Pensions Freedom: What's In Store?

The bulk of the pension reforms are now in place. After so much rapid change, here is a reminder of what's in force and what may yet be to come.

The reforms to pensions which were first announced in March 2014 are now mostly in force. In the year after the 2014 Budget, there have been a variety of revisions and further announcements, with more emerging in this year's Budget, so here is a quick refresher of where we are now. As ever, there could be a difference between what is legislatively possible and what your pension provider is willing to administer:

Income flexibility For defined contribution pension schemes (or money purchase schemes as they are sometimes called) such as personal pensions, you now have complete freedom in how you draw your benefits once you reach minimum pension age (normally 55, but set to increase to 57 in 2028. In theory you can withdraw your entire pension fund as a lump sum. The old 'capped drawdown' rules which placed a limit on the