Next year April 2019 will see a number of positive changes made to people’s pensions, both state and additional, so those who will begin to withdraw their pot have a lot to look forward to.
You might be reaching retirement age next year, or you may have passed retirement age and have decided the New Year will be your time to relax.
With the new changes to pensions coming in from April 2019, many people are likely to consider bringing their retirement plans forward.
But how do you claim your state pension?
While many people may think your pension is automatically released, it’s not.
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In fact, you have to claim your state pension yourself.
There are three ways to claim the basic State Pension, no matter where you live.
The government website Gov.uk explains you can request your pension over the phone.
Or, you can download the state pension claim form and send it to your local pension centre – you can find where this is on gov.uk.
If you are abroad you can claim your state pension if you’ve paid enough UK National Insurance contributions to qualify.
To claim you can either contact the International Pension Centre or send the international claim form to the International Pension Centre.
You must be within four months of your state pension age to claim.
And if you want to keep working once you’ve claimed your State Pension, this is also an option.
April 2019 will see a horde of new changes introduced to pension schemes.
According to Which?, the new state pension rates could add up to be quite a large amount over the period of a year.
The current maximum state pension rate stands at £125.95 per week – but Which? have reported that this could rise to £129.20, come April 6 next year.
This is an increase of £3.25 per week – which would work out at an extra £169.
Although, it’s worth bearing in mind that in order to access the basic state pension, you must have paid – or been credited with – National Insurance contributions.
While the amount you’re entitled to in your full new state pension will depend on your National Insurance record, the full new state pension is currently £164.35 per week.
In April next year, Which? have reported that this maximum amount will rise from £168.60 – which works out at £4.25 more per week.