The government has announced employees will have to work two extra years before claiming their pension.
Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen has confirmed plans to raise the normal minimum pension age (NMPA) from 55 to 57 - as Mirror Online reports.
This will be the earliest people will be able to withdraw cash from their private pension - unless you have already swapped it.
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Initial proposals for the hike were drawn up in April 2014 - and the changes will come into force on April 6 2028.
Up until the announcement, workers had been allowed to swap their pension to a new scheme - which would allow you to take cash from your retirement pot at 55 or 56.
Anyone already contracted to a scheme that stipulates you will be able to withdraw your pension at 55 will still be locked into this agreement - although firms can refuse new users.
However, schemes that stated people had to wait until minimum pension age to claim their retirement pot will now need to work for an extra two years when the changes come into force - meaning 55 now, or 57 in 2028.
A worker signed up to the second sort of scheme had been allowed to move to the first, until today.
The Economic Secretary confirmed the arbitrary deadline to move from the second scheme to the first has now passed.
This means if you had plans to retire at 55, but have not swapped your pension, it is now too late - and you will have to work until 57.
John Glen said the government implemented a shorter deadline window to prevent fraud.
He said: "On this occasion, giving prior notice of the shorter window ahead of its closure on 3 November 2021 could have led to unnecessary turbulence in the pensions market and led to some consumer detriment.
“Some pension savers could find themselves with poorer outcomes (or even be the victim of a pension scam) if they were rushed by rogue advisors to make a quick transfer in the short time period before the window closed.”
There are some exceptions where the cut-off will not apply.
Workers such as members of the police, firefighters and the armed services automatically have protected pension ages.
NMPA penalties also do not apply if you are seriously ill.
If you access your pension before 55 now, or 57 from 2038, you would normally face a big tax bill - and the size of this varies between pension firms.
However, most will let you take your private pension before 55 without this tax bill if you are very ill or have life expectancy of less than a year.
The state pension age is unaffected - currently 66 for both men and women.
Pension firms have supported today's move by the Treasury.
Association of British Insurers director of long-term savings and protection Yvonne Braun said: "The changes stop scammers from exploiting uncertainty, and also prevent market distortions as there are now no incentives to transfer purely to access a pension at age 55.
“However, most savers have more than one pension pot and millions will now have a mix, with some pots they can access at age 55, and others where they need to wait to 57 making it harder to plan for retirement.
"It is vital that government and the pension sector work together closely to ensure that customers are clear about their private pension position and when they can access their money.”
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