A lifelong, regular income provides you with a guarantee that the income will last as long as you live. A quarter of your pension pot can usually be taken tax-free and your income payments will be taxable.

You use your pot to buy an annuity that guarantees you an income for the rest of your life – no matter how long you live. If you want to take an income for life, you should shop around for the best deal.

You can move your money to another pension pot and take an income from it. Any money left in your pension pot remains invested, which may give your pension pot a chance to grow, but it could go down in value too.

A quarter of your pension pot can usually be taken tax-free and any other withdrawals will be taxable whether you take them as income or as lump sums.

You will need to transfer to a different pension provider to do this.

You do not need to take a regular income.

This allows you to take lump sums from your pension pot as and when you need, from age 55. You can decide when and how much to take out. Any money left in your pension pot remains invested, which may give your pension pot a chance to grow, but it could go down in value too. Each time you take a lump sum, normally a quarter of it is tax-free and the rest will be taxable.

You can take the whole amount as a single lump sum. A quarter of your pension pot can usually be taken tax-free – the rest will be taxable. You will need to plan how you will provide an income for the rest of your retirement.

You can choose this option for one or more policies individually.

You can also choose to take your pension benefits using a combination of some or all of the options over time. If you have more than one policy, you may be able to use a different option for each policy.