Why EVERYONE over 40 forgets their pin number

JUST half of Britons retiring in the next five years will get the full state pension, official figures revealed yesterday.

Thousands will miss out on the new flat rate of £155.65 a week despite promises the system would be fairer.

Many will not get the headline figure as it depends on their National Insurance contributions. Figures out yesterday revealed around one in five of those reaching state pension age this year will be worse off.

Campaigners have accused ministers o f ‘ misleading’ t he p ublic into believing they would be better off under the new system.

Alan Higham, of advice website Pensions Champ, said the Department for Work and Pensions’ ‘puzzling’ information had left r etirees w ith ‘ mistaken e xpectations’ tations' about how much they would get.

He added: ‘Sadly, people have beenmisledintothinking[thenew flat rate] is a rise in their basic state pension.’

under the current system, everyone reaching state pension age qualifies for the basic handout of £115.95 a week, provided they have 30 years of National Insurance contributions.

But those who took part in socalled ‘ contracting o ut’ – i n w hich they gave up their right to an additional s tate p ension i n r eturn for lower NI contributions – will receive a lower flat rate.

under the new system, which will launch in April, future retirees will also only qualify for the full rate after 35 years of full NI contributions.

Although the effects of ‘contracting out’ will even out within the next 20 years, the flat rate state pension will also leave millions of younger workers worse off in retirement.

The majority of those in their 60s and 50s will be better off to the tune of between £7 and £13 a week. But their children, now in their 20s, 30s and 40s, are more likely to be worse off by between £11 and £15 a week when they retire t han t hey w ould h ave b een under the current system.

Part of the reason is that they will no longer be able to contribute to the earnings-related State Second Pension.

The DWP said more than 70 per cent of Britons who contractedout will still gain from the new flat rate.