Help Protect Yourself from the UK Pension Crisis

There is a UK pension crisis pending for many people.

The way things are going you’re unlikely to draw your State Pension until your late sixties, so you’ll need to consider what you could live on if you need to stop working before then.

The current State Pension age is 65 for both men and women.  However, this will rise to 66 by 2020 and 67 between 2026 and 2028.

Other factors

This is one of the factors driving the pension crisis, but there are other factors as well:

• New DWP figures have revealed that most people reaching the State Pension age are not receiving their full pension amount.

• The new data showed that of the 1.1 million people to have received a new State Pension between September 2016 and March 2019, only 44% – or 493,000 people – have been receiving the full amount.

• The figures revealed that 48% of people receiving a new State Pension during the same time period, or 534,000 people, have received an amount above three-quarters but below the full pension amount.

• The remaining 8% of adults reaching the State Pension age had received an amount below 75% of the total amount they were due.

Getting a state pension forecast online is a quick and easy way to find out if you are missing years from your record.  Follow this link to check your State Pension Forecast https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

What can you do?

If necessary, you can make voluntary contributions to meet any gaps, which may be a cost-effective investment.  Have a look at your own record before April 2020 and the way you make voluntary contributions changes.

This is an example of what you might see.

Source

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dwp-benefits-statistics-november-2019 – State Pension Caseload Statistics (5% sample) to March 2019. Note that the HM Revenue and Customs practice and the law relating to taxation are complex and subject to individual circumstances and changes which cannot be foreseen.

Come and see us

Obviously if you want to discuss it further don’t hesitate to get in touch and come and have a chat.