How to check your State Pension age
Curious about when you can start receiving your State Pension? Understanding your State Pension age is a great first step in planning your retirement. Here’s a step-by-step guide to finding out when you qualify.
Understanding the State Pension
The State Pension is a regular payment from the UK government designed to support you as you retire. Currently, you can claim it once you reach the set State Pension age. As of now, both men and women can start receiving this benefit at age 66. However, the State Pension age is set to rise gradually. For those born after April 5, 1960, it will increase incrementally, eventually reaching 67 by April 2028. Further changes are anticipated, with plans to increase the age to 68 for individuals born after April 1977.
Do You Qualify?
To be eligible for the State Pension, you'll need at least 10 years of National Insurance (NI) contributions under your belt. But to receive the full pension amount, you’ll require 35 qualifying years. If you're concerned about how many years you’ve accumulated, you can check your National Insurance record online to see where you stand.
Check Your State Pension Age
The great news is that finding out your State Pension age is quite simple! The UK government offers a handy online calculator on their GOV.UK website. Here’s how you can use it:
Click on ‘Start now’.
Select ‘State Pension age’ from the options provided.
Input your date of birth as requested.
Receive your State Pension age in seconds!
Future Changes
Keep in mind that the State Pension age is periodically reviewed and might change in the future. Changes are often influenced by factors such as improvements in life expectancy or government policy changes. It’s a good idea to keep yourself updated with any announcements in case these affect your retirement planning.
If you are a Penny member, you can also view your State Pension age in your Penny app, where we integrate Gov.uk's calculations to automatically display your forecast age.
