First, let’s be clear on the rules. The days of men retiring at 65 and women at 60 are long gone.

• The State Pension age is currently 66 for both men and women.
• It is scheduled to rise to 67 between May 2026 and March 2028.
• Current legislation has a further rise to 68 timetabled between 2044 and 2046, although the government has stated its intention to potentially bring this forward to between 2037 and 2039.

What does this mean for you? There is a gradual increase to 67 for those born after April 1960. If you were born in the late 1970s or later, you should be planning for a State Pension age of at least 68.

The first and most critical step is to stop guessing. You can get a personalised State Pension forecast for free on the GOV.UK website. This will tell you your exact State Pension age and give you an estimate of how much you are on track to receive. This information is the foundation of your plan.

Quantifying the Gap: What’s at Stake?

Let’s put a number on this “gap.” The full new State Pension for the 2025/26 tax year is £230.25 per week. That’s £11,973 over the course of a year.

If you had planned to retire at 65 but now find your State Pension age is 67, you have a two-year income gap of nearly £24,000. This is money you will have to find from your own resources if you still wish to stop working at 65. This is the bridge you need to build. Here are the tools to do it.

Strategy 1: Supercharge Your Private Pension

The most powerful tool at your disposal is your own pension pot. The more you can accumulate here, the more flexibility you will have.

• Increase Your Contributions: Even a small increase can have a huge impact due to the power of compound growth. If you can afford to increase your monthly contribution by £50 or £100, do it now.
• Maximise Your Employer’s Match: If you have a workplace pension, check if you are contributing enough to receive the maximum possible matched contribution from your employer. Not doing so is turning down free money.
• Make Strategic Lump Sums: If you receive a bonus, an inheritance, or sell an asset, consider using a portion of it to make a significant one-off contribution to your pension. Remember, you receive tax relief on your contributions, making it a highly efficient way to save. It is important to note that contributions up to the earnings limit qualify for tax relief so there could be restrictions on lump sum contributions.

Strategy 2: Work Longer, But Smarter (Phased Retirement)

While it might not be the dream scenario, working for an extra year or two is the most direct way to close the gap. However, it doesn’t have to mean staying in the same high-pressure, full-time role.

Consider a “phased retirement.” Could you negotiate to reduce your hours to three or four days a week? Could you step down from a management role to a less stressful position? Or could you retire from your main career and take on part-time consultancy work, leveraging the skills you’ve built over a lifetime? Many businesses in Worcestershire value the experience and reliability of older workers. This approach can ease you into retirement, keeping an income flowing while reducing the daily grind.

Strategy 3: Build a Dedicated ‘Bridge Fund’ with ISAs

This is a targeted and highly effective strategy. The goal is to create a separate pot of money specifically to fund your living costs during the years between your planned retirement and your State Pension age.

The ideal vehicle for this is an Individual Savings Account (ISA). You can save up to £20,000 each tax year into an ISA, and all the growth and, crucially, all the withdrawals are completely tax-free.

By building up a Stocks & Shares ISA over the final 5-10 years of your working life, you can create a fund designed to be depleted during that one or two-year gap. Because the withdrawals are tax-free, they won’t affect your personal tax allowance, which might be very useful if you have other small income streams during that period.

Strategy 4: Check and Perfect Your National Insurance Record

The amount of State Pension you receive depends on your National Insurance (NI) record. To get the full amount, you typically need 35 qualifying years. Many people have gaps in their record due to time spent abroad, career breaks, or periods of low earnings.

You can check your NI record easily online via the GOV.UK portal. It will show you how many years you have and if there are any incomplete years.

If you have gaps, you may be able to make voluntary Class 3 National Insurance contributions to fill them. For the 2024/25 tax year, the standard cost to buy a full year is around £907. This one-off payment will buy you an extra 1/35th of the full State Pension, which is currently worth around £342 per year, for every year of your retirement. This represents an incredible return on your investment.

Crucially, the government has extended the deadline to pay for gaps between April 2006 and April 2018. You now have until 5 April 2025 to make these payments at a reduced rate. It is vital to check your record and act before this deadline if you have gaps in that period.