The State Pension is a regular payment you can get from the government once you reach the State Pension age if you’re eligible. It’s designed to help support you in retirement, however, to qualify you must have paid National Insurance contributions during your working life. When you’re entitled to receive it depends on when you were born.
If you were born before 5 April 1960 the State Pension age is 66 for both men and women. However, for those born after this date, it’s a bit more complicated. Our State Pension Age Calculator will tell you when you’ll likely be eligible to receive the State Pension.
How the State Pension Age Calculator works
To see your State Pension age and when you’ll reach it, you only need to enter your date of birth into the calculator.
Pre-State Pension gap
Many people want to retire before they’re eligible to claim the State Pension. However, doing so means you’ll need to ensure you’ve saved enough to cover the years between when you stop working and when you can start claiming the State Pension. So, if your State Pension age is 68 but you hope to retire at 60 you’ll need enough income for that eight-year gap. This is where a personal pension might come into play or other savings such as an ISA.
The ‘Pre-State Pension Gap’ Calculator can help you see how much income you may need depending on how early you want to retire. You’ll find it underneath the State Pension Age Calculator and you’ll be able to calculate your pre-State Pension gap once you’ve used the State Pension Age Calculator.
How to calculate your ‘Pre-State Pension Gap’
You’ll just need to enter a few details like your ideal retirement age and the amount you’re currently contributing each year to your pension. The calculator will then show you how much extra income you’ll need to fund your Pre-State Pension Gap.
The amounts shown are based on the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association’s (PSLA) Retirement Living Standards. This provides a guide to what retirement may look like at three different living standards - ‘minimum’, ‘moderate’ and ‘comfortable’.
At the bottom of the page, you’ll find 10 of the most frequently asked questions about the State Pension, such as ‘how you can claim it once you’re eligible’ and ‘how much it’s currently worth’.
Future product news
Keep your eye out for our next product blog or catch up on previous posts. We’re looking forward to spotlighting more of our handy features and free financial tools plus we’ve got lots of great new updates in the works we’re looking forward to bringing you this year. We’ll let you know what they are, how they can help you save for a happy retirement and how to get started.
Risk warning
As always with investments, your capital is at risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. This information should not be regarded as financial advice.
Period | Market Event | FTSE World TR GBP (%) | 4Plus Plan (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
4Plus Plan’s inception – 6 Sept 2013 | QE Tapering, China Interbank Crisis and its aftermath | -5.44 | -2.41 |
3 Oct 2014 – 15 May 2015 | Oil price drop, Eurozone deflation fears & Greek election outcome | -5.87 | -1.77 |
7 Jan 2016 – 14 Mar 2016 | China’s currency policy turmoil, collapse in oil prices and weak US activity | -7.26 | -1.54 |
15 June 2016 – 30 June 2016 | BREXIT referendum | -2.05 | -1.07 |
