This article was last updated on 12/03/2025
We’re pleased to introduce four new Pathways designed to help savers make the best of their money in retirement.
What are Investment Pathways?
Most pensions can be accessed from the age of 55 (rising to 57 from 2028). And while some may use this opportunity to withdraw a large lump-sum or begin drawing down a regular income, others might prefer to delay touching their pension until they’re older. In either case, it’s important for there to be a pension plan to manage their money in a way that supports their goals. These options are called Investment Pathways.
With Investment Pathways, savers can choose from four distinct options depending on their retirement objectives, and how they plan to use their pension in the next five years.
Why launch these Investment Pathways now?
In 2015, the Financial Conduct Authority (the UK financial regulator) made a range of pension reforms to give people greater freedoms around how they managed their pension. This included being able to withdraw anything up to the entire pension pot from the age of 55 (rising to 57 from 2028) without seeking independent financial advice. A recent PensionBee survey showed that the majority (56%) of people don’t seek out advice before accessing their pension, which in many cases resulted in limiting their pension’s opportunity for growth.
To address this, the Financial Conduct Authority introduced the Investment Pathways initiative. Due to launch in February 2021, it requires all pension providers to offer four pension plans, one for each of the four key retirement goals it identified after extensive consultation.
We’ve been preparing for this for some time and PensionBee is among the first pension companies to launch its Investment Pathways, following the launch of our Pre-Annuity Plan with State Street Global Advisors in November 2020.
How will I choose between Investment Pathways?
We’ll ask you about your retirement objectives when you make your first withdrawal. Once you choose the Investment Pathway that meets your objectives, you’ll be switched to the associated plan. You can find out more on the Investment Pathways options on our Drawdown page.
We won’t ask you about your retirement goals if you’ve already made your first withdrawal. But you can still pick one of our Investment Pathways plans from our Plans page.
At PensionBee, we believe that everyone deserves the right to feel pension confident. Launching these Investment Pathways today takes us one step closer to achieving that goal.
Risk warning
As always with investments, your capital is at risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. This information should not be regarded as financial advice.
Period | Market Event | FTSE World TR GBP (%) | 4Plus Plan (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
4Plus Plan’s inception – 6 Sept 2013 | QE Tapering, China Interbank Crisis and its aftermath | -5.44 | -2.41 |
3 Oct 2014 – 15 May 2015 | Oil price drop, Eurozone deflation fears & Greek election outcome | -5.87 | -1.77 |
7 Jan 2016 – 14 Mar 2016 | China’s currency policy turmoil, collapse in oil prices and weak US activity | -7.26 | -1.54 |
15 June 2016 – 30 June 2016 | BREXIT referendum | -2.05 | -1.07 |
