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Retirement

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State pension age increase and impact on private pensions.

60 replies

Rollercoaster1920 · 15/07/2026 11:54

Talk in the papers today of moving state retirement age to 68 from 67 early. This will affect people between 49 and 55. So a heads up if this impacts your retirement plans.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/state-pension-age-increase-68-2037-labour-treasury-b3015125.html

The one thing that doesn't get talked about is the knock-on impact on taking private pension and the 25% tax free lump sum. They are usually tied to 10 years before state retirement.

I'd be more supportive of the state pension age rising if the private pension and and lump sums were able to be taken as they are today so those who save can stick to current plans. i.e. tie them to 55 rather than 10 years before state pension age.

Millions to retire later under state pension age increase plans

Around five millions workers could lose out under the plans

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/state-pension-age-increase-68-2037-labour-treasury-b3015125.html

OP posts:
AnneElliott · 18/07/2026 13:50

RockaLock · 15/07/2026 18:36

It is worth checking the paperwork for your private pension, as some schemes have a protected pension age of 55 - meaning that you can still access it at 55, despite what has happened to the state pension age.

Yes check the terms of the policy. I can still take my Aviva one at 55 as I had opened if before the rules changed and it has a protected status.

BirdyBedtime · 18/07/2026 14:01

TeaWithASplashOfMilkPlease · 16/07/2026 21:46

My civil service pension doesn’t pay out (unless greatly reduced) until I reach state pension age.

So this would keep people in their late 60s in jobs longer, blocking them from young people. I would rather see pensions paid to people for a year longer and have their jobs released for the large numbers of young people without work to take on. The government should be interested in this too.

When I joined the civil service pension scheme, it was due to be paid out when I reached 60. Currently it is my state pension age of 67. Another year of working in my role, which requires me to be able to climb scaffolding and into attics and get around building sites, feels intolerable, so I might have to make myself poor in retirement to retire at a more reasonable time of my life.

Moving the goalposts for people like me, who are the upper end of the age range mentioned in the OP, makes getting older a real challenge - we don’t have enough time to replan things and save more to enable us to retire before our pensions mature. I will have worked full time for over 45 years, no maternity leave, no sabbaticals, and yet the time I can finally stop keeps getting further and further away.

This is not true. If you were in Premium or Classic the minimum pension age is protected. So you can go at 55 in Premium. Yes it's reduced but only to around 0.7 ish. And you will be eligible for remedy so only your alpha pension from 2022 will be at 67 and again you can take it from 57 (reduced to about 0.5).

TeaWithASplashOfMilkPlease · 18/07/2026 15:13

I couldn’t afford to take my Classic at 60 and only work part time for another 12 years! Even though I’ve been in a professional grade since 2006, it’s not going to pay me anywhere near half what I’d need to live on even if I leave it until it matures.

zurigo · 18/07/2026 15:29

I'm 52 so in this group as well, but I've always expected them to raise it to 68 before I get to pension age. They can raise it with anything up to 10 years' notice IIRC, so with the sorry state that the UK's public finances are in I'd have been shocked if they didn't raise it!

What is enough to give you whiplash though is how quickly these changes have come in. My DM, who is 25 years older than me, was able to draw her pension at 60, but I will have to work until 68.

LeftBoobGoneRogue · 18/07/2026 15:44

My retirement age is 7 years later than a woman 13 years older than me.

Theyreeatingthedogs · 18/07/2026 18:02

NullaEffugium · 18/07/2026 13:44

Laugh all you like, but when I started work, retirement age was 55, then it was 60, then 65, then 67 and now they’re saying possibly 68. I believe it will rise again to at least 70.

Wait until you have been working 40+ years and then you will see it’s never only one year and then no change the rest of your life. Just in my half century, it has gone up by 15yrs.

Eh? When was it 55?

Weaselsr · 18/07/2026 18:34

Its the waste thats pretty offensive the lablur gov have removed the 3 child limit and given fsm to everyone on UC. But where was the brrakfast clubs years later our school one is the dame funded by parents.
Then 30 hours so 15 more for non working parents.

AnAutumnCrow · 18/07/2026 19:04

Theyreeatingthedogs · 18/07/2026 18:02

Eh? When was it 55?

I’m assuming that’s a mixup of workplace, private and state pension ages?

The state pension age has never been 55, you’re right. Not in the UK.

NullaEffugium · 18/07/2026 21:37

Theyreeatingthedogs · 18/07/2026 18:02

Eh? When was it 55?

At my civil service job in the USA, full retirement was at 55 when I first started.

NullaEffugium · 18/07/2026 21:41

AnAutumnCrow · 18/07/2026 19:04

I’m assuming that’s a mixup of workplace, private and state pension ages?

The state pension age has never been 55, you’re right. Not in the UK.

It’s not a UK state pension, it was a US Government pension (but not social security). So long as you had 30yrs of service, full retirement was at 55. If you had less than 30yrs of service full retirement was at 57. This was repeatedly raised over the years in parallel with UK.

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