The new pension in the UK has now become law

[whitedesire]

The new single tier pension for UK'ers has now been law. A rundown of the points:

If your state pension age is before April 2016, the current rules apply. After April 2016, the new rules apply.

New rules are:

35 qualifying years (as opposed to the current 30 years) to claim a state pension of £148 (around that and in today's money), I think already it will be around £155 when it is implemented in 2016.

In April 2016, what you have accrued in qualifying years / contributions, will be translated into a "foundation amount" derived from the higher of the current system or the new system. Anything that has been accrued over the years will not be lost.

And if that amount does not equate to the £148, then there are opportunities to top this up year by year.

Winners with this new style pension are the people who "contracted out" if you understand that terminology, as are the self employed.

There is also a minimum amount of qualifying years you need to obtain a pension.