Fears are mounting that the state pension age could rise faster as the government launches a formal review.
Ministers are reviving the Pensions Commission to find ways of heading off a crisis, with nearly half of Brits not putting anything into retirement funds.
However, at the same time reviews of the official pension age are kicking off examining the costs to the government and life expectancy.
Alarm has been sounded about the sustainability of the triple lock, which means the state's old-age payouts rise by the highest out of inflation, earnings and 2.5 per cent every year.
The pension age is already slated to rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028.
Currently the legal position is that it will reach 68 from 2044-46.
But a previous report by former Tesco director Baroness Neville-Rolfe cautioned that might need to be accelerated.
With the triple lock in place there are estimates the level would have to hit 74 by 2068–69 in order to maintain spending at around 6 per cent of GDP.
Lady Rolfe suggested setting a rule that Britons receive pensions for 31 per cent of the average life expectancy.
Those principles would have big implications for younger workers, with the Tory peer saying that the retirement age should reach 68 between 2041 and 2043.
It could then reach 69 between 2046 and 2048 - with those projections indicating that it would need to hit 70 in the early 2050s.
That would be when people born in the 1980s would be looking to bow out of the workplace.
Digger said
Jul 21 5:13 PM, 2025
This is all very well if you work behind a desk or do a job that is not physically demanding. God help them all.
Syl said
Jul 21 5:19 PM, 2025
I wonder where all the younger ones leaving and college and uni will work?
Magica said
Jul 21 6:41 PM, 2025
Ridiculous if you are a builder fgs!
It will eventually reach 80, they're hoping people will die early so saving money grrr.
I think State Pensions could be a thing of the past for kids starting out now.
Barksdale said
Jul 21 6:41 PM, 2025
I think this is a question of when rather than if.
Our current state pension model is obviously unsustainable. I would be surprised if the triple lock is around in 10 years time to be frank. I am treating the state pension as a nice bonus but I am not relying on it to any extent.
Maddog said
Jul 21 6:45 PM, 2025
They have done that in the Nordic countries.
People are living longer and not having enough kids to replace the population.
This is crisis throughout the West that's finally getting discussed. These systems are ponzi schemes that need the number of workers to grow at the same pace as those who age out. Or they will go broke.
Immigrants are a solution as long as they produce and don't add to the expenses of the government..
Barksdale said
Jul 21 6:52 PM, 2025
Maddog wrote:
They have done that in the Nordic countries.
Think it is Denmark who have raised the retirement age to 70 recently and I expect many more countries to follow.
Don't think this trend is reversible so may as well plan for it.
Digger said
Jul 21 7:01 PM, 2025
Barksdale wrote:
Maddog wrote:
They have done that in the Nordic countries.
Think it is Denmark who have raised the retirement age to 70 recently and I expect many more countries to follow.
Don't think this trend is reversible so may as well plan for it.
What is more likely to happen is most of them will claim benefits. Live at home as long as they can.
Barksdale said
Jul 21 7:09 PM, 2025
Digger wrote:
What is more likely to happen is most of them will claim benefits. Live at home as long as they can.
Benefits are going to get squeezed in the future as well, no matter who is in Government.
Politicians aren't being honest with the public about the perilous state of our public finances. We cannot pay for programmes we don't have the revenue for and we have very little wiggle room.
Maddog said
Jul 21 7:15 PM, 2025
Barksdale wrote:
Maddog wrote:
They have done that in the Nordic countries.
Think it is Denmark who have raised the retirement age to 70 recently and I expect many more countries to follow.
Don't think this trend is reversible so may as well plan for it.
It's reversible if you decrease the number of people aging out..
Probably won't be a lot of support for snuffiing out Granny at 80 though..😉
Maddog said
Jul 21 7:19 PM, 2025
Digger wrote:
Barksdale wrote:
Maddog wrote:
They have done that in the Nordic countries.
Think it is Denmark who have raised the retirement age to 70 recently and I expect many more countries to follow.
Don't think this trend is reversible so may as well plan for it.
What is more likely to happen is most of them will claim benefits. Live at home as long as they can.
You, us, and many countries are going to have to decide that benefits are not going to be available for everyone..
The able bodied will need to support themselves, regardless of where they were born.
What was originally a safety net has become a very expensive hammock..
Barksdale said
Jul 21 7:21 PM, 2025
Maddog wrote:
It's reversible if you decrease the number of people aging out..
Probably won't be a lot of support for snuffiing out Granny at 80 though..😉
The little Austrian guy with the funny mustache liked eugenics programmes.
Western democracies? Not so much.
Magica said
Jul 24 8:38 PM, 2025
They said today it could reach 80yrs in the years to come. That is ridiculous. Many could be dead by then, saves the government paying out the pension they paid in.
Fluffy said
Jul 24 9:31 PM, 2025
Magica wrote:
They said today it could reach 80yrs in the years to come. That is ridiculous. Many could be dead by then, saves the government paying out the pension they paid in.
I was thinking that. Raising the age is a good way to not have to pay out for so long to as many claimants.
Life is changing and not in a good way.
Fluffy said
Jul 24 9:37 PM, 2025
Digger wrote:
Barksdale wrote:
Maddog wrote:
They have done that in the Nordic countries.
Think it is Denmark who have raised the retirement age to 70 recently and I expect many more countries to follow.
Don't think this trend is reversible so may as well plan for it.
What is more likely to happen is most of them will claim benefits. Live at home as long as they can.
Well tbf at that age a lot more people will genuinely not be able to work whether they are recovering from an operation or have hurt their back badly and need a fortnight before a doctor allows them back. Sickness payments if only temporary will go up.
Isn't it time to let people live? If you have been working all your life dutifully paying taxes you should have enough of a retirement to enjoy, not just barely remember before you leave this mortal gathering. It's meant to be work to live, not live to work. A retirement age beyond 70 is just taking the mick imho.
Magica said
Jul 24 9:40 PM, 2025
Fluffy wrote:
Digger wrote:
Barksdale wrote:
Maddog wrote:
They have done that in the Nordic countries.
Think it is Denmark who have raised the retirement age to 70 recently and I expect many more countries to follow.
Don't think this trend is reversible so may as well plan for it.
What is more likely to happen is most of them will claim benefits. Live at home as long as they can.
Well tbf at that age a lot more people will genuinely not be able to work whether they are recovering from an operation or have hurt their back badly and need a fortnight before a doctor allows them back. Sickness payments if only temporary will go up.
Isn't it time to let people live? If you have been working all your life dutifully paying taxes you should have enough of a retirement to enjoy, not just barely remember before you leave this mortal gathering. It's meant to be work to live, not live to work. A retirement age beyond 70 is just taking the mick imho.
I totally agree Fluffs. What about men working on building sites, how can they do that at 70 when everything in your body plays up. I bet the govt don't have to wait that long, and 80 well, ridiculous!
Maddog said
Jul 24 11:37 PM, 2025
Fluffy wrote:
Digger wrote:
Barksdale wrote:
Maddog wrote:
They have done that in the Nordic countries.
Think it is Denmark who have raised the retirement age to 70 recently and I expect many more countries to follow.
Don't think this trend is reversible so may as well plan for it.
What is more likely to happen is most of them will claim benefits. Live at home as long as they can.
Well tbf at that age a lot more people will genuinely not be able to work whether they are recovering from an operation or have hurt their back badly and need a fortnight before a doctor allows them back. Sickness payments if only temporary will go up.
Isn't it time to let people live? If you have been working all your life dutifully paying taxes you should have enough of a retirement to enjoy, not just barely remember before you leave this mortal gathering. It's meant to be work to live, not live to work. A retirement age beyond 70 is just taking the mick imho.
Then I guess they go on disability.
You have two problems that you have to take into consideration when paying for these programs..
1. People are living longer and therefore require more payments from the treasury.
2. There aren't nearly as many younger people around to pay into these plans to support the older people..
The math ain't matching anymore, and every western nation is in trouble..
These plans were designed for society's with most females having 3-4 kids and most men dropping dead well before 70..
Syl said
Jul 25 12:00 AM, 2025
Stats for age groups in the UK. 2022 figures.
0–14 years 17.2% (2022)
15–64 years 64.0% (2022)
65 and over 18.8% (2022)
So older people are small in comparison to working age people.
We have too many people here of working age who are not working.
May 2025....Almost 10 million people of working age in the UK were neither working or looking for work.
Magica said
Jul 25 12:55 AM, 2025
Syl wrote:
Stats for age groups in the UK. 2022 figures.
0–14 years 17.2% (2022) 15–64 years 64.0% (2022) 65 and over 18.8% (2022) So older people are small in comparison to working age people.
We have too many people here of working age who are not working. May 2025....Almost 10 million people of working age in the UK were neither working or looking for work.
Exactly Syl, so they get benefits not paying into a pension. Maybe there will be no pensions when they get old.
There are no jobs, for my 17 yr old granddaughter who has applied for many jobs, before she goes to College in September. No vacancies.
Of course there are those who won't work either.
Maddog said
Jul 25 2:09 AM, 2025
Syl wrote:
Stats for age groups in the UK. 2022 figures.
0–14 years 17.2% (2022) 15–64 years 64.0% (2022) 65 and over 18.8% (2022) So older people are small in comparison to working age people.
We have too many people here of working age who are not working. May 2025....Almost 10 million people of working age in the UK were neither working or looking for work.
That's part of it too.
But the demographics are undeniable and inescapable....
Fears are mounting that the state pension age could rise faster as the government launches a formal review.
Ministers are reviving the Pensions Commission to find ways of heading off a crisis, with nearly half of Brits not putting anything into retirement funds.
However, at the same time reviews of the official pension age are kicking off examining the costs to the government and life expectancy.
Alarm has been sounded about the sustainability of the triple lock, which means the state's old-age payouts rise by the highest out of inflation, earnings and 2.5 per cent every year.
The pension age is already slated to rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028.
Currently the legal position is that it will reach 68 from 2044-46.
But a previous report by former Tesco director Baroness Neville-Rolfe cautioned that might need to be accelerated.
With the triple lock in place there are estimates the level would have to hit 74 by 2068–69 in order to maintain spending at around 6 per cent of GDP.
Lady Rolfe suggested setting a rule that Britons receive pensions for 31 per cent of the average life expectancy.
Those principles would have big implications for younger workers, with the Tory peer saying that the retirement age should reach 68 between 2041 and 2043.
It could then reach 69 between 2046 and 2048 - with those projections indicating that it would need to hit 70 in the early 2050s.
That would be when people born in the 1980s would be looking to bow out of the workplace.
I wonder where all the younger ones leaving and college and uni will work?
It will eventually reach 80, they're hoping people will die early so saving money grrr.
I think State Pensions could be a thing of the past for kids starting out now.
I think this is a question of when rather than if.
Our current state pension model is obviously unsustainable. I would be surprised if the triple lock is around in 10 years time to be frank. I am treating the state pension as a nice bonus but I am not relying on it to any extent.
People are living longer and not having enough kids to replace the population.
This is crisis throughout the West that's finally getting discussed. These systems are ponzi schemes that need the number of workers to grow at the same pace as those who age out. Or they will go broke.
Immigrants are a solution as long as they produce and don't add to the expenses of the government..
Think it is Denmark who have raised the retirement age to 70 recently and I expect many more countries to follow.
Don't think this trend is reversible so may as well plan for it.
What is more likely to happen is most of them will claim benefits. Live at home as long as they can.
Benefits are going to get squeezed in the future as well, no matter who is in Government.
Politicians aren't being honest with the public about the perilous state of our public finances. We cannot pay for programmes we don't have the revenue for and we have very little wiggle room.
It's reversible if you decrease the number of people aging out..
Probably won't be a lot of support for snuffiing out Granny at 80 though..😉
You, us, and many countries are going to have to decide that benefits are not going to be available for everyone..
The able bodied will need to support themselves, regardless of where they were born.
What was originally a safety net has become a very expensive hammock..
The little Austrian guy with the funny mustache liked eugenics programmes.
Western democracies? Not so much.
I was thinking that. Raising the age is a good way to not have to pay out for so long to as many claimants.
Life is changing and not in a good way.
Well tbf at that age a lot more people will genuinely not be able to work whether they are recovering from an operation or have hurt their back badly and need a fortnight before a doctor allows them back. Sickness payments if only temporary will go up.
Isn't it time to let people live? If you have been working all your life dutifully paying taxes you should have enough of a retirement to enjoy, not just barely remember before you leave this mortal gathering. It's meant to be work to live, not live to work. A retirement age beyond 70 is just taking the mick imho.
I totally agree Fluffs. What about men working on building sites, how can they do that at 70 when everything in your body plays up. I bet the govt don't have to wait that long, and 80 well, ridiculous!
Then I guess they go on disability.
You have two problems that you have to take into consideration when paying for these programs..
1. People are living longer and therefore require more payments from the treasury.
2. There aren't nearly as many younger people around to pay into these plans to support the older people..
The math ain't matching anymore, and every western nation is in trouble..
These plans were designed for society's with most females having 3-4 kids and most men dropping dead well before 70..
0–14 years 17.2% (2022)
15–64 years 64.0% (2022)
65 and over 18.8% (2022)
So older people are small in comparison to working age people.
We have too many people here of working age who are not working.
May 2025....Almost 10 million people of working age in the UK were neither working or looking for work.
Exactly Syl, so they get benefits not paying into a pension. Maybe there will be no pensions when they get old.
There are no jobs, for my 17 yr old granddaughter who has applied for many jobs, before she goes to College in September. No vacancies.
Of course there are those who won't work either.
That's part of it too.
But the demographics are undeniable and inescapable....