You have a state pension coming. Most people have no idea how much.
The full UK State Pension is £12,548 per year (2026/27). Whether you get the full amount depends entirely on your National Insurance record. Here's where you stand.
Your Details
Your state pension age is 67
You need 35 years for the full new state pension
Your State Pension Estimate
You're 20 years short of the full state pension
You Can Make Up Missing Years
Voluntary contributions cost around £824 per missing year. You can backfill up to 6 years.
Your State Pension Age
Based on your birth year of 1985
See your complete retirement income
The state pension is just one part. Delphina shows you your full retirement picture including all your pensions, savings, and investments.
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Understanding Your UK State Pension
How the UK State Pension Works
The UK State Pension is a regular payment from the government based on your National Insurance record. It's not means-tested, not related to your final salary, and not affected by other income you might have in retirement. You earn it by paying National Insurance contributions throughout your working life.
For the 2026/27 tax year, the full new State Pension is £12,548 per year — that's roughly £1,046 per month, paid every four weeks. You can claim it from your state pension age, which is currently 67 for most people. If you were born after 1978, your state pension age is 67 or later.
The amount you receive depends entirely on your National Insurance record. You need at least 10 qualifying years to get any State Pension at all, and 35 qualifying years to get the full amount. Qualifying years are usually earned through employment, though credits exist for things like parenting, illness, and caring responsibilities.
What Counts as a Qualifying Year
Most people earn qualifying years through paid employment where they pay Class 1 National Insurance contributions. If you're employed and earning above the Lower Earnings Limit (roughly £6,500 per year), you automatically build up qualifying years. Even if you earn less than the threshold and don't actually pay NICs, you still get the credit.
Self-employed? You'll pay Class 2 and Class 4 NICs, both of which count towards your State Pension. If your profits are very low, you might qualify for a National Insurance credit instead. There are also credits for various life circumstances: receiving Child Benefit for children under 12, caring for someone with a disability, or claiming certain benefits.
The key point: gaps in your National Insurance record mean gaps in your State Pension. If you took time out of work to raise children, care for relatives, or were long-term ill, you might have gaps that reduce your eventual payout. You can check your National Insurance record on the government website and make voluntary contributions to fill gaps.
Why the State Pension Age Keeps Changing
The State Pension age isn't fixed. It increases periodically as life expectancy rises and the ratio of workers to pensioners changes. Since 2010, the state pension age has risen from 60 for women and 65 for men to a unified 66 for both, and is currently on track to reach 67 between 2026 and 2028.
If you're under 40 today, assume your State Pension won't arrive until 68. The government has indicated further increases are possible. This is one of the key reasons to build private savings — the State Pension is a floor, not a guarantee of the retirement you want, and its age keeps moving.
The calculator shows your estimated State Pension based on your current National Insurance record. This is an estimate — only the government can tell you exactly what you'll receive — but it gives you a realistic baseline for planning. If your record is incomplete, you can make voluntary contributions to improve your position before you retire.
The State Pension and Your Private Pensions
Many people make the mistake of treating the State Pension as irrelevant because it's "not much." This is a serious error in retirement planning. £12,548 per year is roughly £8,000 after tax. For many retirees, that's a meaningful foundation that substantially reduces how much they need to draw from their private pensions each year.
If you want £30,000 per year in retirement and qualify for the full State Pension, you only need £17,452 from your private sources. At a 4% withdrawal rate, that means a private pension pot of around £436,000 instead of £750,000. The difference in required savings is enormous.
The State Pension also has a significant advantage over private pensions: it's inflation-linked and guaranteed for life. Your private pension might run out if you live to 100; the State Pension won't. Building your retirement plan around both — using private savings to supplement the State Pension rather than replace it — is the most efficient approach for most people.