Taking your LGPS pension early or flexibly

You can take your Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) pension at any age from 55 to 75, as long as you have two years’ membership. Take it before your Normal Pension Age and it is normally reduced, though not if you are made redundant at 55 or over, and your employer can choose to waive the reduction. The earliest age rises from 55 to 57 on 6 April 2028. This guide covers England and Wales.

Normal Pension Age

Your pension is paid in full from your Normal Pension Age. For the pension you build up from April 2014, that is linked to your State Pension age but is at least 65. For pension built up before 1 April 2014, the protected Normal Pension Age is usually 65. Take it later and the pension is increased, based on the number of days beyond your Normal Pension Age. You must take it by 75. The State Pension age guide shows how to check yours.

Retiring early and the reductions

To take your pension voluntarily you must be 55 or over, have met the two-year qualifying period and have left your job. You take your whole LGPS pension at once. The pension is calculated as usual and then reduced for early payment. The LGPS site says the government changed the reductions on 13 July 2026, and the table applies to retirements from 1 August 2026.

Years early	Pension reduction	Lump sum reduction (membership to 31 March 2008)
1	5.0%	2.0%
2	9.6%	3.9%
3	13.9%	5.8%
4	17.8%	7.6%
5	21.5%	9.4%
6	24.9%	11.2%
7	28.1%	12.9%
8	31.1%	14.7%
9	33.9%	16.3%
10	36.6%	18.0%

The scheme also gives figures for 11 to 13 years early (39.0, 41.4 and 43.6 per cent reductions to the pension), and for part years the reductions are adjusted. Say your Normal Pension Age is 67 and you retire at 62: that is five years early, so the pension is reduced by 21.5 per cent of the amount you had built up. Your employer may decide not to apply all or part of the reduction. Each employer has a policy on this that you can ask to see.

Redundancy and business efficiency

If you lose your job through redundancy or in the interests of business efficiency, are 55 or over and have two years’ membership, your benefits must be paid immediately. If you are under Normal Pension Age, your main LGPS benefits are not reduced. Any extra pension you bought through additional pension contributions, shared cost additional pension contributions or additional regular contributions is reduced for early payment. Extra pension through a qualifying additional pension arrangement is not. See also the early retirement guide and, for the payment an employer may add to statutory redundancy pay, the council early termination compensation guide.

Flexible retirement

Flexible retirement lets you ease down while still working. You must be 55 or over, have met the two-year qualifying period and your employer must agree. You reduce your hours or move to a less senior post and take some or all of your benefits. You must take any benefits built up before 1 April 2008. Benefits may be reduced if you are below Normal Pension Age. Your employer has a policy on this and you can ask for it before you apply.

The 85-year rule

If you were a member of the LGPS at any time between 1 April 1998 and 30 September 2006, you may be protected by the 85-year rule: your age plus your length of membership, both in full years, add up to 85. It applies automatically if you retire after 60. Between 55 and 60 it does not apply automatically, though your employer may choose to let it apply. With flexible retirement, it applies to benefits built up to the date you first take flexible retirement, even under 60, but not to pension you build up after that. Part-time membership counts at its full calendar length.

Deferred pensions

If you have already left, you can take your deferred pension from 55 without your former employer’s consent. Ill-health retirement is possible at any age if the former employer agrees you are permanently unable to do your old job, and for those who left after 31 March 2008, also unable to do gainful employment in the next three years. See the ill-health retirement guide.

What to check

Ask your fund for a retirement estimate at several dates, since the reduction changes with each year. Ask your employer for its policies on waiving reductions, the 85-year rule and flexible retirement. If the rise to 57 matters to you, check what applies to your birth date on the LGPS site. This is general information, and independent financial advice or MoneyHelper can help with the decision.