Fears for pensions as government's crucial 'triple lock' guarantee faces axe
CHANGES could plunge millions of Britons into a fresh pensions crisis in 2015, experts have warned.
Workers set to retire in the next 15 years could be £600 a year worse off, new figures show.
The warning comes amid fears for the current “triple lock” guarantee which links rises in the state pension to earnings and inflation.
Under the triple lock, the state pension will always rise in line with inflation, earnings or 2.5 per cent, whichever is higher.
Last year the state pension rose 5.2 per cent, adding more than £5 a week to the basic rate.
But Labour, Conservatives and Lib Dems have failed to say they’ll keep it beyond the 2015 General Election.
Under the triple lock, the state pension would be worth £11,485 a year by 2026 if it rose by the highest of average earnings, inflation or 2.5 per cent.
But if it was to rise by average earnings alone, it would be worth just £10,901 a year, £584 less.
A spokesman for the National Pensioners Convention said: “Losing it means uncertainty and a significant reduction in income over time.”
The Government’s state pension liabilities are set to soar. There are now nearly 11 million people in Britain over 65. That is expected to surge to 16 million in the next 20 years.
Pensions expert Dr Ros Altman said: “The last thing we want is for pensioners to fall behind the rest of the population and end up in poverty.”