The minimum age for accessing a private pension is set to rise to 58 sooner than expected, experts have warned.

The age at which someone can access a private or workplace pension is predicted to increase in the late 2030s so it tracks around 10 years lower than the state pension age which is forecast to rise to 68 at that time.

The change would encourage workers to save longer for their retirement, and ensure savings can be spread out until the end of their lives, but would affect those who want to give up work or go part-time in their mid-fifties to help look after grandchildren.

The age at which someone can access a private pension is currently 55, and is set to rise to 57 in April 2028. A rise to 58 could follow suit in the late 2030s, experts believe – and the Government’s pensions review, which is due to report back early next year, could also make recommendations about the age at which it should be set to ensure people have adequate savings for their retirement.

Currently, the state pension age is due to rise gradually to 67 by April 2028, at which point the “normal minimum pension age” for accessing a private or workplace pot will jump from 55 to 57.

Under existing Government policy, the state pension age is then due to increase to 68 between 2044 and 2046. However, a report by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the government’s fiscal forecaster, said it expects this timescale to be accelerated by seven years, to 2037-39.

Former pensions minister Steve Webb told The i Paper that the age at which someone can access a private or workplace pension is likely to rise to 58 at the same time.

“In theory, in 2037 – or realistically 2039, because that’s when we actually get to 68 – the private pension age could go to 58,” he said.

Webb, who oversaw major pensions reform as a Liberal Democrat minister in the coalition government with the Conservatives, said it was “perfectly plausible” for the private pension age to rise even further to 60.

“There is a possibility that the private pension age could move up faster than the state pension age,” he said, citing the 2025 Pensions Commission interim report which suggested that people need to work for longer to build up adequate savings for their retirement.

“Retiring at 57 (soon to be the earliest age at which private pensions can be accessed) compared to retiring at 65 could reduce the average saver’s annual workplace pension from nearly £9,000 a year to just over £4,000 a year,” the report said.

“Attention must therefore be paid to increasing employment rates among the over-fifties and enabling people to work for longer, with a particular focus on reducing early, permanent exit from the labour market well before the state pension age,” the report added.

Although it is not currently Government policy, the Treasury has not ruled out a faster rise to the state pension age as forecast by the OBR.

Ministers in previous governments said that the normal minimum pension age is likely to increase so that it stays around 10 years lower than the state pension age, and the Keir Starmer-led government continued with the Tory policy of increasing it to 57 in April 2028.

The Treasury is awaiting the outcome of the Pensions Commission’s final report, due by early 2027, which will make recommendations about how to improve the adequacy of people’s retirement savings.

Webb said it “wouldn’t astonish me” if raising the private pension age to 60 was one of the recommendations.

Tom Selby, head of retirement policy at pensions firm AJ Bell, said that while private and state pension ages are not formally linked, “it has been seen as a sensible step to ensure people don’t access their private pension too early and run out of money”.

Selby said future increases would mean younger generations have less flexibility over when they can access their savings. However, he argued this would still be relatively young for healthy adults, particularly as life expectancy continues to increase.

He suggested policymakers may be keen to raise the minimum access age as it “preserves more money in pensions for longer, which is good for people’s retirement prospects and good for the economy”.

But Selby noted this must be balanced against the impact on the attractiveness of pension saving.

Patrick Thomson, head of research analysis and policy at the Standard Life Centre for the Future of Retirement, warned that even if the minimum access age increases, the main question will be whether or not people have saved enough for their retirement – rather than the age at which they can access the money.

“The real dividing line is whether people have built up enough private pension savings,” he said.

“Those who have may still have flexibility over when they stop work. Those who haven’t could find themselves with little choice but to keep working and this would have knock-on implications, including for many working parents who rely on grandparents for childcare.”

The Treasury has been contacted for comment.