Welcome to the pensions pages. The aim of these pages is to give you the information you need to make informed choices about your retirement income and pension plans. They cover all the key aspects of pensions and contain links to other web sites which allow you to investigate specific issues in more detail.
Policy on pensions and benefits for older citizens continues to be the subject of significant political. Recent changes include:
- The state pension age is rising for everyone and will be kept under review.
- Employers must offer and enrol eligible employees into an occupational pension scheme to which both the employer and employee contribute. Employees who do not wish to participate will need to actively opt out.
- Individuals in defined contribution schemes now have more freedom to decide how they use their pension pots to provide a retirement income.
Policy on pensions is just beginning a period of great change. All parties, irrespective of political colour, are agreed on major aspects of policy that will shape pensions for the foreseeable future. These are that:
- The state pension age for everyone will rise; over the next fifteen years to 67 for everyone and at periodic intervals if longevity rates continue to rise.
- Employers must offer and enrol eligible employees into an occupational pension scheme to which both the employer and employee contribute. Employees who do not wish to participate will need to actively opt out.
- Individuals in defined contribution schemes should have more freedom to decide how they use their pension pots to provide a retirement income.
