Pensions are in the news again, and for once the news is about the rules themselves. The State Pension age started rising from 66 to 67 in April 2026, a phased increase due to finish in March 2028. The second Pensions Commission, launched in July 2025, published its interim report, "Pensions 2050", on 19 May 2026, and its final report is due in spring 2027. And on 3 November 2026 the Government unveiled plans for a lifetime-income default at retirement.
The State Pension: the foundation
The State Pension is the foundation of retirement income in the UK. It is paid by the Government to people who reach State Pension age and have built up enough qualifying years on their National Insurance record — generally a year in which you paid National Insurance through work, or received credits while caring for children or claiming certain benefits.
The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week in 2026/27 — £12,547.60 a year — after a 4.8% rise on 6 April 2026 under the triple lock, and it requires 35 qualifying years. You can check your own forecast and record online through GOV.UK: it shows how many qualifying years you have, and whether there are gaps you could fill by paying voluntary contributions. The State Pension alone is not designed to fund a comfortable retirement. The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association's Retirement Living Standards, updated in June 2025, put a single person's "minimum" retirement at £13,400 a year, "moderate" at £31,700 and "comfortable" at £43,900 — all excluding housing costs. The full new State Pension covers the minimum almost exactly, and leaves a gap of about £19,150 a year to a moderate retirement.
Workplace pensions: money you should not leave on the table
If you are employed in the UK, you have probably already been enrolled in a workplace pension without realising it. Under auto-enrolment, employers must enrol eligible staff — aged 22 to State Pension age, earning over £10,000 a year from one job — into a pension scheme and contribute to it. You can opt out, but opting out means giving up your employer's contribution and the tax relief below.
Here is how it works in 2026/27. The minimum total contribution is 8% of "qualifying earnings" — the slice of pay between £6,240 and £50,270 a year — with at least 3% coming from the employer. The thresholds were frozen at their 2025/26 levels for 2026/27 while the Pensions Commission does its work. On a £30,000 salary, the qualifying band is £23,760, so the minimum total is £1,901 a year: £713 from the employer and the rest from the employee, including tax relief. For a basic-rate taxpayer, every £80 paid in becomes £100 in the pension. Many employers match extra contributions up to a level — if yours does, contribute at least enough to get the full match.
Your 20s: start small, start now
In your 20s, retirement feels like a different lifetime, and money is usually tight. Money paid into a pension in your 20s has decades to grow. The same amount paid in your 40s has far less time to do the same work. The 8% minimum has not changed since April 2019, so what you put in, and how early, is doing the work.
You do not need to contribute a fortune. If you are auto-enrolled, you are already building a pension. The best move in your 20s is simply to stay enrolled, and to increase your contribution a little whenever your pay rises — by one percentage point, say — so you barely notice it. If you change jobs, check what happens to your old pension pot: it stays yours, but it is easy to lose track of, so keep a note of the provider's name.
Your 30s: review and increase
Your 30s are often when life gets more expensive: a mortgage, children, childcare, maybe a bigger home. Pensions can slip down the priority list, but this is the decade to take a proper look at yours. Start by finding out what you have — if you have had several jobs, you may have several small pension pots scattered across different providers.
Next, look at how much you are contributing. A rough rule of thumb used by many advisers is to contribute a percentage of your salary equal to half your age when you started — so if you started at 30, aim for around 15% in total, including your employer's contribution. It is only a guide, not a rule, but it gives you a sense of whether you are on track. If you are well below it, consider raising your contribution by a small amount each year.
Your 40s: get serious without panicking
By your 40s, retirement is close enough to think about properly. This is the decade to move from "I have a pension somewhere" to "I know what my pension is worth and what it might pay me." Check your State Pension forecast, and check the value of each workplace pot. If the numbers look short, you still have time to change them: increasing your contribution, working a year or two longer, or both.
One thing to resist is the temptation to cash in a pension early or to move it somewhere exotic. From age 55 — rising to 57 from April 2028 — you can usually access a workplace pension, but taking money out early reduces what is left for later, and some of it may be taxable. If you are considering a transfer or an early withdrawal, get proper advice first — scams aimed at people approaching retirement are common, and a cold call or a promise of unusually high returns is a red flag.
Common mistakes to avoid
A few mistakes come up again and again. The first is opting out of a workplace pension: you lose your employer's contribution and your tax relief in one move. The second is losing track of old pots — small forgotten pensions add up. The third is never looking at a pension statement; an annual glance keeps you in touch with what you have. A fourth is assuming the default investment choice suits everyone: if you are decades from retirement you may be comfortable with a different mix, and your provider can explain the options. And a final one: assuming the State Pension will be there at 66. It will not — the age is already rising to 67 and the triple lock is scheduled to change from April 2030.
If you do one thing after reading this, make it this: check your State Pension forecast and your workplace pension in the same week. Write down what you have, what you are contributing, and what your employer adds. Then decide on one small improvement — staying enrolled, raising your contribution by one percent, or tracking down an old pot. The gap between the State Pension and a moderate retirement — about £19,150 a year for a single person on the PLSA's 2025 figures — is the number to keep in mind, and the decades in your 20s, 30s and 40s are when it is cheapest to close.