Pensions Week: Can You Rely On The State Pension?

The State Pension is a regular payment that you might be able to claim from the government if you meet certain criteria. But can you rely on it to fund your retirement?

The short answer is not quite and here’s why.

Currently, you need a minimum of £13,400 to afford a minimum standard of retirement. According to estimates from Pensions UK.

Currently, the new State Pension is £230.25 per week (around £11,971.96 per year), which leaves a shortfall of £1,428.04.

From April 2026/27 the new full State Pension will be £241.30 per week (around £12,547.60 per year), which is still £854.40 under the recommended amount for a single person.

The table below shows roughly how much you might need for different types of retirement.

How to build up enough for a comfotrable retirement

1) Work out how much you need

The best way to save for a comfortable retirement is to work out how much you’ll need to cover your expenses and lifestyle.

This gives you a clear target to work towards and guide how well your pension savings match up over the years.

Using a pension calculator can help estimate how much pension income you’re likely to have when you retire.

Keep in mind when making your estimates that today’s price is not yesterday’s price.

The cost of living is ever-increasing, which means that the price of goods and services today will likely increase by the time you retire.

2) Check your State Pension forecast

It’s important to check your State Pension forecast to get an idea of how much State Pension you’re on track to get.

And help you build a more detailed picture of how much income you’ll have when you retire.

Your forecast will show you:

• how much State Pension you could get
• when you can start getting the State Pension
• if you can increase your State Pension amount
• how you can increase your State Pension

You can check your State Pension forecast on GOV.UK or via the HMRC app.

3) Top up your National Insurance contributions

To qualify for the State Pension, you’ll also need to have paid at least 10 years of National Insurance (NI) contributions.

If you have missing NI contributions in a qualifying year, it won’t count towards your State Pension. However, you can make voluntary NI contributions to fill any gaps.

4) Claim National Insurance credits

If you need to take time out of work to care for a child, an adult or due to illness, you might be able to claim National Insurance credits to help you qualify for the State Pension.

National Insurance credits help build up the number of qualifying years you have which could help you increase how much State Pension you qualify for.

5) Monitor your pension performance

It’s important to monitor how your workplace pension, personal pension or self-invested personal pension (SIPP) is performing.

This helps you get an idea about whether your pension performance is on the right track.

Generally speaking, you should aim to check your pension at least once a year. You can do this by logging into your account on the pension provider’s website.

This will let you know the name of the fund your pension is invested in and how much it has grown by.

Once you have these details, you can use our pension performance checker to compare how well your pension is doing and whether you could get better returns using another provider.

6) Track down lost pensions

Around £31 billion is sitting in unclaimed pension pots in the UK. But tracking yours down might be simpler than you think!

If you’ve lost touch with a pension, you can track it down using our free Pension Finding Service in partnership with Gretel.

It only takes a few minutes to register and start finding yours.

You can also use the Pension Tracing Service online at GOV.UK, via telephone or post.

7) Consider expert financial advice

Pensions can get a little bit complicated, especially with the rules and allowances changing over time.

Speaking with a specialist financial or pensions adviser could help you get a clearer picture of what type of retirement you’re on track for.

Your adviser can also help you come up with a plan to ensure you have enough money to fund the lifestyle you want by the time you want to retire.