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UK Adults Lag in Checking State Pension Forecasts, HMRC Warns
Confirmed
In Short: Around one in eight UK adults have never checked their state pension forecast, according to HMRC, as the agency urges people to prepare for retirement.
The latest report from HMRC indicates that 12.5% of UK adults have not checked their state pension forecast, with people aged 45 to 54 particularly likely to have left it unchecked. This comes as HMRC is urging people to check their forecast as part of Pension Awareness Week, which runs from September 15 to 18.
Common reasons for not checking include believing retirement is too far off to consider, concerns about lost pension pots from previous jobs, and worries about how career breaks may affect their entitlement. Other barriers include not knowing how to check their state pension or thinking the process would be too complicated.
The HMRC app is designed to help users check their state pension forecast, identify gaps in their National Insurance record, and make voluntary contributions if eligible. HMRC's Tax Confident website provides guidance on tax matters in retirement, such as understanding that the state pension is taxable income, managing tax if working while drawing a pension, and information on savings, investments, and inheritance tax.
What's confirmed
- The findings have been released ahead of Pension Awareness Week, which runs from September 15 to 18.
What's still developing
- "Our latest report shows how sensitive the rental market is to even modest changes in how many homes are available for rent," said Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla.
- That remains lower than the rate of rising prices in general, but the property portal has forecast annual rent rises among privately rented homes will hit 4% or 5% by the end of the year.
- By Vicky Shaw, Press Association Personal Finance Correspondent Around one in eight (12.5%) UK adults have not checked their state pension forecast, research for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) indicates.
- Research commissioned by HM Revenue and Customs found that 12.5 per cent of adults have never checked their State Pension forecast.
- HMRC's research found that almost a third of people have checked their State Pension either online or through the HMRC app, giving them an indication of what they could receive in retirement.
- Around 26 per cent said retirement felt too far away to think about, while 24 per cent were concerned about losing track of pension pots from previous jobs.
- HMRC chief customer officer Myrtle Lloyd said checking the forecast was a simple step that could help people prepare for retirement.
- The campaign comes at a time when many people are thinking about retirement only when a major financial event forces them to do so.