Pensions! In a nutshell?!

[Toastandmarmite999]

Forgive my ignorance, I just don't understand how they work.
I contributed into two schemes for a few years and now I'm almost 55, I'd like to take the money out to use now.
I seem to have 6K in both schemes - can I draw it out now?
Why would this be a bad idea? That money isn't going to increase is it as I'm no longer paying into either?

A DB pension is a promise of the pension in the future based on a fraction of your salary x no of years service. A DC pension (like Nest) is an investment with a pot value that can go up or down.

OP, you can't really do pensions in a nutshell, they can be complex. Have a look at moneyhelper.org.uk

the government provide free pension advice through pension wise. You can book a telephone appointment and they will explain it all and help you about your best options. It won't cost a penny so why not start there.

If your BBC pension has a transfer value of more than £30k, you can’t transfer it anywhere as nobody would approve the transfer ( after pocketing a few thousand for the advice not to transfer). It’s probably too much for trivial commution too, unless the value of all your pensions together are worth less than £30k.
Your Nest is simply a pot of investments that you can access from 55. You get 25% tax free ( whether in chunks or all at once).
Once you touch a penny of taxable income, your future contributions ( including employer) are reduced to a max of £10k a year, including tax relief).