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State Pension
This information applies to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
About State Pension
A pension is money you'll use to live on when you retire. Most people can get State Pension, a regular payment people can claim when they get to state pension age. The amount you'll get varies depending on your situation.
This page gives you basic information about:
- how State Pension works
- how you can build up extra State Pension
- when to claim State Pension
- what happens if you want to carry on working after State Pension age
- where you can get further information about pensions.
For more information about what benefits you may be entitled to when you retire, see Benefits for people over sixty.
How State Pension works
When you reach state pension age, you'll usually get a State Pension. This gives you a basic income during your retirement.
How much State Pension you get depends on the amount of National Insurance Contributions you've paid during your working life.
To get the full basic State Pension, you will only need to pay 30 qualifying years of National Insurance Contributions.
If you're not working, you may be able to get credits towards your State Pension. You can get credits if, for example, you claim Jobseekers Allowance, Carer's Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance (contribution based).
You may also be entitled to credits towards your State Pension if you've looked after children or cared for someone long-term.
You can get a forecast telling you how much State Pension you may get when you reach state pension age from the Directgov website. You can also find out what information you'll need before you apply. Go to: www.direct.gov.uk.
Directgov also has lots more information about changes to the State Pension from April 2010. Go to: www.direct.gov.uk.
nidirect also has lots more information about changes to the State Pension from April 2010. Go to: www.nidirect.gov.uk.
For more information about State Pension, see Benefits for people over sixty.
State Second Pension (S2P)
State Second Pension, sometimes called additional state pension, is a way of saving extra money each week to top up your basic State Pension. When you're working, you pay extra National Insurance contributions which give you a higher State Pension when you retire.
You won't get State Second Pension if you've opted out of it. You may have opted out of State Second Pension if you belong to a workplace pension scheme. This is called contracting out.
For more about opting out of State Second Pension, see Workplace pensions.
Who can get State Second Pension
From April 2011, you can build up entitlement to State Second Pension if you are:
- employed and earning over £5,304 (from any one job)
- looking after children under 12 years old and claiming Child Benefit
- caring for a sick or disabled person for more than 20 hours a week and claiming Carer's Credit
- a registered foster carer and claiming Carer's Credit
- receiving certain other benefits due to illness or disability.
There's more information about changes to the State Pension from April 2010 on the Directgov website. Go to: www.direct.gov.uk.
There's more information about changes to the State Pension from April 2010 on the nidirect website. Go to: www.nidirect.gov.uk .
When can't you get State Second Pension
You don't build up entitlement to State Second Pension while you're self-employed, unemployed or in full-time training. You can get credits towards your basic State Pension while you are not working, but you won't build up State Second Pension. In some cases, if you are unable to work because of illness or disability, you will not build up State Second Pension.
When can you get your State Pension
State pension age used to be 60 for a woman and 65 for a man. This changed from 6 April 2010 and the age difference between men and women is gradually being made the same.
To check when you will reach state pension age, you can use the Directgov state pension age calculator. Go to: www.pensions.direct.gov.uk.
What if you want to retire later
You don't have to claim your State Pension when you reach your state pension age. If you want, you can put off (defer) your claim and earn extra pension.
If you've already claimed your State Pension, you can cancel the claim so that you can get extra pension later on, but you can only do this once.
Interest adds up on the deferred amount of your pension to give you more money when you do claim at a later date.
The extra pension can be paid to you either as an increase in your weekly rate of State Pension, or you can get it as a lump sum on top of your normal weekly pension.
You can get more information about deferring your State Pension on the Directgov website at: www.direct.gov.uk.
You can get more information about deferring your State Pension on the nidirect website at: www.nidirect.gov.uk.
You can get advice about claiming State Pension from an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.
Can you claim State Pension and carry on working
You can choose to keep on working, whether paid or on a voluntary basis, while claiming your State Pension. Any money you earn may affect your entitlement to other benefits such as Pension Credit, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (help with your rates in Northern Ireland).
You can also continue to work and claim your workplace pension This includes drawing out some of the pension you've built up while continuing to work for the same employer.
For more information about other state benefits, see Benefits for people over sixty.
Further help and information
On Adviceguide
For more information about State Pension and other benefits you may be able to get when you retire, see Benefits for people over sixty. For more about other types of pensions and starting a pension, see Pensions.
You may also find the following Adviceguide information helpful:
The Money Advice Service
The Money Advice Service is a free, independent service. Their website has lots of useful information about pensions including comparison tables for choosing a personal pension provider and a pension calculator for working out how much pension you'll need. There's also a range of leaflets to help answer your pensions and retirement questions.
Go to: www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk.
Directgov (in England, Wales and Scotland)
Directgov is the government website. It has lots of information about the state pension and other types of pensions, saving for your retirement and the changes to pensions that will be happening from 2010 to 2012.
Go to: www.direct.gov.uk.
nidirect (in Northern Ireland)
nidirect is the official government website for Northern Ireland citizens. It has lots of information about the state retirement pension and other types of pensions, saving for your retirement and the changes to pensions that will be happening from 2010 to 2012.
Go to: www.nidirect.gov.uk.
The Pensions Advisory Service
Helpline: 0845 601 2923 local rate
Website: www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk
The Pensions Advisory Service is an independent organisation that gives free information and advice on pension planning, including state, personal, workplace and stakeholder schemes.
TPAS doesn't provide financial or investment advice or recommend products.
The Department for Work and Pensions
The Department for Work and Pensions has produced a useful factsheet called Introduction to your state pension. To download a copy, go to www.dwp.gov.uk.
