The new flat-rate state pension

People reaching their retiring age after April 2017 will be paid a higher basic pension. This removes the complexity of having the basic means tested pension and the state second pension (SERPS or S2P).

To pay for this, National Insurance (NI) contributions will go up by 1.4% from 2017.

To be eligible to get the full £144 a week you will need to have 35 qualifying years. If you have ‘worked’ most of your life you will be eligible. However, if you want to check how many years you currently have please go to https://www.gov.uk/future-pension-centre you will need your NI number.

After 2020 you will need to be aged 66 to be eligible for the state pension. Women born after 1950 can work out when they can receive the state pension by going to https://www.gov.uk/calculate-state-pension.