leave it to someone.

If you want to take your money as cash or to select a drawdown option, you’ll need to move all or some of your money to a different pension arrangement. This can either be:

  • The Fidelity Master Trust

    or

  • Another master trust or arrangement that offers these options

Unilever has established a Master Trust arrangement with Fidelity for members to use. The process of transferring benefits to Fidelity is not complicated or expensive – you can keep your money in the same investment funds and not pay any fees to move it. There is also no requirement for you to take independent financial advice to access this option.

To find out about the Fidelity Master Trust or how to transfer your pension to another arrangement, contact Fidelity.

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Tax

With all of these options, you can take up to 25% of your money as a tax-free cash lump sum. The amount you can take as a tax-free cash lump sum may need to be restricted if you have used up the allowances for tax-free cash as set by HMRC.

Find out more about limits on tax-free cash

After you've done that, everything else you take will be taxed as income. If you want to continue saving into another pension outside the Fund after taking your pot, you can. You can also keep saving tax on the money that you pay in. But if you take all of your money as cash, or draw an income or cash sums from it, this will limit how much you can save into a pension tax free. This limit applies to money paid into a defined contribution type of pension, where you build up a pot of money like the one you used for cash or drawdown. Once you reach £10,000 of pension savings in a year in this type of scheme, you'll start paying tax on any extra money that you save. This is called the Money Purchase Annual Allowance.

Money Purchase Annual Allowance

How to decide what's right for you

Use the retirement modelling tools in your PlanViewer account to see the amounts and options available to you. If you'd like advice on what to do, talk to an independent financial adviser. They'll look at your circumstances and recommend the best option for you.

As a Unilever UK Pension Fund member, you can get financial advice at a preferential rate from Origen Financial Services.

Origen advice service
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