Is Personal Pension Retirement Age Linked to State Pension Age?

So if you are wondering if personal pension retirement age is linked to State Pension Age then the short answer is possibly! In the past it was possible to take your personal pension at age 50 but this was in the days when the State Pension Age for women was 60 and for men was 65.

The retirement age for personal pensions was then increased to 55 in April 2010. At that time, and since, the government has said that it wants a correlation between the retirement age for personal pensions and the State Pension Age. Currently the policy is for the difference to be 10 years. This therefore begs the question as to is that 10 year age gap going to continue? The idea is that it will continue, and if anything it may get smaller, possibly even a gap of 5 years. However, there is no actual legislation in place to make this change so at the moment it is still really speculation.

So with State Pension Age increasing over the coming years, can we expect that the minimum age for taking your personal pension will increase above 55 soon? Even those within 10 years of thinking they may be able to have access to their personal pension, may have to wait a few years longer. For example if you are 48 now, you may expect that in 7 years time you can access your personal pension funds, whereas, because your State Pension age will be 67, it is quite feasible that you may not be able to access your personal pension until age 57.

There has been talk, as mentioned, that the difference between the private pension retirement age and State Pension Age will be reduced to 5 years in future, this means that people will have to wait even longer to be able to access their pension pots and for a lot of people this could be as late as age 65 if the State Pension Age is increased to 70 in the future as expected.

So at the moment it is a little bit up in the air, but it might be worth having contingency plans in place just in case you can’t get access to your personal pension as soon as you might think.

 

admin
What is the Retirement Age for Personal Pensions?

When you set up your personal pension then you would have chosen a retirement age for yourself which quite possibly would have been 60 or 65. However, that is not to say that you can’t take your personal pension benefits earlier than this. The minimum age for withdrawing benefits from a personal pension is 55 (it used to be 50 but this has now increased so you can’t take them any earlier than 55).

If you do wish to take your personal pension benefits early then you need to check with your pension provider that there are not any penalties for withdrawing the benefits early. Often there are not but it is definitely worth checking. Also if you are thinking about taking benefits early then it is worth looking into it a few years beforehand to check where your funds are invested and whether you should be switching investments to something more short term if you originally invested on a long term basis. Obviously you should consult with a financial adviser about this kind of thing. For example if all of your funds are invested in shares and there is a sudden drop in the market just before you want to retire then you may lose some money. It is possible to invest in safer funds a few years before so that this doesn’t happen to you.

If anyone tells you that you can take your pension before age 55 then you should definitely take advice on this from elsewhere as, if you do this, you may be subject to a big tax charge for illegally withdrawing your benefits early. It may be possible to take them in exceptional circumstances (for example extreme ill health) but in normal circumstances you can only take the funds after you reach age 55.

admin
State Pension Age – Born 1960-61

If you were born between 6 April 1960 and 5 March 1961 then you are caught in between the point where retirement age increases from 66 to 67. This time instead of specifying the date on which you retire, retirement age is specified in years and months. The dates and ages are as follows:

retirement age - born in 1960Born in 1960

If you were born between 1 January and 5 April 1960 then your retirement age is your 66th birthday so that one is not too complicated. However, if you were born after 5th April 1960 then check out the chart below to work out your retirement age:

Born between 6 April and 5 May 1960 –  Retirement age is 66 years and 1 month
Born between 6 May and 5 June 1960 – Retirement age is 66 years and 2 months
Born between 6 June and 5 July 1960 – Retirement age is 66 years and 3 months
Born between 6 July and 5 August 1960 – Retirement age is 66 years and 4 months (If you were born on 31 July then your retirement date is 30 November 2026)
Born between 6 August and 5 September 1960 – Retirement age is 66 years and 5 months
Born between 6 September and 5 October 1960 – Retirement age is 66 years and 6 months
Born between 6 October and 5 November 1960 – Retirement age is 66 years and 7 months
Born between 6 November and 5 December 1960 – Retirement age is 66 years and 8 months
Born between 6 December and 31 December 1960 – Retirement age is 66 years and 9 months (If you were born on 31 December then your retirement date is 30th September 2027)

retirement age - born in 1961Born in 1961

Born between 1 January and 5 January 1961 – Retirement age is 66 years and 9 months
Born between 6 January and 5 February 1961 – Retirement age is 66 years and 10 months (If you were born on 31st January then your retirement date is 30th November 2027)
Born between 6 February and 5 March 1961 – Retirement age is 66 years and 11 months

If you were born after 6 March 1961 then your retirement age is 67.

 This page is part of a series of questions for you to find out your retirement age – if you have come across it in a search and it is not the right page for you then you can go back to the beginning of the questionnaire by clicking here.

You can also search for the year of your birth in the search bar and you should find a page dedicated to that year.

admin
Retirement Age – Born in 1954

retirement age - born in 1954When Will I Retire if I Was Born in 1954?

For those born in 1954, both men and women, there is a steep rise in the retirement age from 65 to 66 over the year, so your retirement date will not fall on a particular age but instead on an particular date as per the details below:

Born in 1954

1 January to 5 January – 6 March 2019
6 January to 5 February – 6 May 2019
6 February to 5 March – 6 July 2019
6 March to 5 April – 6 September 2019
6 April to 5 May – 6 November 2019
6 May to 5 June – 6 January 2019
6 June to 5 July – 6 March 2019
6 July to 5 August – 6 May 2019
6 August to 5 September – 6 July 2019
6 September to 5 October – 6 September 2020
6 October to 31 December – 66th Birthday (so that would be between 6th October 2020 and 31st December 2020)

How Much Will I Get?

If you want to check how much pension that you will get then you can check out how to do this here. You do need to claim your State pension although you should get notified around 3 months before it is due and sent a claim form. If you don’t receive that then you should call HMRC.

 This page is part of a series of questions for you to find out your retirement age – if you have come across it in a search and it is not the right page for you then you can go back to the beginning of the questionnaire by clicking here.

admin
State Pension Age – Women Born 1950-53

retirement age women born 1950 1951 1952So for women who were born between 6 April 1950 and 6 April 1953, the state pension age increased at a reasonably slow pace to get to age 63 for those born in April 1953 – then started a steep increase in retirement age to 65 for those born late in 1953. It then swiftly changed to age 66 for those born in 1954. This was a quicker increase than the one that had initially been announced and a lot of women in this group in particular were unhappy about this change in policy.

Historical state pension age for those born in this era were as follows:

Born in 1950

6 April to 5 May – 6 May 2010
6 May to 5 June – 6 July 2010
6 June to 5 July – 6 September 2010
6 July to 5 August – 6 November 2010
6 August to 5 September – 6 January 2011
6 September to 5 October – 6 March 2011
6 October to 5 November – 6 May 2011
6 November to 5 December – 6 July 2011
6 December to 31 December – 6 September 2011

Born in 1951

1 January to 5 January – 6 September 2011
6 January to 5 February – 6 November 2011
6 February to 5 March – 6 January 2012
6 March to 5 April – 6 March 2012
6 April to 5 May – 6 May 2012
6 May to 5 June – 6 July 2012
6 June to 5 July – 6 September 2012
6 July to 5 August – 6 November 2012
6 August to 5 September – 6 January 2013
6 September to 5 October – 6 March 2013
6 October to 5 November – 6 May 2013
6 November to 5 December – 6 July 2013
6 December to 31 December – 6 September 2013

Born in 1952

1 January to 5 January – 6 September 2013
6 January to 5 February – 6 November 2013
6 February to 5 March – 6 January 2014
6 March to 5 April – 6 March 2014
6 April to 5 May – 6 May 2014
6 May to 5 June – 6 July 2014
6 June to 5 July – 6 September 2014
6 July to 5 August – 6 November 2014
6 August to 5 September – 6 January 2015
6 September to 5 October – 6 March 2015
6 October to 5 November – 6 May 2015
6 November to 5 December – 6 July 2015
6 December to 31 December – 6 September 2015

Born in 1953

1 January to 5 January – 6 September 2015
6 January to 5 February – 6 November 2015
6 February to 5 March – 6 January 2016
6 March to 5 April – 6 March 2016

then a steeper increase to age 65:

6 April to 5 May – 6 July 2016
6 May to 5 June – 6 November 2016
6 June to 5 July – 6 March 2017
6 July to 5 August – 6 July 2017
6 August to 5 September – 6 November 2017
6 September to 5 October – 6 March 2018
6 October to 5 November – 6 July 2018
6 November to 5 December – 6 November 2018 (here it starts to become age 65)

However it did not stay at 65 for long as there was a swift move up to age 66 from here onwards.

6 December to 31 December 1953 – 6 March 2019

admin
State Pension Age – Women

For women born before 6 April 1950, their state pension age was their 60th birthday.

Anyone born after 6 April 1950 will be among those whose retirement age is above 60 – the State Pension Age increased gradually for women who were born on or before 5 April 1953. You can see these historical details on this page. These women were the ones that were most impacted by the change in state pension age and who took the government to court over the changes (but lost their case).

The next question to determine your retirement date is:

  • Were you born in 1954?

If the answer is yes then you need to go to this page.

If the answer is no then that assumes you were born after 1954 and you need to go to this page.

 This page is part of a series of questions for you to find out your retirement age – if you have come across it in a search and it is not the right page for you then you can go back to the beginning of the questionnaire by clicking here.

admin
State Pension Age – Born Before 6th April 1977

What is my retirement agePart 2 of the questions of how to work out your State Pension Age. You can go back to the beginning of the questionnaire here if you have just jumped into this post by mistake or have made an error. State pension ages have been increased and equalised between men and women but the increases are quite complex for people born in between certain dates so we have split these up so that you can easily see what your retirement age will be.

  • Were you born between 6 December 1953 and 5 October 1954 (inclusive)?

If the answer is yes, then go to this page. (Note that you should already have claimed your state pension as you have passed State pension Age)

If the answer is no then answer the following question:

  • Were you born between 6 October 1954 and 5 April 1960 (inclusive)?

If the answer is yes, then your retirement age is your 66th birthday – further info here.

If the answer is no then answer the following question:

  • Were you born between 6 April 1960 and 5 March 1961 (inclusive)?

If the answer is yes, then go to this page.

If the answer is no, then answer the following question:

  • Were you born between  6 March 1961 and 5 April 1977?

If the answer is yes then your state pension age is your 67th birthday.

In July 2017 John Cridland’s report advised that the increase in retirement age from 67 to 68 should be brought forward, so that it applies to those born in 1970-71 rather than those born in 1977-78. However, legislation was never passed for this. The 2023 review recommended that this was put back by 4 years which would mean that anyone born up to 1974 would still have a retirement age of 67. We will await to see which changes are legislated.

Anyone born on or after 6 April 1978, will have a retirement age of 68 although this may be brought forward. Those born after 1981 may have their pension age increased further.

This page is part of a series of questions for you to find out your retirement age – if you have come across it in a search and it is not the right page for you then you can go back to the beginning of the questionnaire by clicking here.

admin
State Pension Age – Men

When is my Retirement Age (Men)?

So you are trying to find out when your state pension age is and you have answered the first question to say that you are a man. (If this is not correct then go back to the original post here to start again). The reason for splitting off men and women is that up until November 2018 men and women retire at different ages.

Next question is this:

  • Were you born before 6 December 1953?

If the answer is yes then your state pension age will be on your 65th birthday.

If the answer is no, then your retirement age will be increased beyond age 65 and you need to go to this page which will guide you through to show your retirement age. Alternatively you can enter your year of birth in the search bar and you should be able to find out your retirement age from there as there are specific pages detailing the retirement ages of men and women depending on which year they were born.

This page is part of a series of questions for you to find out your retirement age – if you have come across it in a search and it is not the right page for you then you can go back to the beginning of the questionnaire by clicking here.
admin
What Is My Retirement Age?

The question here may apply to any type of pension but in this post we will be addressing the more specific question of What Is My State Retirement Age?

By leading you through some questions we will try and make it easy for you to determine when exactly you are able to draw your state pension – in the past, men and women had different retirement ages but these have now been equalised and men and women retire at the same age.

Gone are the days when men retired at age 65 and women at age 60 and this is for a number of reasons –

  • Firstly there was a lot of focus on equalising pension ages to start off with in the occupation pensions sector, following the Barber v Guardian Royal Exchange judgement in the European court which rules that it was unlawful for occupational pension schemes to have different retirement ages for men and women.
  • Secondly the demographic profile in the UK meant that there was a much larger percentage of the population that were entitled to retirement benefits thus increasing the massive cost burden on the state,
  • Thirdly the increased life expectancy meant that pensions were being paid for longer and again increasing the burdening costs of providing a state pension. Added to this people were starting to work for longer with increased health and it was not necessarily appropriate to have a retirement age set at a point where the majority of people were still able and happy to keep working.

So, to figure out what your retirement age will be in the current system we will ask you a number of questions which will point you to the next step in determining your state pension age.

So first question is:

Were you born after 5th April 1978?

Then your current SPa is your 68th birthday. You can click on the search bar and search for your particular year of birth for further information.

Were you born between 6th April 1977 and 5th April 1978?

Check out this page for the current legislation. Alternatively you can enter your year of birth in the search bar (on the right hand side on desktop devices and right at the top on mobile devices), and you should get a page dedicated to your year of birth.

Otherwise, if you were

born before 6th April 1977

You can go to this page.

admin