Paul Lewis
PAUL LEWIS / MONEY NEWS
The state pension may be going up, but with two schemes and various extras paid out to many, calculating the exact increase can be baffling. Our expert breaks it down – with a warning about the taxman, too
by PAUL LEWIS
GETTY
The state pension is the cornerstone of retirement income for most people. But politicians are guilty of misleading us about exactly how much it is – and how much it will actually increase in April.
The so-called triple lock raises pensions by earnings or prices, whichever has increased more, with a fall back of 2.5% if neither rises that much. This year, wages won that race with an 8.5% rise, and politicians have said your pension will increase by that percentage.
But for most of the 12.6 million pensioners that will not be true; their total pension will not rise by the 8.5% promised and most won’t get the £221.20 a week new state pension hailed by the Chancellor.