The Government has revealed that everyone over the age of 55 now has the right to ask for and receive a free state pension statement.
Once they request a statement they will be provided with an estimate of the value of the pension they can expect to receive, according to the National Insurance they have paid during their working life.
The service has been available to people aged 60 years or more since September and around 76,000 statements have been requested and sent.
The reduction to 55 will mean some 5.5 million people will be eligible to request a statement free of charge and the plan is to extend the scheme to everyone of working age in the future.
Decreasing the age of eligibility will give people preparing for their retirement more awareness of the amount of pension money they can expect when they give up work.
Copyright Press Association 2015