The short answer
There is no compulsory retirement age in the UK. You can stop work whenever you can afford to, and an employer cannot normally force you out on age grounds. What people mean by “when can I retire” is usually one of two dates: the day the State Pension can start, and the day you can first touch a workplace or personal pension.
For someone born in 1960, the State Pension age is 66 and the earliest private pension access age is 55. The two dates are set by completely different rules, and the gap between them is the part of retirement you have to fund yourself.
1960 is a split year - the 6 April line matters
1960 is the year the State Pension age started moving. The Pensions Act 2014 raised it from 66 to 67 in monthly steps between 6 April 2026 and 5 April 2028, and people born in 1960 sit right on the boundary.
- Born 1 January to 5 April 1960: State Pension age 66. You reached it in 2026 and can claim now.
- Born 6 April to 31 December 1960: you are in the transitional cohort. Your State Pension age is 66 plus between one and nine months, depending on your birth month, and you reach it between May 2026 and late 2027.
A single day either side of 6 April 1960 can move your claim date by a month, so if you were born in early April it is worth checking the exact date on GOV.UK rather than relying on the month-by-month table below.
Month-by-month State Pension dates for 1960 births
The table below gives the State Pension age and the month your State Pension can start for each birth month in 1960. It assumes a birth date in the middle of the month. Because the legislated bands run from the 6th of one month to the 5th of the next, anyone born in the first five days of a month should check the exact date on GOV.UK.
| Born | State Pension age | State Pension starts |
|---|---|---|
| January 1960 | 66 | January 2026 |
| February 1960 | 66 | February 2026 |
| March 1960 | 66 | March 2026 |
| April 1960 | 66 years and 1 month | May 2026 |
| May 1960 | 66 years and 2 months | July 2026 |
| June 1960 | 66 years and 3 months | September 2026 |
| July 1960 | 66 years and 4 months | November 2026 |
| August 1960 | 66 years and 5 months | January 2027 |
| September 1960 | 66 years and 6 months | March 2027 |
| October 1960 | 66 years and 7 months | May 2027 |
| November 1960 | 66 years and 8 months | July 2027 |
| December 1960 | 66 years and 9 months | September 2027 |
Want the exact day rather than the month? Our State Pension age calculator works it out from your date of birth, and the full State Pension age timetable explains the legislation behind the bands.
When can you take a private pension?
State Pension age has nothing to do with your workplace or personal pensions. Those are governed by the normal minimum pension age, which is 55 today and rises to 57 on 6 April 2028 under the Finance Act 2022.
You passed 55 in 2015, so you can already take money from a workplace or personal pension if you want to. The normal minimum pension age rises to 57 on 6 April 2028, but that change does not claw back access from anyone who already has it.
You can already draw a workplace or personal pension, but the State Pension is still around 0 years away. Anything you take out now has to cover that stretch as well as the years after it, which is why withdrawal rates matter more in this window than at any other point in retirement.
Our drawdown calculator shows how long a pot lasts at different withdrawal rates, and the safe withdrawal rate guide explains why UK research now lands below the old 4% rule.
What to do now
- Get your State Pension forecast. The GOV.UK service shows what you are on track for and how many qualifying years you have. It is the single most useful ten minutes in retirement planning, and most people find something they did not expect.
- Check for National Insurance gaps. You can normally pay voluntary contributions for the previous six tax years. Class 3 costs £18.40 a week, or £956.80 for a full year, in 2026/27, and one filled year adds roughly £358 a year to your State Pension for life. Our NI top-up calculator shows the break-even.
- Work out the gap years. If you want to stop work at 55 you need 11 years of income from private pensions, savings or part-time work before the State Pension starts. That gap is the part most people underestimate.
- Track down old pensions. The Pension Tracing Service finds workplace schemes from previous employers. Small pots from short jobs in your twenties and thirties are routinely forgotten.
How much will you actually get?
Reaching State Pension age is only half the question. The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week in 2026/27, which is £12,547.60 a year, but you only get the full amount with 35 qualifying years of National Insurance. Fewer than 35 years gives you a proportional slice, and fewer than 10 years gives you nothing at all.
Being contracted out of the additional State Pension before April 2016 can also leave your forecast below the headline figure. Our guide to how much State Pension you will get works through the table by qualifying years, the contracting-out deduction and how to read your forecast.
Frequently asked questions
- I was born in 1960 - when can I retire?
- There is no fixed retirement age in the UK, so you can stop work whenever you can afford to. What most people mean is State Pension age. If you were born in 1960 your State Pension age is 66, which you reach between 2026 and 2027. You can take a workplace or personal pension earlier, from age 55.
- What is my State Pension age if I was born in 1960?
- This is a split year. Born on or before 5 April 1960 your State Pension age was 66. Born from 6 April 1960 you are in the transitional cohort and your State Pension age is 66 plus one to nine months. The month-by-month table on this page gives the exact month your State Pension starts for every birth month in 1960.
- How long until I get my State Pension?
- You are inside the final year. Someone born in 1960 reaches State Pension age during 2026 and 2027, so the exact month matters - use the month-by-month table on this page. Before you claim, check your National Insurance record: you can still pay voluntary contributions for the previous six tax years, and a single filled year is worth around £358 a year for life.
- Can I take my private pension before State Pension age if I was born in 1960?
- Yes. The normal minimum pension age is separate from State Pension age. You passed 55 in 2015, so you can already take money from a workplace or personal pension if you want to. The normal minimum pension age rises to 57 on 6 April 2028, but that change does not claw back access from anyone who already has it. The first 25% is normally tax-free, up to the £268,275 Lump Sum Allowance. Bear in mind that anything you draw now has to last the 0 years until your State Pension starts, and beyond.
- How much State Pension will I get?
- The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week in 2026/27, which is £12,547.60 a year. You need 35 qualifying years of National Insurance for the full amount and at least 10 years to get anything at all. Your own figure depends on your NI record, and can be lower if you were contracted out before April 2016. Check your personal forecast on GOV.UK.
- Will the State Pension age change again before I get there?
- It can. State Pension age is set by Parliament and reviewed roughly every six years, and the government has committed to a further review in this Parliament. The rise from 67 to 68 is currently legislated for 2044 to 2046. Changes are normally announced years ahead with a long lead-in, but the further you are from your State Pension age the more likely it is to move.
- Do men and women born in 1960 have the same State Pension age?
- Yes. State Pension ages were equalised at 65 in November 2018 and have risen together since. Since then State Pension age has depended only on your date of birth, not your sex. Women born in the 1950s were affected by the earlier equalisation timetable, which is the subject of the WASPI campaign, but that does not affect anyone born in 1960.
- Does my State Pension start automatically?
- No. You have to claim it. The Department for Work and Pensions writes to you about four months before you reach State Pension age inviting you to claim online, by phone or by post. If you do nothing, you are treated as deferring, which adds about 5.8% a year to the eventual amount. You can also backdate a claim by up to 12 months.
Other birth years
Born in 1959 or Born in 1961. Or start from the State Pension age timetable, which covers every birth year from 1950 to 1978 and the reviews that could change the dates.