For other inquiries, Contact Us. The age at which you can access the state pension is separate. While the old-style basic state pension has gone up £3.25 a week to £129.20 for 2019/20, state pension for people reaching retirement age since April 2016, has gone up £4.25 a week to £168.60 for 2019/20. Private pension schemes Workplace pensions and personal or stakeholder pensions are a way of making sure you have money on top of your State Pension. Since April 2015, pension freedoms have given savers in defined contribution (DC) schemes greater access to their cash, allowing flexible withdrawals from the age of 55.. The increase was initially announced in 2014, but as it hasn't yet been legislated for it led to uncertainty over whether it would still take place. “In 2014 the government announced it would increase the minimum pension age to 57 from 2028, reflecting trends in longevity and encouraging individuals to remain in work, while also helping to ensure pension savings provide for later life,” he said in answer to a parliamentary question. You can take up to 25% tax-free as a private pension lump sum, after which point the remaining 75% will be taxed at your marginal rate of income tax. Andrew Oxlade explains why. The average UK pension in 2017/18 was £304 a week, which includes the national pension scheme and private pension payments. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. This means that when the state pension age reaches 66 later this year, people will be able to access their private pensions 11 years before pension age. Every employer must provide a workplace pension by April 2019. Moira O’Neill, the head of personal finance at the investment firm Interactive Investor, said the increase flew in the face of other changes that offered savers more pension freedoms. New state pension - This is what the state pays to those who reach state pension age after April 6 2016. * But it's worth pointing out some pension providers, typically DB schemes, will set age limits higher than the standard 55 already. Since the so-called pension freedom changes took force in April 2015 workers have been able to take 25% of their pension as a tax-free lump sum for the first time. When you reach State Pension age, you can: stop working and get your State Pension, carry on working and get your State Pension as well, carry on working and put off claiming your British State Pension. The government has today confirmed workers will have to wait until they're 57 to access savings from 2028, up from the current age of 55. The legal pension age in the UK is undergoing changes to steadily bring women’s retirement age in line with men. "That announcement set out the timetable for this change well in advance to enable people to make financial plans and will be legislated for in due course.". The minimum pension age that applied as at 5 April 2006 becomes the individual’s protected pension age, and no unauthorised payment charges will apply if and when they take pension benefits at, or any time after their protected pension age on or after 6 April 2006. The government has confirmed that the minimum age from which people can access their pension savings is to increase from 55 to 57 in 2028. The government has confirmed plans to increase the minimum pension age from 55 to 57 from 2028, alongside planned increases in the State Pension age to 67. As of November 2018, the state pension age is 65. The minimum age for drawing a personal pension in the UK is to rise to 57 in 2028, the government has confirmed. In actual fact, this figure is not set in stone and as the UK state pension ages change so will the age at which you can retire on your private pension. Nigel Hatt, a pensions specialist at the financial planning group Tilney, said the extra two years gave people time to put more into their funds.