Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has confirmed that the third statutory Government review into when and how to raise the State Pension age will begin straightaway.
The government is required to conduct a review into the state pension age every six years.
The last review was completed in 2023 and the new review, announced this week, is due to finish in 2029.
The review will consider whether the current state pension age is still appropriate, based on factors such as life expectancy. The State Pension Age is currently 66 and is set to rise to 67 in 2028 and 68 by 2046.
Jason Hollands, managing director at Financial Planning firm Evelyn Partners, said: “The third state pension age review will be watched like a hawk by swathes of middle-aged workers. The Triple Lock is not within the remit of the new Pensions Commission, but it is in some respects another elephant in the room, as while it remains it seems inevitable that state pension ages must be raised.
"That’s not so much a problem for wealthier savers who can fund a few years of retirement wholly from private income; it’s more of one for less well-off workers who might have to work until and even beyond state pension age, and then also might not have as many years of life expectancy to draw on the state pension.
“Would a lower state pension at an earlier age be fairer than a higher one at a later age? It’s a question worth asking.”
Kirsty Anderson, retirement specialist at Quilter, said: “The upcoming age review will be politically sensitive. Accelerating the rise to 68 may be necessary to protect sustainability, but must be justified with updated life expectancy data and a clear understanding of regional disparities.”
Damon Hopkins, head of DC workplace savings at Broadstone, said: “We would not be surprised to see an acceleration applied to the increase of the state pension age.
“The combination of an ageing population and the huge fiscal cost of the state pension would suggest that a change is inevitable. A lower or later state pension would, of course, double down the need for reform in the private savings landscape.”
Steven Cameron, pensions director at Aegon, said: “The purpose of the review is to look at the age the state pension starts from and the role this plays in managing the long-term sustainability of the state pension."
He said the triple lock puts the long-term sustainability of the state pension under huge pressure. “So the conclusions from the review may be that if the triple lock continues, state pension age will have to go up further and faster than if it didn’t continue.”
Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Raising the state pension age is not an easy decision – we’ve seen increases in life expectancy slow down in recent years. There’s also the issue of healthy life expectancy to consider. This currently hovers in the early 60s, so the reality is that many people cannot keep working into their late 60s.”
She said any decision to increase state pension age further needs to take into account what needs to happen to help people remain in the workforce for longer, “so they don’t fall down the income gap between leaving work and taking their state pension.”
Sophia Singleton, head of DC, XPS Group, said: “Clarity of the state pension is essential so that savers can plan their retirement."
Earlier this year, Denmark became the first country to raise state retirement age to 70 for those retiring by 2040.