Approaching retirement

The best place to get information about your options for your scheme is on your employer pension scheme website. If you don't know where that is, check with your employer. There will usually be a link on your employer’s intranet site.

Learn about your options including a guaranteed income, flexible income, lump sums and cash.

You can also download our guide to taking money from your pension PDF: 339KB. 

You can request a retirement quote from our Claims team by ringing them on 0345 070 8686.

Lines are open between the hours of 8:30am and 7pm Monday to Friday. Call charges will vary. We may record and monitor calls.

You can contribute up to 100% of your relevant earnings or £3,600 gross, if greater, into your pension plan and still get tax relief.

If your contributions go over the annual allowance including employer contributions (currently £60,000 in the tax year 2025/2026) you will incur a tax charge up to the highest rate you pay.

For those with earnings over £200,000 a year, and £260,000 a year when total pension contributions are included, the annual allowance may reduce below £60,000 but not less than £10,000. Please note it may be possible to carry forward unused annual allowances from up to three previous tax years.

If you have started drawing a flexible income from your pension pot, your annual allowance will reduce to £10,000 a year (this is called the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA)) and you can't carry forward any unused allowances. If you want to carry on building up your pension pot this may influence when you start taking income. Taking your tax-free cash lump sum without any other income doesn't affect your annual allowance.

If you have pension pots with previous employers, you can normally transfer them into your current workplace plan. There could be benefits to combining your pension pots, including:

• Saving money: charges may be lower.
• Having more choice: investment options may be better.
• Having more access and support: such as online access that helps you track and manage your investments in real time.
• Saving time: dealing with fewer pension providers can save valuable time whenever you want to make changes.

But having your pension savings in one place might not be right for everyone.

There are a few things you need to consider before you decide to combine your pension pots. For example, consider the charges for each plan, whether there are any penalties for transferring, whether there are any benefits or guarantees you might lose if you move your money and what options are available at retirement.

We would always recommend taking financial advice to make sure that transferring is the right thing for you.

Legal & General offer a Retirement Advice Service. Our advisers are experts in retirement regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority , so you can trust them to provide impartial advice and a personal recommendation that’s right for you.

If you decide not to speak to a financial adviser, you can contact our Employee Support Team on 0345 070 8686 to discuss transfer options that may be open to you. 

Lines are open between the hours of 8:30am and 7pm Monday to Friday. Call charges will vary. We may record and monitor calls.

If your pension contributions come straight from your salary then you need to tell your payroll department about any changes you wish to make to them. Your employer may also restrict the number of times you can do this in a year.

If you pay by your own direct debit simply call us or send us a letter or email, quote your plan number and tell us what you'd like to change your payments to. You can increase or decrease your regular contributions, but you may have to meet a minimum amount.

If your scheme allows, you can make changes to your investments by logging in to your online account. Here you will be able to see all the funds available to you and make changes. You will also find a personalised pension video statement. It's based on your current pension pot, its projected performance, and how much retirement income it could provide.

Your Guide to Investing outlines some important things to think about before making changes to your investments.

If you do not wish to use our online service to change your investments you can complete our Changing Your Investments form or call us on 0345 070 8686. We're open 8.30am - 7pm, Monday to Friday. Calls may be recorded and monitored. 

Things to consider if you are selecting a lifestyle profile – You can only invest in one lifestyle profile at a time and cannot invest in any other funds at the same time. If you select a lifestyle profile, you will need to make sure that you change where both your current pension pot, and future contributions are invested.

The value of your pension pot may fall as well as rise, and is not guaranteed. You should choose your funds carefully and review them regularly, particularly if you are close to retirement.

If you have been automatically enrolled, you can opt out within one month and you’ll get your money back and be treated as if you never joined the plan. Your enrolment communications will explain how to do this. If you don’t opt out within one month of being automatically enrolled you can stop contributing at any time. If you do this, both your contributions and any made by your employer up to that point will remain invested in your pension pot until you take your benefits, or you can transfer them to another pension scheme.

If you have not been automatically enrolled, after you have joined the plan, we will send you a letter containing details of what you will need to do if you decide to cancel and ask for any money back that you have paid. The letter includes a form, called a ‘cancellation notice’. If you decide to cancel, you will need to complete this notice and post it back to us at the address shown on the notice within 30 days of receiving it.

After this period HMRC rules state that your money must remain invested in a pension scheme until you take benefits. For the vast majority of people this will mean that you won’t be able to take benefits until you have reached age 55 rising to age 57 from April 2028.