If you have no private pension in the UK, you can still retire: the State Pension is the base, and a few checks and steps may add to it.

If you are asking what happens if you don't have a pension, the short version is gentler than it may feel. A pension of your own is one source of retirement income, not the only one. Most people who have paid National Insurance for long enough have the State Pension to start from, and there are routes for those who have gaps or who are starting late. This page goes through them briefly, with a link to the fuller guide for each, and nothing on it is a judgement about how you got here.

Your own numbers will settle much of this. If you would rather talk it through, give a rough picture of your position on the form on this page. Replies come as a phone call from an FCA-authorised adviser.

Where most people with no pension begin: the State Pension

For 2026/27, DWP's benefit and pension rates set the full new State Pension at £241.30 a week (GOV.UK, The new State Pension). It applies to women born on or after 6 April 1953 and men born on or after 6 April 1951. People born before those dates are on the older basic State Pension, which our State Pension guide sets out alongside the new one.

Any new State Pension at all takes a minimum of 10 qualifying years, which need not be in a row. The full rate takes 35 qualifying years if your record started after April 2016, and usually more if you were contracted out. A qualifying year can come from paid work, from National Insurance credits (for example while unemployed, ill, or a parent or carer) or from voluntary contributions, so a career with breaks or years spent caring does not necessarily leave an empty record.

GOV.UK describes the State Pension as only part of retirement income for many people, though the full rate sits above the basic level of means-tested help. Whether it covers your own costs is a separate question, which can you live on the State Pension looks at; retiring early covers the years before it starts.

Checking your National Insurance record, and filling gaps

The quickest way to know where you stand is to look. GOV.UK's online forecast shows how much State Pension you could get and how you could increase it, "for example, by paying to fill gaps", and the National Insurance record service shows which years count. The forecast cannot be used once you are getting your State Pension or have deferred it; the Pension Service is the contact then.

If there are gaps, the first checks are whether the record is right (HMRC deals with mistakes) and whether National Insurance credits apply, before deciding to pay voluntary contributions. Those can fill gaps and top up the State Pension, but they do not always increase it, for example if you were contracted out, so the forecast is where to see whether paying would make a difference. Past State Pension age, the Pension Service can say whether voluntary contributions would benefit you. National Insurance credits and the State Pension, the cost of Class 3 National Insurance and filling missing years have the detail.

Once your forecast is in hand, a free call arranged via the form on this page means an FCA-authorised adviser can weigh it beside any savings or earnings you have.

Pension Credit, the safety net on top

Pension Credit is a means-tested top-up for people over State Pension age on a low income in England, Scotland and Wales. Having other income, savings or a home of your own does not rule you out, and it is separate from the State Pension. It can also help with housing costs such as ground rent or service charges, and getting it can bring other help with it. How much Pension Credit you can get has the 2026/27 figures and how savings count.

With a short National Insurance record, it is worth knowing about early. A claim can start up to four months before you reach State Pension age, and a later claim can be backdated by only three months. Citizens Advice and Age UK are the organisations GOV.UK names for help with the form.

A pension you may have forgotten, or one started late

Saying you have no pension can sometimes mean you have none that you know about. If you have worked for several employers, the government's Pension Tracing Service gives contact details for a scheme if you have the name of the employer or the pension provider, though it will not say whether a pension exists or what it is worth. How to find a lost pension has the steps. The State Pension forecast is about the State Pension only, so a forgotten workplace pot will not appear in it.

If you are still working, a workplace pension is often the simplest place to begin. GOV.UK says an employer must enrol you automatically if you are classed as a worker, are aged between 22 and State Pension age and earn at least £10,000 a year; outside that, you can usually still ask to join, and the employer cannot refuse. Tax relief is usually added. Leaving is your choice, though money you have paid in comes back only if you opt out within a month. The workplace pension rules cover the rest, including re-enrolment.

If you are self-employed or not working, a personal pension is one you arrange yourself; the money is invested, so its value can go up or down. If you do not pay Income Tax, your provider can still claim tax relief at 20% on what you pay in each tax year, up to either 80% of your earnings or £2,880 if you have no earnings, so someone not working can save this way. For taxpayers the limit is contributions worth up to 100% of annual earnings; how pension tax relief works has more. The same guidance suggests checking that a provider is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and points to Citizens Advice for information on choosing one.

What a late start adds depends on how much goes in and how it is invested; how much pension you need and retirement planning look at the sums.

Your home, and free help

Some people with no pension do own their home, and wonder whether that can help. Equity release, which MoneyHelper describes as a type of mortgage that lets you access the money tied up in your home, is one route open to some older homeowners. It is a lifetime commitment that can affect eligibility for benefits and inheritance, and you would first need to speak to a specialist equity release adviser. What equity release is and how it works sets out the basics, and the alternatives to equity release lists other routes.

Several free services will talk things through without selling anything:

  • The Pension Service, for questions about your State Pension and, through its helpline, Pension Credit.
  • Pension Wise, from MoneyHelper: a free, impartial, government-backed appointment that explains your choices for drawing on a defined contribution pot. It is open from age 50 if the pension is UK-based. It does not cover the State Pension, so it helps if you have a small pot rather than none; what Pension Wise is has details.
  • MoneyHelper itself, if you are not eligible for Pension Wise, through its pension guides, tools and specialists.
  • Citizens Advice and Age UK, for help with the Pension Credit claim form.

Questions people ask about having no pension

Is a private pension compulsory in the UK?

Employers must enrol eligible workers automatically, but GOV.UK says you can opt out if you want to. A personal pension is one you arrange yourself, so starting one is your choice.

What if I have never worked or paid National Insurance?

You need at least 10 qualifying years for any new State Pension, so a short record may not qualify, though credits for caring, illness or unemployment may count towards them. Pension Credit is a separate, means-tested benefit whose rules turn on State Pension age, where you live and your income.

Do casual workers get a workplace pension?

Auto-enrolment applies to people classed as workers who meet the age and earnings conditions above. Casual workers who do not meet them can usually still ask to join, so the first step is to ask your employer.

Is it too late to start a pension?

Auto-enrolment runs up to State Pension age, and a personal pension is one you arrange yourself. A pot started late will be smaller than one built over decades, and its value can fall as well as rise. When you can take a pension covers access, and pension tax relief after 75 covers paying in later.

Still not sure where you stand? List whatever you hold, however small, using the form on this page. The adviser who then rings is FCA-authorised, and it costs nothing.