In our Wise Words Spring 2025 edition, we featured an article about the rise in the minimum pension age and how it might affect you if you have not yet accessed your retirement savings. April 2026 sees the start of the changes, and we thought we would revisit this subject as it becomes more of a feature of our client conversations.
To remind you of the change; the State Pension Age will formally become 67 on 6th April 2028 and with it sees the Normal Minimum Pension Age (NMPA) for accessing Private Pensions benefits increase from 55 to 57 overnight.
The State Pension Age begins the transition from age 66 to age 67 from April 2026 to kick start these changes. You can check your State Pension Age online if you think you might be affected by this.
We are now only two years from this change in NMPA and for those potentially affected it is important to keep this subject on the table. So, who will be impacted?
Born before 6 April 1971
The good news is that you will have already reached age 57 before the rules change and so you are unaffected. You can access your pension savings from 55, as presently.
Born on or after 6 April 1973
The earliest you can draw from your pension savings (unless certain protections apply) will be age 57.
If you are likely to need money before your birthday in 2030 then you will need to fund this from other sources and establishing a plan for that will be important.
Born between 6th April 1971 and 5th April 1973
This is the group that may need most attention.
You will have a window between your 55th birthday and 5th April 2028 to access your pensions, in part or in whole, otherwise your earliest access will be delayed until your 57th birthday.
The most extreme case is for someone born on 5th April 1973 who will have just that one day to access funds from pensions or be forced to wait for another two years.
From an advisory perspective, we are not saying anyone affected should rush to access their pension savings but if you are born from the 6th April 1971 onwards, we would encourage you to think about your likely retirement objectives and spending plans. If accessing your pension is a consideration, then engaging with your pension provider or scheme as soon as possible to check out the implications for your specific arrangement is essential.
If you would like to discuss how the rise in Normal Minimum Pension Age affects you, please feel free to contact us.