I’m a state pensioner – there’s one month where you can get paid twice | Personal Finance | Finance

If you’re receiving the UK State Pension or nearing retirement age, you might be surprised to learn there’s a lesser-known perk to the way it’s paid out. While most people focus on the pension age or the triple lock, there’s a small but helpful financial bonus that some pensioners really value. In fact, one month every year, you receive two payments instead of one.

Unlike salaries or many benefit payments which are paid monthly, typically at the beginning or end of the month, the State Pension is paid every four weeks. A year has 52 weeks, and not a neat 48, which means that there are 13 payments over the course of 12 months. One month out of the year, your payment dates therefore align in such a way that you receive your pension twice in the same calendar month.

Kim Wintermeyer, who shared her experience on TikTok, explained how she sees this bonus as one of the few unexpected positives of the State Pension system.

She said: “I thought I’d tell you something really positive about the state pension. Obviously, there are lots of negatives that happen when it comes to pensions.

“The fact that I get taxed on my other earnings, even though I’ve paid tax all this time, that I had to wait until I was 67 in order to be able to claim it; however, there is one particular thing that I found amazing.

“Unlike other forms of wages or payments, which would come in on the first or last of the month, the state pension doesn’t do that. It comes in every four weeks, which means the date changes all the time.”

Wintermeyer added: “It also comes in 13 instalments. Now, wise ones of you will say ‘yes, there’s only 12 months in the year, so how does it do 13?’ That’s why it does it in every four weeks, but that means that one month you get paid twice, and this is my month where we get paid twice, which is really handy for holidays and things.”

With ongoing discussions around the State Pension age , which is currently at 66 but will be rising to 67 by 2028, and the future of the triple lock, it’s reassuring for pensioners to know that there’s one area where the system offers a small but welcome surprise.

Your payment date is based on your National Insurance number, and it will always fall on the same day of the week, just every four weeks, not once per calendar month.

You can check your payment schedule or entitlement using the official Government pension service online.