The government looks set to implement a radical shake-up of the state pension system, with the abolition of means testing and the introduction of a universal state pension of £140 a week. Martin Bamford, managing director of Informed Choice, takes a closer look.
These changes, set to be announced in a green paper later this year, would combine all current elements of the state pension. This would include the basic state pension and the state second pension. Those reaching their state pension age would instead receive a single payment above the level of the current pension credit. Whilst at first glance this might appear to be a more expensive solution to dealing with the growing expense of the state pension, it is believed that the government could save £6bn a year by cutting the bureaucracy around means-testing. The current means-teste...
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