Moves to keep up with ‘express train’ of life expectancy could mean retirement age rising to 67 as early as 2026 The government will bring forward an increase in the state pension age to 67 under radical plans designed to prolong the working life of millions of people aged 50 and under. Ministers are already pushing controversial changes through parliament to raise the age at which men and women can claim a pension to 66 by 2020. Now, as the government moves to keep up with the “express train” of life expectancy, the retirement age could rise to 67 as early as 2026. Steve Webb, the pensions minister, has told the Observer that further moves are necessary and the coalition government will rip up the former administration’s timetable, under which the pension age was to be increased to 67 in 2036 and 68 by 2046. Webb, a Liberal Democrat, indicated that he was not seeking merely to tinker with the timescales. He said: “The timescales for 67 and 68 are too slow. If it is 67 in the mid-2030s we will be going backwards in terms of share of your life in retirement. I mean the problem would be worse than 20