Almost half (48%) of UK adults under 66 years old have said they do not know when they will receive their state pension, AJ Bell has found.

Research by the investment platform revealed that 63% of those aged between 18 and 34 years old said they don’t know at what age they will receive their state retirement fund, while over half (54%) of 35-49 years old admitted they are in the dark.

AJ Bell warned that over a quarter (28%) of people aged 50-64 said they don’t know their state pension age.

Director of public policy at AJ Bell, Tom Selby, said: "Millions of Brits risk sleepwalking into a retirement shock, with almost half of all adults under state pension age admitting they don’t know when they’ll receive their state pension. This likely in part reflects a lack of engagement with pensions, particularly among young people, and in part the lack of certainty that exists around state pension policy."

Currently, the state pension age is 66 but this will rise to 67 by the end of 2028, with a review set within two years of the next parliament to reconsider a rise to 68 years old.

Of those in the 18-34 age group, almost a quarter said they know their state pension age, but wrongly believe that it is available to them at 65 years old, three years before the legislative timetable.

AJ Bell found that 72% of all UK adults below the state pension age believe that the age in which they will receive their pension will rise, which the investment platform said points towards uncertainty over a central pillar of people’s retirement income plans.

Selby added: "Brits can be forgiven for being in the dark because state pension ages have been changing regularly in recent years. In particular, the women’s state pension age increased from 60 to 65 between 2010 and 2018, before state pension ages of both men and women rose to age 66 by 2020. Further increases are scheduled to age 67 between 2026 and 2028, and age 68 between 2044 and 2046.

"There is also the spectre of further increases in the state pension age to balance the books, with some calling for the state pension age to rise to age 70 or even higher in the coming years. Given this backdrop, it is not surprising almost three-quarters of people expect their state pension age to increase before they have reached it. Add to this the lack of clarity over exactly what the state pension is going to be worth and the triple-lock, and the foundation upon which people’s retirement plans are built feels anything but stable."

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