1、INDEPENDEN T P U B L I C AT I O N BYRACONTEUR.NETwhom the state pension age remains highly relevant.The average retirement age for men is currently 65.2,according to the Pensions Policy Institute,whereas the ave rage retirement age for women was 64.3 in 2020,having been 60.6 in 1995.The higher state

2、 pension age could oblige many people currently in their 40s or 50s to work for longer,predicts Anna Murdock,head of wealth planning at JM Finn.“They may feel they have to continue working to maintain their standard of living until the state pension kicks in.”The national minimum pension age(NMPA)wi

3、ll also increase in 2028,from 55 to 57.This is the point at which you can begin accessing your private retirement savings,so it affects those hoping to retire early or start reducing their work commitments.But very few people use the NMPA as a retirement target,so this increase is likely to have con

4、siderably less impact than the change in the state pension age.While the pensions backdrop continues to change,one thing remains the same:lanning for retirement was a relatively straightforward affair when todays pensioners were still in the workplace.But the rules have changed since then and furthe

5、r changes are to be expected.If you dont keep abreast of whats going on,you risk losing out.In the past,retirement would usually start at state pension age and probably last for a matter of years,rather than decades.It would be funded largely by employers final salary schemes and the state pension.T

6、his situation has altered dramatically in recent years.What does retirement mean now and how can savers best prepare for it?Rising life expectancy means todays workers need to generate sufficient pension savings for a retirement lasting two to three decades or more.At the same time,responsibility fo