1. You calculate your estimated retirement quote online

Immediately

Login to the M&S Pension Scheme Portal to calculate what you could get at any retirement date after your 55th birthday. Go to Manage My Pension Online for instructions on how to register and how to use the retirement illustrator.

2. You request a retirement quote or it is issued automatically

Chosen Retirement Date Normal Retirement Date
If you’re interested in taking your pension and you’d like more details about how much you might get at your chosen retirement date, you’ll need to contact the Pension Administration Team to request a retirement quote.   The Pension Administration Team will automatically contact you once you are 7 months from the age you can take your pension without a reduction for early retirement.

Please note that we can only provide estimated retirement quotes up to five years before your chosen retirement date. You can also only request two retirement estimates a year from the Pension Administration Team.

3. You receive your retirement quote

Within 5-10 working days of receiving your request

You receive a quote and, if your retirement date is in the next 6 months, the forms to complete for your retirement.

4. You provide the forms requested

You have 6 months to accept

If you want to take your pension, by the 10th of the month you wish to retire in, we’ll need to receive:

  • Your Retirement Form, confirming the option you’ve chosen and your bank/building society details (which must be in your name)
  • Your Death in Retirement Nomination Form, confirming the beneficiaries that you wish to nominate to receive any lump sum benefits in the event of your death in retirement

If these forms are received after the 10th, we’ll arrange payment of your pension as soon as possible but it may not be in time for your chosen retirement date.

5. The Pension Administration Team check what you’ve provided

Within 5-10 working days of receiving your retirement forms

The completed forms and documents are checked to make sure we have everything we need to process your retirement.

We’ll also do a search to verify your identity, which involves checking some of your personal details against those held at credit reference agencies. The search will not be seen or used by lenders to assess your ability to obtain credit. If we suspect fraud, we will record this and share this information with other organisations. We may also need to request physical forms of identification after this check has been completed. You can choose to opt out of this search and provide physical forms of identification.

No queries Queries
A letter is sent confirming the expected amount of pension to be paid and date of first payment. The Pension Administration Team contacts you to get outstanding information. Once everything is approved a letter is sent confirming the expected amount of pension to be paid and date of first payment.

Your AVC funds will need to be disinvested so they can be used to provide your additional benefits from the Scheme, or transferred to another scheme, depending on what you choose to do with them. If you choose to transfer, your pension cannot be paid until the transfer has been processed which could delay your first pension payment.

6. Your pension payment is ready to be made

Following your retirement date

Your first pension payment is made! Any tax-free lump sum is paid at the same time and a payslip will be available on the M&S Pension Scheme Portal. Go to Manage My Pension Online for instructions on how to register/reset your login details.

Remember, your pension is paid monthly in advance. Payment dates can be found here.

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