New rules mean women could increase their pension income by over 20 per cent

The new 20 per cent uplift in capped income withdrawals will come into force on 26 March this year, and people could start to see the benefit of this uplift from the start of their new income year following that date.

New gender neutral rules
An income year is driven by the date a person first started taking income withdrawals from their pension. While people do not need to take any action for this uplift to take effect, women could see their income rise by over 20 per cent as a result of the new gender neutral rules, but they need to take steps to achieve this.

Changes to the maximum capped income calculation as a result of gender neutrality commenced on 21 December 2012. The factors that determine the amount of income withdrawals that men and women are permitted to take from their pension each year is now identical, which means the position for women has improved significantly.

Extremely beneficial for women
To benefit from the new gender neutral rates, an income recalculation point is needed for women. It could be extremely beneficial for women to take this action, especially if more income is needed to live on.

The 20 per cent uplift in pension income will happen automatically, However, women can now benefit from enhanced gender neutral terms, so if applicable to you, it is important you find out whether triggering a recalculation could increase your income even further.

Some pension schemes have the flexibility to recalculate the income annually, making it easy for women to take advantage of this enhancement. For those who are in a scheme that does not offer annual reviews, you could still trigger a recalculation by transferring new money into your capped income fund, but you should always seek professional financial advice to ensure this is the best option.