Money Saving Expert says as long as you defer for at least nine weeks, then your weekly state pension will increase.
State pensioners ‘netting’ extra £694 in their payments from DWP
State pensioners could net an extra £694 on their Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) state pension. Discussing whether deferring was a viable option for retirees, Money Saving Expert says as long as you defer for at least nine weeks, then your weekly state pension will increase.
For every 9 weeks you defer, you’ll get an extra 1%, which is around an extra £2.30 a week. If you defer for a full year, you get 5.8% extra, which is £13.35 a week.
The site, founded by BBC and ITV star Martin Lewis, says on current figures, a one year deferral would net you an extra £694 a year on your state pension, for life.
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You have to be a certain age before you can claim State Pension, based on when you were born. You can quickly check your State Pension ageOpens in a new window on GOV.UK.
Around four months before you reach your State Pension Age, you’ll get a letter with an invitation code. You’ll need to use this code to claim your State Pension online.
You can apply as soon as you receive it or choose to wait. If you wait, this is called deferring or delaying your State Pension.
MSE added: “Yet, do note that to get this, you’ll have given up £11,978 in state pension that you could have claimed in the first year.
“In general, if you defer for any amount of time, you’d need to live for around 20 years after taking your state pension to even out the amounts… which is around the time an average 66 year old is expected to live.
“This is very relevant to the choice of whether to defer. If you’re in poor health and worried about life expectancy, then deferring isn’t likely to help as you’re less likely to hit the 20-year breakeven point.
“Yet if you’re in good health and feel reasonably confident about your life expectancy, then you might beat the odds and profit.”