Bad news for anyone born on or after April 6, 1960, writes Phil Hill.
You’ll probably have to work longer than you’d planned.
That’s because from April 6 this year, people in that age range can’t claim their state pension on their 66th birthday.
Anyone who reaches that milestone before then will already be receiving four-weekly pension payments into their bank account.
So, how will the transition work?
For people born between April 6, 1960, and March 5, 1961, a two-year phased increase from the current retirement age of 66 to 67 begins this April.
Anyone born between March 6 1961, and April 5, 1977, won’t be able to stop work and pick up their pension until they are 67.
Further down the line, it will get worse.
The pension age is scheduled to rise to 68 between 2044 and 2046 for those born on or after April 1977.
It could even be brought forward to 2037-2039.
After that, who knows?
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Why the changes?
Clearly, the current system is unsustainable with people living longer, forcing up the pensions bill.
Understandably, workers impacted by the changes will feel hard done.
Is it fair they have to plod on for longer before accessing cash from a kitty they have contributed to through national insurance deducted from their pay?
Probably not, but there’s nothing they can do about it - or is there?
Financial experts advise workers to start paying into a private pension scheme as early as possible.
That way, they could maybe retire earlier and also bulk up their state pension when retirement finally arrives.
We’re all for equality, but many women will feel cheated by the rise in their retirement age since 2010.
Until then, they could take their pensions from the age of 60, while men had to continue clocking in for another five years.
Over the ensuing eight years, women had to wait until 65 to receive their pensions and within two years, both sexes saw that rise to 66.
The modern state pension contributory system was introduced in 1948 after the Second World War.
That was followed by the ‘single tier’ state pension in 2016.
Over a century ago, a means-tested scheme came into being in 1908, with a five-shilling (25p not taking into account inflation) weekly payment to the over 70s.
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