The retirement process

Before retirement
Either normal retirement age or your
Target Retirement Age, if different

You’ll automatically receive a Retirement Pack. This will contain your options for taking your personal account. If you decide that you don’t actually want to retire at this point, you should contact Buck (or access your personal account via the Buck portal) to update your Target Retirement Age to reflect the date when you’d like to retire. (Please note that this will usually prompt a change to the way your personal account is invested if you use one of the Plan’s lifestyle strategies.) Alternatively, you can just contact Buck at a later date and request a retirement quotation when you know you’d like to retire (though note the retirement process usually takes several months to complete).

Before retirement

Complete the forms in the retirement pack, stating how you want to use your individual account. Return them to us with any certificates (for example your birth or marriage certificate) we’ve asked for. If you’ve any health issues, and are choosing to use some or all of your individual account to buy an annuity, you’ll also have to complete and return an Enhanced Annuity Questionnaire. If any part of your personal account includes a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) and you are choosing to buy an annuity, you will receive additional information about the format of this benefit.

After the end of the month in which you retire

The investments held in your individual account will be disinvested on the last working day of the month in which you retire. We’ll receive your final contributions (if you’re still an active member) and add them to your disinvested funds. This will give us a final value of your individual account. If you have chosen to buy an annuity, this is the value we’ll use to get quotations (both with and without the tax free cash option) for you. If you have chosen to take all of your individual account as a cash sum, we will arrange for this cash sum (including the tax free element) to be paid to you. If you have opted for drawdown, we’ll transfer your individual account to your chosen provider (from where you would usually take any tax free cash initially followed by taxed drawdown payments).

After the end of the month in which you retired –
if you have chosen to buy an annuity

To get the best value for money for your account, we’ll provide you with access to HUB Financial Solutions who will obtain annuity quotes from their panel of approved providers. We’ll send you details of the highest quote obtained, along with the necessary application form.

After the end of the month in which you have retired –
if you have chosen to buy an annuity

Once we have received your completed annuity forms, we’ll use your disinvested pension account to buy your annuity, and will pay your tax-free cash sum, if you chose that option as well as buying an annuity.

After the end of the month in which you retire –
if you have chosen to buy an annuity

Your policy documents will be sent to you, and your annuity payments will then start, according to the payroll schedule of your annuity provider. The first payment will be backdated to the date of your retirement.