Why the UK Gov pension calculator is suddenly Mr Popular

With all the media chat lately about the new flat rate state pension – a lot of it confusing – the UK gov pension calculator has taken on a life of its own.

For the over 50s in particular, knowing the lie of the land is of urgent importance.

Why?

Well, when the government rolled out plans for a flat rate state pension of £155pw for people retiring in or after 2016, the message was a touch misleading.

Steve Webb, the pensions minister even admitted he was “guilty of oversimplifying”.

In reality, not everyone will receive the full whack.

Qualifying for the full flat-rate payment means that workers would have had to have paid a full 35 years of National Insurance contributions.

This leaves many mothers who have taken time out to raise children, at a loss.

It also clobbers employees who spent years paying into a private salary pension and/ or opted out of earnings-related top-ups – Serps and S2P.

Until now we were in the dark about how much to expect from our state pension. But the Government’s shiny new pension calculator crunches numbers about a person’s age, contributions and work history to give a scarily accurate forecast about retirement.

That’s why the pension calculator is suddenly in hot demand…..