About this episode

The episode discusses the complexities of Britain's state pension system and the potential crisis of renting in retirement.

From next year, those in receipt of the full state pension will have to start giving some of it back to the government in income tax. The Treasury has put in place a ‘waiver’ system for less well-off pensioners – but it has been revealed this week that those who chose to defer their state pension could miss out because of the extra income they receive. On this week’s podcast, Georgie Frost is joined by This is Money’s Helen Crane and Tanya Jefferies to discuss whether that is fair, and how Britain’s state pension got so complicated.  Staying on the subject of retirement, estimates of how much we have to save for old age usually assume we will own our homes and have paid off the mortgage by the time we quit work. But for a growing number of people, that isn’t the case – and a new study suggests those who rent during retirement could have to save £419,000 extra to afford it. With today’s youngsters expecting to get on the ladder later, or perhaps not at all, the problem is only set to worsen. The team discuss this shift and what people can do to prepare. Despite a greater need for rented homes, the property market is awash with landlords trying to offload flats. Who is going…

People in this episode

Host: Georgie Frost

Guests: Helen Crane, Tanya Jefferies

Topics covered

• retirement
• state pension
• income tax
• housing market
• renting
• financial planning
• collectables

Keywords

• state pension
• income tax
• retirement renting
• housing market
• financial planning
• collectables
• pensioners
• mortgage
• savings

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Treasury

Places: Britain, Lidl, Argos

More episodes of This is Money Podcast

• How much money do you need to retire early? · September 11, 2026 · 52 min
• Why the UK has a bond market problem - and what it means for you · September 5, 2026 · 47 min
• Bumper rate rise for Premium Bonds - are they now a no-brainer? · August 21, 2026 · 39 min
• Is the property market coming back to life? · August 14, 2026 · 52 min
• Do you need to worry about Making Tax Digital? · August 7, 2026 · 44 min
• We need to finally fix social care but who will pay? · July 31, 2026 · 36 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the This is Money Podcast podcast page.