In our weekly series, readers can email in with any questions about retirement and pension savings to be answered by our expert, Rachel Vahey, head of public policy at investment platform AJ Bell. There is nothing she does not know about pensions. If you have a question for her, email us at money@theipaper.com.
Question: The state pension is the foundation of most people’s income in later life. So, it’s important to know how much you can expect to get, how it will increase and when you can start to claim it.The state pension age was increased to 66 from October 2020, but it is now being gradually increased from 66 to 67 between April 2026 and March 2028.
However, that’s not the end of the changes. Between 2044 and 2046, the state pension age is due to increase gradually to 68. That means anyone who was born between April 1977 and March 1978 will have a state pension age of somewhere between 67 and 68, and anyone born on or after 6 April 1978 has a state pension age of 68.
However, this doesn’t mean this timetable is set in stone; the Government can change it.
In fact, the Government has a legal responsibility to review the state pension age regularly and make sure it is still appropriate given changes in population and life expectancy. So far there have been two of these formal reviews. The first one, published in 2017, recommended the Government at the time should bring forward the increase in state pension age to 68 to between 2037 and 2039.
