Best of MoneyPlus 2023: Six of our most read articles

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Let’s take a look back at the last year and remember some of the topics that caught your attention. These are some of our most read articles in 2023 – did you miss any?

1. The minimum pension age is changing

In 2028, the minimum age at which you can take your pension savings is going up to 57 – and it can mean different things for you depending on what age you are now. So it’s not surprising so many of you were interested in getting into the detail. 

Refresh your memory: The normal minimum pension age is changing – here’s what you need to know

2. Paying tax on pension withdrawals

You can usually take up to 25% of your pot tax-free – but what about the rest? Lots of you wanted to know the answer to: How much tax will I pay on my pension withdrawals? 

We answer all your questions in our article, but keep an eye out for more help with your tax questions in 2024.

3. Topping up your State Pension

Cast your mind back about a year ago – Martin Lewis caused government websites to crash after urging people to look at their National Insurance record and check if paying voluntary contributions now could boost their State Pension by thousands. And some would need to do it quick, because they’d lose the opportunity to plug gaps as far back as 2006 if they didn’t do it before the deadline – which was originally April 2023. 

Thankfully, the chaos had an impact. Earlier this year the deadline was extended by another two years to April 2025, giving everyone a bit more time to get it sorted.

Find out more about Boosting your State Pension with voluntary National Insurance contributions.

4. Your questions: answered

This year we started our webinar Q&A series, and it’s great to see so many of you are enjoying it. If you don’t already know – we regularly run free retirement webinars, where listeners can put their questions to our panel of experts. 

We’ve been getting answers to the most popular questions from our retirement experts. So far, we’ve covered: the annual allowance, tax-free lump sums and combining your pensions.

Looks like Tax-free lump sum questions: answered was the most popular, but keep your eyes peeled in 2024 because we have so many more topics still to cover.

5. Finding out how much you’ll need to retire

How do you know how much to save if you don’t know how much you’ll need? Luckily there is a bit of a rule of thumb to go by – and thousands of you wanted to know more.

Get a clearer picture of your future by reading How much do I need to retire?

6. Claiming pension tax relief

With millions of pounds worth of pension tax relief left unclaimed every year, lots of you wanted to know how to get your hands on what’s yours.

If you’re an additional or higher-rate taxpayer, you need to read Millions left unclaimed in pension tax relief – is some of it yours?

 

The information in these articles should not be regarded as financial advice and is based on our understanding in December 2023.

Pension plans are investments. Their value can go down as well as up and could be worth less than was paid in.

Your own personal circumstances, including where you live in the UK, will have an impact on the tax you pay. Laws and tax rules may change in the future.