Category: State Pension
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Gareth Stears of Aries Insight recently shared an idea with me that I hadn’t seen explored elsewhere: using individual annuity-style factors to determine when people can access the state pension. Instead of everyone waiting for a fixed age, or taking early access with a steep actuarial reduction, his proposal would let people with shorter life…
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State Pension age is rising. 15 years ago, it was 60 for women and 65 for men, and it is now on a slow path to 68. Both the Pensions Commission and the State Pension age review are considering adequacy. This makes it the right moment to examine how we support people who leave the…
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The IFS pensions review proposals and Hymans recent pensions plan for the new government, among others, suggest maintaining the State Pension triple lock until it meets a target, and then keeping pace with that target. Setting a target will not be straightforward. First of all, do we aim for a living standard target such as…
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The state pension underpayment scandal, which has already affected over 130,000 people and could ultimately involve up to 400,000, would not have come to light without the persistence of former Pensions Minister, Sir Steve Webb. His work, supported by campaigners and advisers, has pushed the Government to acknowledge systemic failings and compensate many of those…
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I’m writing this at around 17:30 UK time, but I’m actually on an airplane heading to Seattle, Washington, to attend my sister’s wedding. As always, travelling makes you think about how small the globe has become. I can get on a plane in London and ten hours later I’m across the world on the West…
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In this week’s Pensions Goth blog I talk about how we can close the pensions gender gap, how tomorrow is the last day to pay to fill in gaps in your National Insurance record missed since 2006, and insights from Morgan Vine at the TUC Pensions Conference on Wednesday 2nd April 2025. Many thanks to…
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On Tuesday, the Government announced reforms to working age disability benefits with the stated aim of helping those who can work to do so, and supporting those who can’t. This will be done via providing more support and incentives to work, as well as making it harder to achieve eligibility for Personal Independence Payment (PIP),…
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There has been talk recently in the news about means testing the State Pension. This is because the costs of the State Pension will continue to grow, despite increases in State Pension age (SPa). Spending on State pension in 2024/25 is forecast to be around £137.5bn. Spending on state pensions and pensioner benefits costs around…