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Small Pensions

Pensions under £10,000

If your Scheme pension savings are worth no more than £10,000 you may be able to take this as a ‘small pot’ lump sum. This means that you can take your entire Scheme pension as cash. Up to 25% of the lump sum would be tax-free, with tax paid on the remainder. Taking a cash lump sum in this way would not trigger the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (see the Tax and Allowances section for details); you would need to let the Scheme administrators know that you are taking a ‘small pot’ lump sum.

If you have pension savings in more than one scheme, and your total savings are worth no more than £30,000, you may also be able to take all your pension savings as a one-off lump sum if you have reached age 55. Please contact the Scheme’s administrators if you believe this could be the case for you.

Transfer values £30,000 or less

If you have a transfer value (excluding any DC benefits/AVCs) of £30,000 or less you do not have to take financial advice in order to transfer, but your receiving scheme may still require you to have taken advice.

However, we still recommend that you speak to an FCA registered and authorised financial adviser if you are considering transferring as there is a lot to think about. In most circumstances, financial advisers would typically recommend that taking your pension through the Scheme is the right retirement choice.

The contract for the advice would be between you and Origen and the advice provided is confidential. It is your choice whether to use Origen. The Trustee and Aptia (formerly Mercer) are not responsible for any advice you receive or any decisions you make, or actions you take, as a consequence of receiving advice.
Built on behalf of the The First Bus Retirement Savings Plan by Willis Towers Watson. The information
  • is a summary of the applicable law and the Scheme’s trust deed and rules as at May 2021
  • is not a definitive statement of the applicable law or the Scheme’s trust deed and rules and is not legally binding
  • does not constitute financial advice or create any entitlements for members (or anyone else) in relation to the Scheme
In the event of any discrepancy between the information on this website and the applicable law and / or the Scheme’s trust deed and rules, the applicable law and / or the trust deed and rules will prevail.
You should not rely on the information on this website alone and you should consider seeking independent advice before making any decisions in relation to your pension savings (but noting that the Scheme, the Trustee and WTW are not responsible for any advice you receive or any decisions you make or actions you take as a consequence of receiving advice). The applicable law is likely to change over time, and so you should also keep an eye out for any developments which may affect you as you approach retirement. By continuing to use this website you’re accepting its purpose and any limitations.
External links and external content are selected and reviewed when the page is published. The Scheme, the Trustee and WTW are not responsible for the content of external websites. The inclusion of a link to an external website should not be understood to be an endorsement of that website or the site’s owners (or their products/services). Copyright © 2024 Willis Towers Watson. All rights reserved.
© 2024 The Scheme is governed according to the provisions of its formal Rules as well as applicable law. Material on this Portal provides commentary on pension developments for general information and in relation to your pension in the Scheme Material on this Portal also summarises the Rules and some applicable law. However, this Portal is not intended to replicate the Rules and to the extent that any material on the Portal contradicts the Rules, the provisions of the Rules will always take precedence. The material on this Portal is based on the Trustee’s understanding of tax and other legislation in force as of June 2024.