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State Pension

State Pension Age (SPA)

When you reach your State Pension Age, you may also be entitled to receive a pension from the State called your State Pension.

Your State Pension Age will depend on your gender and your date of birth. You can find out your State Pension Age (SPA) here.

State Pension

For individuals who reach State Pension Age, the full amount of State Pension is set by the Government.

However, this amount will be lower if you haven’t paid full National Insurance contributions (or received full National Insurance credits) for 35 years. This could be due to periods when you were not working and not claiming benefits, had low earnings, were ‘contracted-out’ of a pension plan, or were living abroad.

he amount payable to you will reduce proportionately depending on how many years’ full contributions you have made. You may be able to make voluntary National Contributions to fill any gaps in your contribution record.

You can find out the State Pension you will be entitled to receive here.

How your State Pension increases in retirement

The State Pension currently increases each year in line with the highest of the increase in average earnings, the increase in prices as measured by the Consumer Prices Index, and 2.5%. The method for increasing the State Pension is decided by the Government and is kept under review.

Delaying your State Pension

You can’t take your State Pension earlier than your State Pension Age, but you can delay it. If you are due to reach your State Pension Age on or after 6 April 2016, your State Pension will, as things currently stand, increase by just under 5.8% for each you defer.

You can find out more about delaying your State Pension on the Government’s State Pension website.

Other State benefits

You may also be entitled to other State benefits in retirement, like Pension Credits and Winter Fuel Payments. Please visit the Money Advice Service website (Money Helper from June 2021) to find out more.

The contract for the advice would be between you and Origen and the advice provided is confidential. It is your choice whether to use Origen. The Trustee and Aptia (formerly Mercer) are not responsible for any advice you receive or any decisions you make, or actions you take, as a consequence of receiving advice.
Built on behalf of the The First Bus Retirement Savings Plan by Willis Towers Watson. The information
  • is a summary of the applicable law and the Scheme’s trust deed and rules as at May 2021
  • is not a definitive statement of the applicable law or the Scheme’s trust deed and rules and is not legally binding
  • does not constitute financial advice or create any entitlements for members (or anyone else) in relation to the Scheme
In the event of any discrepancy between the information on this website and the applicable law and / or the Scheme’s trust deed and rules, the applicable law and / or the trust deed and rules will prevail.
You should not rely on the information on this website alone and you should consider seeking independent advice before making any decisions in relation to your pension savings (but noting that the Scheme, the Trustee and WTW are not responsible for any advice you receive or any decisions you make or actions you take as a consequence of receiving advice). The applicable law is likely to change over time, and so you should also keep an eye out for any developments which may affect you as you approach retirement. By continuing to use this website you’re accepting its purpose and any limitations.
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© 2024 The Scheme is governed according to the provisions of its formal Rules as well as applicable law. Material on this Portal provides commentary on pension developments for general information and in relation to your pension in the Scheme Material on this Portal also summarises the Rules and some applicable law. However, this Portal is not intended to replicate the Rules and to the extent that any material on the Portal contradicts the Rules, the provisions of the Rules will always take precedence. The material on this Portal is based on the Trustee’s understanding of tax and other legislation in force as of June 2024.