Pension Drawdown
A flexible way to take cash from your pension
Free withdrawals
There's no drawdown costs unless you transfer to us and take your whole pot within 12 months
Experienced money managers
Plans from BlackRock, State Street Global Advisors, Legal & General and HSBC
UK-based support
Our friendly BeeKeepers are on hand to help, no matter what the question
Important: With investments, your capital is at risk. Pensions can go down in value as well as up, so you could get back less than you invest.
What is pension drawdown?
Drawdown is one of the options for taking your pension when you reach retirement. It means leaving your pension money invested, and taking cash as and when you need it.
Pension drawdown doesn't give you a guaranteed income like an annuity, but it does provide more flexibility.
The size of your pension pot can grow or reduce, depending on how your investments perform, and you're not restricted on what you can withdraw.
Watch our video explainer to find out more about drawdown
How does pension drawdown work?
Pension drawdown becomes available from the age of 55 (57 from 2028), and at this point you can take up to 25% of your pension totally tax-free - as a lump sum or in portions.
The rest will stay invested and can be withdrawn as you wish, but you'll pay income tax on anything you take over your 25% tax-free amount.
Watch our video explainer to find out more about drawdown tax, or try our drawdown calculator to see what a PensionBee withdrawal could look like.
Use our drawdown calculator
Watch our video explainer to find out more about drawdown tax
The pros and cons of drawdown
How you decide to take your pension is a big decision, so before you start the drawdown process it's essential to consider the pros and cons.
Watch personal finance journalist and money blogger, Faith Archer, explain whether drawdown might make sense for you.
Find out more about the pros and cons of drawdown
Why drawdown with PensionBee?
Combine and take control
PensionBee combines all your old pensions into one new online plan. This helps make drawdown much easier, as all your money is together.
There's no drawdown costs unless you take your entire pot within 12 months*, and we charge one simple annual fee of between 0.50% and 0.95% to manage your pension.
*If your pot has been with PensionBee for less than a year and you wish to withdraw it in full, then a full withdrawal fee of £150 applies. This fee will also be charged if the value of your account is less than the £150 fee at the point of withdrawal.
Access your cash quickly
There's no forms to sign as everything is done digitally, including your emergency tax payment to HMRC. Paying out your cash typically takes 10 working days.
UK-based support
Every PensionBee customer gets their own dedicated BeeKeeper.
They'll be on hand to answer any questions you might have, throughout the drawdown process.
Invest with the experts
Our pensions are managed by some of the world's largest money managers — State Street Global Advisors, HSBC, BlackRock and Legal & General — so your money's in experienced hands.
Looking to Drawdown?
Combine your pension pots into one new online plan & withdraw online from the age of 55.