On 3rd September you may well have read newspaper headlines after the Government confirmed yesterday that the minimum pension age will rise to 57 by 2028.  Here is a Sun article for you - https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/12573921/private-pension-age-rise/

As many of you will know this is in fact old news as the Government first announced these plans in 2014. The Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen, simply confirmed the changes and said they will be legislated for “in due course”.

 

Here is a reminder of the timetable of changes in the next decade and who it will impact.

State Pension Age

• Firstly, there is an excellent online gov.uk calculator which will calculate this for you and your clients by date of birth - https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-age
• The State Pension Age increases to 66 from October 2020, with the transition period having started in December 2018. 
• This means anyone with a date of birth between 6 October 1954 – 5 April 1960 will reach State Pension Age on their 66th birthday.
• The State Pension age for men and women will then increase again to 67 between 2026 and 2028.
• The following table shows the date of State Pension Age for those born between 6 April 1960 and 5 March 1961.

 

Date of birth	Date State Pension Age reached
6 April 1960 to 5 May 1960	66 years and 1 month
6 May 1960 to 5 June 1960	66 years and 2 months
6 June 1960 to 5 July 1960	66 years and 3 months
6 July 1960 to 5 August 1960	66 years and 4 months
6 August 1960 to 5 September 1960	66 years and 5 months
6 September 1960 to 5 October 1960	66 years and 6 months
6 October 1960 to 5 November 1960	66 years and 7 months
6 November 1960 to 5 December 1960	66 years and 8 months
6 December 1960 to 5 January 1961	66 years and 9 months
6 January 1961 to 5 February 1961	66 years and 10 months
6 February 1961 to 5 March 1961	66 years and 11 months
6 March 1961 onwards	67

 

Accessing Private Pension Age

• This will remain at age 55 until 2028.
• The minimum age at which people can access their private pension will then increase from age 55 to 57 in 2028.
• This means that when the state pension age reaches 66 later this year, people will be able to access their private pensions 11 years before pension age.   It also seems to imply that there will be a “cliff-edge” change in 2028.
• It is proposed that the accessing pension age will then remain 10 years behind the State Pension Age (for example, the State Pension age is due to increase to 68 between 2044 and 2046).