The state pension age is set to rise from 66 to 67 from April, but the exact date you will be impacted by the change depends on your specific date of birth
The state pension age is officially rising from 66 to 67 from this April, but precisely when you’ll be affected by the alteration depends on your exact date of birth. The age at which retirees can access their pension benefits from the state is set to start climbing from April 2026.
This state pension age rise was enshrined in law back in 2014, but the age increase isn’t taking effect simultaneously for all pensioners. Rather, it’s being gradually introduced over a span of three tax years.
Consequently, some state pensioners will collect their state pension at age 66 and 1 month, progressing in monthly steps up to those who will receive theirs at 66 and 11 months, and ultimately, pensioners who won’t get theirs until they are 67.
Who collects their state pension from 66 and 1 month and who must wait until they’re 67 is wholly determined by their date of birth. The monthly stepped introduction has been arranged according to blocks of monthly birth dates, starting in April 1960, reports the Express.
Those born between April 6 1960 and May 5 1960 will collect their state pension from 66 years and 1 month – meaning they’ll be entitled to state pension payments from May 6 to June 6, 2026.
Subsequently, those born May 6 to June 5, 1960 will receive their pension when they’re aged from 66 years and 2 months, which is July to August 2026. Those born June 6, 1960 to July 5, 1960, 66 years 3 months, which is September to October 2026.
Those born July 6, 1960 to August 5, 1960 – 66 years 4 months – get their state pension in November to December 2026.
Everyone born in later months than this will not get their state pension until 2027 or 2028.
The government says about the phase-in in its guidance: “The Pensions Act 2014 brought the increase in the state pension age from 66 to 67 forward by eight years. The state pension age for men and women will now increase to 67 between 2026 and 2028.
“The government also changed the way in which the increase in the state pension is phased so that rather than reaching State Pension age on a specific date, people born between April 6, 1960 and March 5, 1961 will reach their state pension age at 66 years and the specified number of months.”
Separately, the government has also revealed that the state pension age is under review once more, ahead of the mandatory schedule. The previous pension age assessment was finalised in 2023 and is only obligated to be revisited every six years.
However, owing to strain on public finances, the pension entitlement age is being examined again, earlier than anticipated. This means the subsequent pension age rise to 68, scheduled for the 2040s, could be accelerated depending on the review’s findings.
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