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Bad News for Anyone Who Doesn't Want to Work Until They're Old AF

New reports suggest that the age at which you qualify for a state pension is set to rise yet again.

(Top photo: beejees / Pixabay, via)

While the prospect of retirement may be the one thing keeping you ploughing on, you might have to put plans for daily bingo games and coach trips to Margate on hold.

Two new government-commissioned reports have sparked the idea that millions of people may have to slog it out for longer to qualify for a state pension. An analysis for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) suggests that workers under the age of 30 may not be able to receive a pension until the age of 70.

Under existing plans, the state pension age is due to rise to 68 for those born after 1978. But while the increase was not expected to take place until 2044, it could be brought in as soon as 2028, after a second report by John Cridland proposed an overhaul that would see those under the age of 45 working a year longer.

The government is due to make a decision on both reports by May, and ministers are under pressure to address the expected rise in the cost of pensions as a result of increased life expectancy and the increasing ratio of pensioners to workers. But around 5.8 million people face the prospect of having to work longer.

Tom McPhail, head of retirement at Hargreaves Lansdown, told the BBC: "This report is going to be particularly unwelcome for anyone in their early forties, as they're now likely to see their state pension age pushed back another year. For those in their thirties and younger, it reinforces the expectation of a state pension from age 70, which means an extra two years of work."

Experts from the Government Actuary's Department (GAD) said the state pension age could also be raised to 70 as soon as 2054, under the assumption that Brits spend 32 percent of their adult lives in retirement. Until now, the typical assumption has been that people will spend 33.3 percent of their lives in retirement.