Money man Martin Lewis has warned that anyone between the ages of 45 and 70 may miss out on thousands of pounds in pensions through missing a vital deadline which fast approaches.
The MoneySavingExpert founder has recently issued a plea on his Martin Lewis BBC Sounds Podcast - after missing out on his normal ITV Money Show slot through family commitments.
And on the platform, Martin told listeners that a rapidly approaching state pension deadline could mean that some UK residents miss out on up to £7,500 if ignored.
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The MEN reports that he urged: "It could leave many thousands of pounds better off, but you need to do it by the end of the tax year, April 5."
Whilst state pensions sound mundane, it could affect everyone aged between 45 and 70 due to a change put in place in 2016 which comes into force in April. Martin said: "We need to spread the word on this. On April 6 2016 that was the day they introduced the new state pension.
"For those who hit pension age since then, you have been put on the new state pension. As part of that, transitional arrangements were put in place. Those transitional arrangements end this tax year, they end on April 5 2023. That is why there's an urgency for what I'm about to say.
"This is all about your National Insurance years. The amount that you get in your state pension is about the number of qualifying years that you have. You can acquire years by working. Minimum wage, and you will get National Insurance credits, or if you're not working there are other ways you can get NI credits for example if you are raising children or have a disability.
"Now to get the full state pension when you retire, on the new state pension, you will need 35 years ish. Some of you when you get to retirement will be missing years - it might be you were on a low income or working abroad. Anybody listening right now, do this. If you are not yet at state retirement age, go to gov.uk and look up your state pension summary.
"That will tell you when you will get your pension and it will give you a forecast of how much you are likely to get."
He also added that you can check your National Insurance record to see if there are any gaps in your National Insurance.
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