From April 2026, the state pension age will rise.

Welcome to my world. Although I am not the first year to be impacted, April 2025 takes us into the year of countdown for those who were due to retire in April 2026 and are going to have to wait another year. 

 

From April 2026, the State pension age will rise from 66 to 67 and for the next generation of retirees that’s likely to move to 68 in the next 10 years, with many speculating the current plan to move it to 68 from 2044 will come down to 2035, only 10 years from now. The Government must give 10 years notice of the change, so if that is going to happen, expect an update this year. 

 

My older brother was able to retire last year at 66 and started to draw on his state pension. There are only 4 years between us but I am one of those impacted by the changes and will not be able to draw on my state pension until I am 67. (not that I am planning on retiring any time soon, but your pension date is one of the psychological dates that we tend to focus on) 

 

It's an interesting discussion because this will impact many women much harder. Back in 1995 the Pensions Act set out the timetable to equalise pension ages, gradually increasing the ages from 60-65 between 2010 and 2018. Then by 2011 that was accelerated, and women matched men's pension age by November 2018. Then in 2020 both men and women saw that age increase to 66. 

The point is, it is all about planning. You can retire whenever you want to, as long as you have the financial provision to do so. If you are including the State Pension in your income forecasts, it’s important to discuss this with your financial planner as the shifts in dates may mean you might need to look at alternative income streams until that pension becomes available to you. 

 

If you're not sure how this is going to impact you, there is a helpful pensions age calculator in this link.  

Retirement planning isn’t just about the end goal of stopping work, it might also include some transition time and a slowing down of working hours. This can also take some planning, so best looked at sooner rather than later. When are you planning to retire?