Newsletter - Spring 2014
Do you have any idea when you will get your State Pension?
The answer to this is no longer as easy as it used to be and, importantly, for many people there is no precise answer. If you are currently over 50, the answer is known but the precise date will vary according to age. For example for a person born between 6 October 1954 and 5 April 1960 the State Pension age (SPa) is 66. These dates are enshrined in the Pensions Act 2011 and will not change. If you were born after 5 April 1960 the Pensions Bill 2013/14 puts back the SPa in stages so that if you are born after 5 March 1961 the SPa becomes 67.
However, if you were born a few years after 5 March 1961, the answer to when you get to SPa is not known. All we know is that there will be a regular and structured method for considering future changes in the SPa - the first 5-yearly review will take place in the next Parliament, which begins in 2015. What is certain is that the SPa will continue to increase, first to 68 then 69 and beyond.
Specifically, on 5 December 2013, as part of the Autumn Statement, the Government announced that future changes should be based on the principle that people should expect to spend up to one third of their adult life in receipt of State Pension. In particular the increase of the SPa to 68 could affect people now in their forties with an increase to 69 for those in their thirties. The good news is that you will expect to live longer.