In our weekly series, readers can email in with any question about retirement and pension savings to be answered by our expert, Tom Selby, director of public policy at investment platform AJ Bell. There is nothing he does not know about pensions. If you have a question for him, email us at [email protected].
Question: I was expecting to receive my state pension at age 66, but there seem to be reforms kicking in that mean I might have to wait another year. I’ve read some stories suggesting it will increase from 2026 and others suggesting it doesn’t happen until 2028, which has added to my confusion as my 66th birthday is in October 2026. Can you help shed some light on this rather confusing situation?
Answer: Your confusion is understandable as your 66 birthday lands slap bang in the middle of a transition period during which the state pension age will gradually increase from age 66 to age 67. As a result, people who reach age 66 during this period will have to wait a few months longer to receive the benefit, with the length of the wait depending on when you were born.
Before getting into the timetable, let’s cover some state pension basics for readers who might not be familiar with the system. As things stand, once you reach your 66th birthday, you become entitled to the state pension, with the full amount worth £230.25 per week in 2025/26.
It is possible you will receive more or less than this depending on your national insurance (NI) contribution record and the entitlement you built up under the system before it was reformed in April 2016.
You need a 35-year NI record to qualify for the full state pension and a 10-year record to receive any state pension at all, with deductions made from your entitlement for every missing year.
If you have gaps in your NI record from the last six years, you can pay voluntary NI to plug these gaps and boost your state pension – although it’s important to be sure this will actually increase your state pension entitlement before handing over any money to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
For example, younger people will likely naturally build up the required 35-year NI record, and it is also possible to claim free NI credits in certain circumstances.
You can also check how much you can expect to receive from the state in retirement by entering your details into an online tool on the Government website.
The main elements of the state pension are protected by the ‘triple lock’, meaning it increases annually by the highest of average earnings growth, inflation, or 2.5 per cent.
When is the state pension age due to increase?
In response to rising life expectancy, which increases the projected cost to the Exchequer of paying state pensions to the population, the state pension age is due to increase to 67 between 2026 and 2028 and again to 68 between 2044 and 2046.
Focusing on that first transition period, anyone born between 6 April 1960 and 6 March 1961 will have a state pension age of 66 and 67.
For example, someone born between 6 April 1960 and 5 May 1960 will have a state pension age of 66 and 1 month, while someone born between 6 February 1961 and 5 March 1961 will have a state pension age of 66 and 11 months.
In your case, your state pension age will depend on which date your 66th birthday lands in October 2026. If it’s before 6 October, you state pension age will be 66 and 6 months. If it’s from 6 October to 31 October, your state pension age will be 66 and 7 months.
While this sounds messy, you can easily check your state pension age by putting your date of birth into this online tool: Check your State Pension age – GOV.UK. It’s important to remember that, whatever your state pension age, you will need to claim the benefit from the government – you should receive a letter inviting you to claim around four months before your state pension age.
