The State Pension is an amount of money you receive from the Government when you reach your State Pension Age (SPA) – see below.
The State Pension you receive will depend on your ‘qualifying years’ – that is, years when you’ve paid enough National Insurance, or received enough National Insurance credits – during your working life. You’ll usually need at least 10 qualifying years to get any State Pension. For the full amount of State Pension, you’ll need 35.
The current full new State Pension is £221.20 a week for the 2024/25 tax year. To check how much you might receive, visit www.gov.uk/check-state-pension.
The State Pension is important for planning your retirement, but you should see it as extra to your benefits from your workplace pension. The State Pension is unlikely to pay for the lifestyle you want by itself.