Your State Pension age is the earliest age at which you can start receiving your State Pension. This guide explains how to check your State Pension age, how to see your State Pension forecast, and what else you can do to plan your retirement income.<\/p>\n
According to GOV.UK, you can use one online tool to check three things at once: when you’ll reach State Pension age, your Pension Credit qualifying age, and when you’ll be eligible for free bus travel. The tool is free and takes only a few minutes.<\/p>\n
One important point to remember: your State Pension age may differ from the age you can access a workplace or personal pension. They are separate things, so check both when you plan.<\/p>\n
The quickest way is the official checker on GOV.UK at gov.uk\/state-pension-age<\/a>. Select “Start now” and follow the questions. The tool then tells you when you’ll reach State Pension age based on your date of birth.<\/p>\n The same tool also shows your Pension Credit qualifying age and when you become eligible for free bus travel. However, GOV.UK notes that the State Pension age is reviewed regularly, so your result may change in the future. You can read about the latest review on the GOV.UK site.<\/p>\n Knowing your State Pension age tells you when<\/em> you can claim, but not how much you’ll get. For that, use the separate State Pension forecast tool. GOV.UK links to it at gov.uk\/check-state-pension<\/a>.<\/p>\n Your State Pension forecast shows an estimate of how much money you could get and from when. It is well worth checking early, because it also reveals whether there are any gaps in your National Insurance record that could reduce your payments.<\/p>\n Yes. GOV.UK confirms that you can keep working after you reach State Pension age. The old “default retirement age” of 65, which once let employers force people to retire, no longer exists.<\/p>\n So reaching your State Pension age does not mean you must stop work. You can continue earning and still claim your State Pension, though this may affect the tax you pay.<\/p>\n There are a few ways to boost the amount you’ll eventually receive. GOV.UK sets out the main options as part of its “Plan your retirement income” guidance:<\/p>\n Checking your forecast first is the best starting point, because it shows exactly where any gaps sit.<\/p>\n Reaching State Pension age can also open the door to extra help. GOV.UK lists several forms of support you may be able to claim, depending on your circumstances:<\/p>\n Each of these has its own eligibility rules, so follow the relevant link on GOV.UK to check whether you qualify.<\/p>\n This trips up a lot of people. Your State Pension age is set by the government and applies to the State Pension only. The age at which you can access a workplace or personal pension is usually different and often earlier.<\/p>\n When you plan your retirement, therefore, treat them separately. Check your State Pension age and forecast with the government tools, and check your workplace or personal pension arrangements directly with your provider.<\/p>\n GOV.UK frames all of this as a step-by-step process. In short:<\/p>\n For the most accurate, up-to-date figures and your personal dates, always use the official tools on GOV.UK rather than relying on general estimates. The current-year amounts and exact ages can change, so check gov.uk\/state-pension-age<\/a> before making any decisions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Learn how to check your State Pension age and your State Pension forecast on GOV.UK, plus how to increase what you’ll get and claim extra support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":2,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-state-pension"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":263,"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248\/revisions\/263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How do I check my State Pension forecast?<\/h2>\n
Can I keep working after State Pension age?<\/h2>\n
How can I increase my State Pension?<\/h2>\n
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What other financial support could I get?<\/h2>\n
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What’s the difference between the State Pension age and a workplace pension?<\/h2>\n
How do I plan the timing of my retirement?<\/h2>\n
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