What is the Pension Age?

It is one of the most searched for personal finance queries online, what is the pension age? Perhaps the reason why the pension age is such a searched for subject is the fact that there is no definitive answer. It really depends on your personal circumstances, and what government policy will be at the time of your retirement.

A simpler way to think about this is, if you are ready to retire now, what age do you need to be to get your pension?

There are two potential answers. If you’ve built up a big enough pot in a personal pension you can start taking that from 55. If you are thinking of the State Pension, then currently the State Pension age is 66, if you’ve paid in enough years of national insurance contributions.

However, this is only a guide, and your State Pension age depends on your date of birth. You can check your state pension age at the gov.uk website.

Keep in mind that it may not be a good idea to rely on the State Pension to cover your retirement needs. Think about it, you could be retired thirty years plus, with a full life to lead and all sorts of costs to consider as you get older. The current state pension amounts to around £9,110 a year, which is unlikely to be enough for a comfortable retirement.

Even if you are in a position of sufficient wealth at 55 within your Personal Pension, think about how much that could be worth if left invested a little longer. Compound growth is most effective when an investment is left as long as possible. Taking your pension at 55 may not make financial sense in terms of the growth in the investment you’d be potentially sacrificing.

Ultimately, from 55 onwards your decision around your own Pension Age is going to come down to personal circumstances and self-responsibility. If you want to retire on your terms, investing as much disposable income as you can into a Workplace or Personal Pension is the way to go. Leaving that Pension invested for as long as possible gives you the opportunity of a wealthier retirement. Rather than thinking of your pension age, perhaps think of your Pension pot size.

Start with a goal. Using technology such as the True Potential app allows for you to set a goal, with tools to show how much you’ll need to invest in a Personal Pension and for how long to achieve a target retirement age and pot size.

Goal setting is a better way to think about your Pension Age, helping you to think about the sums you’ll need to fund the years of retirement. One additional thing to note is that the

Government plans to move the State Pension age to 67 by 2028 and then 68 by 2046. There are also plans to bring this second increase forward to between 2037 and 2039.

Also keep in mind that people are living longer. If you are in the younger generation, make sure you are realistic with your retirement age goal. And as mentioned earlier, the longer you can be invested in your Personal Pension makes sense anyway, so a goal retirement age within your Sixties is something to think about rather than retiring earlier.

As for how much you’ll need in retirement? That really depends on your goal and lifestyle cost, so everyone will be different. What we can say is that True Potential’s Savings Gap research shows that you’ll need around £23,000 a year in retirement.

When you could be retired for two to three decades, that may sound like quite a daunting figure to get to. And that’s why you should start now, perhaps using the State Pension age as an age to aim for. Set your goal and invest in a diversified investment Portfolio. Simply work out how much you’ll need to contribute each year and the assumed rate of growth in your Portfolio.

The Pension age is going to vary depending on several factors. If you are investing in a Workplace or Personal pension you can have more control over that variability by setting goals and investing towards a Pension age and pot that will be sufficient for a comfortable retirement.