Millions of state pensioners are benefitting from a boost to their finances.
The state pension rate has gone up, meaning higher payments for millions of older people.
Checking their bank accounts, pensioners should be noticing changes to their regular payments after the new rates came into effect from April 6.
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The hike to the state pension, under the triple lock, is worth an extra £36.20 a month and around £470 a year.
The new state pension, paid to those who retired after April 2016, has gone up from £221.20 a week to £230.25.
Those who retired before 2016 will get up to £176.45 a week, up from £169.70, on the basic state pension.
This year’s state pension rate has been set by the terms of the Government’s triple lock policy.
It states the amount must rise each year by whatever is highest out of inflation, wage growth or 2.5%.
Wages were the highest of those metrics last year at 4.1%, and that’s how much payments have gone up by.
There is growing controversy, however, over the frozen personal allowance rate which is dragging more pensioners into paying income tax.
The personal allowance is the rate that someone starts paying income tax.
It has stayed frozen at £12,570 since 2021, and is on course to do so until at least 2028.
That means more pensioners have had to pay tax as their income has risen has climbed above the frozen threshold.
Ministers say the triple lock means state pensioners will be around £1,900 better off over the next five years.
