Peg pension age at 68, says tsar

RAISING the retirement age beyond 68 for those now in their 30s would be wrong, the Government’s pensions tsar warned yesterday.

John Cridland, former head of the CBI, said pushing the state pension age back to 69 or 70 would be too much.

Issuing a clear warning to ministers as they prepare to announce the new state pension age, Mr Cridland told the Evening Standard: ‘Going beyond 68 would be too big a change for this generation to bear because for some women their expectations will have moved from 60 to 68 and for men from 65 to 68. There is only so much one generation can bear.’

The state pension age started rising in 2010. It will be 65 for men and women by next year and is currently scheduled to rise to 68 by 2046. Mr Cridland said this target should be brought forward to 2039 to ensure ‘intergenerational fairness’. In a report last month, he said older people have a duty to work for longer – otherwise their children will have to pay the consequences. Mr Cridland has also called for the scrapping of the ‘triple-lock’ that guarantees the state pension rises annually by the highest measure out of average wages, inflation or 2.5 per cent.

COUPLES turning 50 who have not started saving for a pension need to put aside £633 a month for a comfortable retirement, a report warns. This is nearly five times the £131 a month for couples who start saving at 20. It is required to help achieve an annual retirement income of £26,000.

For this, a couple would need a pension pot of £210,000 on top of their state pension, currently £159.55 each, which those aged 50 now will receive at 67. The Which? study found that retired couples need £18,000 a year to pay for essentials, or £26,000 to allow for extras such as holidays.