Why the UK Gov pension calculator is suddenly Mr Popular

W ith 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…..