To not have realised that my pension age has gone up?

[IIdentifyAsInnocent]

I'm 45, 46 this year. Checked online 2 years ago and my state pension age was 67, which I thought was bad enough, for some reason checked again today and it's gone up to 68!!

I knew that the govt were thinking of doing this but I have no recollection of being told it had actually happened. This affects my work pension which I now can't take until 68 too as it aligns to state pension age.

Annoyingly, my brother who is 2 years older can still retire at 67!
Have I missed some huge public announcement?

I had free university. Dont get a bus pass for 7 years.

Unless I lived in London of course. Where all off season travel for 60 + is free.

Also we don’t have any buses. Been cut to one an hour. Not worth a bus pass.

I'm nearly 64 and get my state pension at 66.

I still work full-time and love it. The increase in retirement age gave me a good crack at a second career when I returned to work aged 43 after having 8 years at home with the DC. It's brilliant there is no longer a mandatory retirement age.

I knew about the pension changes in 1995. I read the newspapers and listened to the news. Those who knew nothing of it must have been living under rocks.

I could have taken an actuarially reduced private pension from age 55.

The increase in retirement age and removal of the mandatory age for women at 60, has meant I have been able to work longer and to accrue three quarters of a full occupational pension. Also the extra years mean I have been able to make up my NI contribution years to 35 offsetting my 10 "cope" years.

It's brilliant in my book but I like work. Hoping when I do retire I might have some grandchildren to occupy me. I might become a school governor, local Councillor too, etc.

We'll basically have to work till we drop. It's fucking shit.

Anyone in their fifties now had years of working without basic minimum wage, decades of working without workplace pensions and likely lost at least one employer pension in the 90s/00s merger/buyout bullshit bonanza. I know I certainly did. We also paid full childcare costs and got fuck all maternity. And we have to work eight years longer than our mothers for the state pension pittance. Plus thanks to Brexit we can't even live our days out cheaply in Benidorm. And to top it all off we'll probably get shingles now this new vaccination programme is missing us at both ends. It's a fucking travesty.

UK life expectancy is currently decreasing. I'm expecting it to fall quite a bit given the current lifestyles and the obesity pandemic.

Also, figures you usually see quoted for life expectancy are estimates for babies being born now. For older generations it's lower. e.g. for men born 1980-1982 average life expectancy is 70.8 years (so less than 3 years of retirement/state pension on average - nearly half of men won't even reach the state pension age). Women fare a bit better - 76.8 years on average for those born 1980-1982. But it's decreasing for both sexes.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/lifeexpectancies/bulletins/nationallifetablesunitedkingdom/2020to2022

The government know this, and they also know that abolishing the state pension would be political suicide (ignoring that the current lot are dead in the water anyway). So what they've realised is that they can effectively semi abolish the state pension by raising the retirement age to the point where the majority will never live to see it. Also bear in mind that not only will people not be receiving their pension until later, but they'll also be paying more tax (NI contributions) for longer.

This has been brewing for a while, and it's still a few years until the reality of it starts to sink in - but the message will become "well you should have been saving for a personal pension if you wanted to retire earlier". There is going to be a massive divide too - at the top end you'll have the public sector lot with their very generous pension schemes, then the private sector workers who's been with a decent employer for a long time and built up a reasonable pension pot with moderate employer contributions. But there will also be a large number of people from lower skilled jobs, especially self employed or from smaller employers, who've only got a tiny personal pension through the statutory minimum stakeholder pension schemes.

By the time a lot of people have realised what's happening, it will be too late to catch up. I'm self employed and had no pension provision until mid 30's, and since then I've been throwing as much money as I can at it, but still a long way to go to have enough for a comfortable retirement. Because of compounding, a rough estimate is that, for every 10 years later you start saving into a pension, you need to double the amount to catch up.

No, both are getting pushed back. From 2028 private pension earliest age is going up to 57. Expect it to go up to 68 and further soon too - to follow the state age minus 10.

I have been keeping an eye on my state retirement age
Was originally 65
Now 67

I agree. It turns my stomach to watch ex-colleagues banging on about 'not being told' when they were sitting next to me at employer, pension company and union briefings in 1995.

They don't like the argument working for an additional few years would allow even greater financial preparation for retirement

Even if the campaign had been about the 'inequality' they use in their acronym, then I'd see the argument. I think they just didn't want to be WASPs when they were (mis) representing themselves as victims.

I cannot imagine any government of any shade paying out what these women believe is their entitlement.

Of course they're happy for everyone else to work longer and keep contributing to the pension pot when we all had the same 'contract' as they.

No wonder babyboomers and their self-absorption are pretty much reviled for their demand for privilege/special treatment.

I have skin in this game. I am beyond what my contracted retirement age was: 60.

Due to the briefings I attended with my (seemingly) imaginary colleagues, I made financial plans to retire well before 67, which I have done.

My blood boils when I hear them bleating about not having been personally advised.

employer, pension company and union briefings in 1995.

I literally never experienced this. But then, I was never in a unionised place. Or a place that had pension, until they were forced to a few years ago.

You're quoting life expectancy at birth which is much lower than life expectancy if you've already lived to age 65, which is around 20 more years (a bit less for men, a bit more for women).

Even if you didn't experience those particular sources of information, do you not have friends who discussed it? Family? Your hairdresser/beautician? No-one in work mentioned it? Never watched tv News, listened to radio news, read newspapers? Picked up a magazine? Not even men 'joking' about how it feels to be 'equal' at last?

None of this?? Because that, in effect, is what WASPs were claiming. I think they changed their narrative (probably on legal advice as to how far credibility would need to be suspended to believe their oblivion to national news over a fairly long period of time) to not having had 'personal' notification. Why aren't there gangs of men claiming the same?

I've just remembered, I'm sure I in WASPI initially indicated 'increase', but again they realised it was affecting everyone not just themselves so they quickly ditched that and used 'inequality', again probably on legal advice to support their nonsense.

As I said in my post, I can only assume those claiming this are not socially active in any way whatsoever as it was a major talking point in my circle and, as I recall, all over the media.

Im 57 and my PA is still 67 but the downside is I will probably die before you op! I'm not planning on working till 67 though. 63 is my limit. I'm trying to savour my current moment and age rather than thinking of retirement all the time.

I'm 32 now. I'm fully accepting that retirement probably won't be a thing by the time I'm in my early 70s. Let alone for my kids

@LameBorzoi I have dyspraxia and arthritis runs strongly in my genes so I'm afraid I will not be as mobile as I get older. I am in my late 40s and already have moments of wobbling due to tiredness so I know mobility aids are in my future!

You were too well off for working tax credits then?

I look at it a different way although slightly older. We got free uni, (although I only went for a term), my first flat (in zone 2, London) was £30k, women were newly equal, when I had my first child ends could be met with one income. Notwithstanding 15% mortgage interest and 60% tax rates and only about 5% went to uni and had a degree - most people left school at 16 in the 70s/early 80s. In the 60s it was 15.

In my early career (20-24) employers didn't have to put young people into occupational schemes.

So what were you going to live on between 60 and 67 - can't you just stretch that money for another year?

I’m really glad you feel that way but I think it very much depends on the work that you do and your health.

If you do a role that isn’t physically too demanding, or your physical health is great then OK.

What if your job is really physical and you struggle to do it? What if you do a mentally demanding job and your cognitive function declines? What about those whose health declines and their job is just beyond them? Age doesn’t come alone. Plus, some roles really deplete your health and well-being.

I feel like those in lower paid, physically demanding roles are being well and truly screwed over.

You do the sums. People may have spent 40 years paying £1000 NI per year, but then expect 30 years of being paid £10,000 per year pension. It is obvious that the sums don’t work out.
Pensions are a massive legal Ponzi scheme.

I'm in my late 50s and don't recognise any of this.
It's all so negative. My state pension age is 67 and that doesn't seem unreasonable to me. It's fair that it is the same as for men and an increase of 2 years given much greater life expectancy than years ago feels reasonable.

And I say that as someone who has paperwork from years ago stating that I would get my state pension at 60 and private pension at 65. They're now 67 and 65 respectively, although I can draw a reduced private pension now if I choose to.

I’m a WASPI
My pension age jumped from 60 to 65 years 2 months and 13 days. And I was one of many who had no forewarning (despite what’s said by many) until a few months before I thought it started.
Working to 65 nearly killed me; I developed severe heart failure and was forced to retire early and live on meagre savings.

@BronwenTheBrave with all due respect many people pay far far more than £1000k per annum. The input is also subject to growth over a significant period. I've contributed for more than 40 years. My NI contributions were about £6000 or £7000 last year. My tax contributions are significantly higher.

We don't all take out more than we put in.

I am in one of those ‘gold plated’ schemes. Has been interesting to see people’s choices and what difference the higher state pension age has made.
Colleagues talk about still retiring around 59-63 and filling the gap until state pension age when they’ll get the 11k bump. That’s how I look at it too.

The pension has absolutely kept me in the Civil Service. The pay is poor but the pension makes it tolerable. Everyone I know is taking advantage of the partial retirement scheme. Start taking reduced pension at about 60 but work 2-3 days with no decrease in overall income. It’s a really good scheme which allows a bit of a wind down.

I can’t imagine needing to work full time until 67. Mum died at 63 and MIL at 66.

🤣🤦🏻‍♀️
invest in property?
we would definitely not get a mortgage

Everyone I know is taking advantage of the partial retirement scheme. Start taking reduced pension at about 60 but work 2-3 days with no decrease in overall income. It’s a really good scheme which allows a bit of a wind down.

I wonder if tapering like that will become the norm/best practice? I can see that it would give a softer landing into retirement, too.

You can check on the Gov website for state pension/your NI contributions

were all going to look like the living dead waiting to retire at this rate

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension