State pension age could rise to 74 as warning issued

An early review has been announced

The government is obliged to review the state pension age every six years, however, this one is coming four years early after it was last reviewed in 2023.

The current state pension age is 66.

The review is intended to evaluate whether the current age is still appropriate.

This is often based on things such as life expectancy.

Latest reports suggested the state pension age could rise to as high as 74 as reported by the Mirror.

The Institute for Financial Studies said that in order honour the current triple lock pledge on the state pension, the retirement age will have to go up to 69 by 2048/49, and then 74 by 2068/68.

This announcement follows warnings that tomorrows pensioners could be worse off than current pensioners.

People looking to retire in 2050 are on course to receive £800 per year less than current pensioners.

Meanwhile, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said 45% of workers were putting nothing into their pensions.

Liz Kendall said that "many workers are more concerned about putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads than saving for a retirement that seems a long, long way away."

She added that many businesses "face huge challenges in keeping profitable and flexible in an increasingly uncertain world".

In a speech in west London, Kendall announced that the Pension Commission would be revived to understand why future pensioners are likely to poorer than current pensioners.

She said: "Just because pensioner poverty has fallen does not mean all the problems have gone away.

"Far from it. Women who are now approaching retirement have half the private pension wealth of men, so the average woman in her late 50s can expect a private pension income of just over £100 a week, compared to £200 a week for men.

"Only one in five of the self-employed are saving into a private pension, down from half in the late 1990s, meaning over 3 million self-employed people aren't saving anything at all for their retirement."