I’m 66 in April 2026 so how lengthy will I’ve to attend for my state pension? STEVE WEBB replies

I will be 66 on 1 April 2026. Under the changes that the Government are about to make will I get my pension or will I have to wait another year?

I have paid in an extra nine years over what you have to pay in which is 35 years according to the Government website. I like many others find this so unfair.

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Steve Webb replies: When the Pensions Act 2014 brought forward the date for state pension age to rise from 66 to 67 it seemed like a long time away, but that change is now imminent.

In short, state pension age will only rise for those who reach age 66 after 5 April 2026 which means you avoid any increase by a matter of days.

But even if you had been born a few days later, this would have only affected your pension age by a month rather than a full year.

In this column I’ll explain what is changing for those who are affected as well as addressing your point about paying in more than the standard 35 years.

As with previous increases to state pension age, the increase from 66 to 67 will not happen overnight but will instead happen in stages.

This means that some people will become entitled to a pension when they reach 66 years and 1 month, some at 66 years and 2 months and so on.

The table below allows people to look up their state pension age based on their date of birth and comes from Clause 26 of the Pensions Act 2014.

For anyone born after 5 March 1961 pension age will be at least 67.

A further increase from 67 to 68 is currently scheduled to take place between April 2044 and March 2046, though it is quite possible that this schedule will be accelerated.

You can check your state pension age based on current legislation by using the tool on gov.uk at: Check your State Pension age.

As we have previously mentioned, one consequence of the increase in the state pension age is that the ‘normal minimum pension age’ (NMPA) for accessing a private pension will also be increased.

However, unlike the state pension age itself, the NMPA will jump by two years (from 55 to 57) *over night* on 6 April 2028.

Turning now to your point about the number of years that you have contributed, you are right to say that some people will pay more years into the system than may be required to generate a right to a full state pension.

However, as I’m sure you appreciate, the National Insurance system is not like a private pension fund where all your contributions are received, ring-fenced in your name, invested and paid out at retirement.

Instead, National Insurance is more like a tax where you pay in according to your means and get a payment out according to the rules in force at the time.

There is inevitably an element of ‘redistribution’ in such a system with those who have long working lives (such as yourself) and/or higher earnings paying in more.

In part this helps to fund the system of NI ‘credits’ for those whose state pension needs to be protected during periods when they are caring for others but who cannot themselves pay in to the system.

Meanwhile, some people have also paid a lower (contracted out) rate of National Insurance contributions in the past which affected their state pension even though they paid for more than 35 years.

I have covered that in previous columns, like this one: Why won’t I get a full state pension even though I paid National Insurance for 38 years?