Workers are being urged to act now to top up their pensions and review their retirement plans after proposals this week to raise the state pension age.
George Osborne, the Conservative shadow chancellor, said this week that under a Conservative government, the age at which men are paid the state pension could rise to 66 from as early as 2016.
Under current proposals, the state pension age for men is set to rise from 65 to 66 in 2026. The state pension age for women will start to rise next year, to reach 65 in 2020.
Bringing these age rises forward could create a shortfall in pension income for those who had planned to retire at 65, consultants warn. The current state pension pays nearly £5,000 a year for a single person. For wealthy investors, this is unlikely to make up a large portion of their retirement income. However, it could affect their retirement plans.
“If you’re a high earner, you won’t be on the breadline but advisers will certainly be looking at adjusting retirement plans,” says Laith Khalaf, pensions adviser at Hargreaves Lansdown. “People who are over 50 will need to be looking at their pension plans again.”
A delay in the state pension being paid would also have a higher impact on people who do not have a steady stream of income from other assets. “If you’re wealthy by means of your property but not through liquid assets, you could certainly feel the pain,” says Hugo Shaw, investment manager at Bestinvest.
A rise in the state pension age is likely to mean that the default retirement age would have to rise, to avoid a situation in which employees are forcibly retired at 65 but receive nothing from the state for another year.
Consequently, the age at which final-salary schemes start paying their members is also expected to go up to 66. This could affect people who have already retired early and are relying on their final-salary benefits kicking in at 65, say pension consultants at Deloitte.
The uncertainty over the state pension underlines the need to save into other schemes, advisers say. “It should focus the mind on an individual savings account [Isa] or personal pension,” says Shaw. “Unfortunately, I think everyone has to be less reliant on the state.”
Personal pension schemes allow people to access retirement savings before the state pension age. However, this age will also rise – from April, investors will not be able to touch their pension until they turn 55, up from the current age of 50.
