The call of the General Election on 8th June has caused rumour-mongering about the current Conservative manifesto (from 2015) of maintaining the triple lock pension guarantee until the end of the Parliament in 2020 (or so we thought). This is the guarantee that State Pensions will rise by the higher of national earnings, inflation and 2.5% per annum.
A very popular policy, of course, with retirees but a very expensive one. A recent pension review called for it to be scrapped as being inherently ‘unfair’ that is to younger generations who are picking up the tab. There is also the possibility that the State Pension Age could be extended further because of the State Pension cost becoming increasingly unsustainable in the long term.
So far the Tories have not repeated the pledge whereas Labour has committed itself to maintaining the triple lock.
We will see what detail is within the respective manifestos which are due to be published next week and I will seek to keep you appraised of any snippets of news as they may affect your financial planning over the next few weeks before the big day.