State Pension: £241.30 a Week, 35 Years of NI, and When You Get It
The State Pension is the regular payment from the government you can claim once you reach State Pension age, funded by the National Insurance contributions or credits on your record. For the 2026-27 tax year the full new State Pension is £241.30 a week — around £12,548 a year — for anyone with 35 qualifying years.
Qualifying years are the currency. You need 10 to get anything and 35 for the full amount, with each year worth about 1/35th, so 25 years pays roughly £8,960. A year qualifies if you paid enough NI through employment or self-employment, or received credits — for Child Benefit for a child under 12, for caring, for unemployment benefits, or for certain illnesses. Gaps can be filled by paying voluntary Class 3 contributions, usually worth doing for anyone short of 35.
State Pension age is 66 now and rising to 67 between 2026 and 2028 for anyone born after 5 April 1960, with a further rise to 68 legislated for the late 2040s and under review. You do not receive it automatically: you claim it, and you can defer. Every nine weeks of deferral adds 1%, about 5.8% for a full year, paid for life — worthwhile if you are still earning and expect a long retirement.
The triple lock raises it each April by the highest of earnings growth, inflation or 2.5%; the 4.8% rise for 2026-27 followed the earnings figure. People who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 are on the old basic State Pension, £184.90 a week in 2026-27, potentially topped up by additional State Pension they earned through SERPS or the State Second Pension.
It is taxable income, paid gross. On its own it now sits close to the £12,570 personal allowance, so a modest private pension or part-time income on top pushes retirees into paying tax on the excess through PAYE on the other income or through self-assessment. It does not count toward the pension annual allowance and cannot be inherited, although a surviving spouse may inherit part of an old additional State Pension.
Check your record and forecast on GOV.UK before you make any retirement plan; the forecast shows your qualifying years, the gaps you can fill, and the amount you are on track for. Then treat the State Pension as the floor of retirement income and size your workplace pension, SIPP and ISA savings for the gap between that floor and the life you want.
Richify adds your State Pension forecast to your private pots and ISAs so the retirement projection starts from the floor the government pays, not from zero.
