Ditch single state pension age, says PwC

28 Apr 14
People should be given a window of several years during which they can start receiving the state pension, consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers have suggested.

The firm said a more flexible approach to the state pension would match the government’s reforms to private workplace pensions, which give people more control over theirs retirement savings.

Raj Mody, PwC’s head of pensions, said it was clear that a one-size-fits-all state pension age did not work anymore.

‘A more flexible state pension system will place retirement decisions firmly back in the hands of workers and companies,’ he said.

‘We need to create a state pensions system which is fairer, more stable and sustainable in the long term. Scrapping the state pension age and replacing it with a state pension window will produce better outcomes for people, companies and the government.’

More than four in ten workers said they want a choice over when they could access their state pension, according to a poll undertaken by PwC.

And one in four out of 2,000 adults surveyed said that they would opt to retire earlier than the current state pension age even it meant receiving a reduced amount for the full life of their pension. Nearly half of these people would be prepared to take a cut of more than £450 a year for the life of their state pension in return for receiving it one year earlier.

PwC has proposed giving people the ability to access their state pension from any age between 65 and 75 instead of gradually increasing state pension age for everybody. The current government has legislated to increase the state pension age to 67 by 2028, with more frequent assessments, that could lead to further increases, starting from next year.

 

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