The State Pension Age will rise to age 66 by 2020, the government confirmed in last month’s comprehensive spending review.
Women’s SPA is currently scheduled to increase from 60 to 65 between 2010 and 2020. This timetable will be accelerated from 2016 onwards, so that women’s SPA reaches 65 in November 2018.
The SPA will then gradually increase to 66 for both men and women between December 2018 and April 2020.
Research indicates many people in the public are already planning to extend their working lives. Around a third (29 per cent) of the population expect to continue in full time work or more flexibly, according to figures from Standard Life.
Andrew Tully, senior pensions policy manager at Standard Life says: “Given increases to life expectancy, increasing the state pension age by one year is no great surprise. Raising the bar to age 66 will make the state pension more affordable for our children, but delaying retirement by a year is also sensible for private pension savers. A 45-year-old man saving £200 a month and delaying his retirement age by just one year could see his pension rise by almost 10 per cent.”