By Derek Baty, of Armstrong Watson

Last updated 23:20, Monday, 06 October 2008

This year sees the 100th anniversary of the 1908 Old Age Pensions Act. The first pension payments were made in January 1909 when more than half a million old and very poor people collected their state pension from their local post office.

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Staying on? Many will want to work beyond retirement age, but just as many will not. Find out what your financial options are by taking sound advice now

The maximum payment of five shillings for a single man or woman was the equivalent of £20 per week. To qualify, you had to be at least aged 70, at a time when less than five per cent of the population was aged over 70.

You could even be denied payment if you had been in prison in the previous 10 years, were habitually drunk, had never worked when able to or were otherwise of bad character.

Payments could even be reduced if you had too much furniture – so for most retirement wasn’t an option.

While state provision has undoubtedly improved over the last century, in recent years we have seen an increase in the amount of people working past state retirement age.

According to researchers at Which? as at February 2008, one in nine people over retirement age were still working compared with just one in 13 a decade ago, with this upward trend set to continue.

Many will continue to work as they enjoy their job or want to keep active, but many more may be forced to work in order to make ends meet with their pension income insufficient to maintain their standard of living or just to pay the bills.

With life expectancy increasing all the time – the Government’s Actuary Department has predicted that by 2050 the average man will live to the age of 86 and the average woman to 89 – the outlook for state pension provision is not good.

If you want to be able to choose whether to continue to work or not it is clear that the onus is on the individual to look after themselves.

With the current uncertainty in the financial world it is more important than ever that you enlist the help of a well qualified Independent Financial Adviser (IFA).

He or she may not be able to shelter you completely from the present turmoil but should be able to make sure you are well positioned when a recovery comes.

A common misconception is that taking independent financial advice means investing in the stock market and bearing the risk that goes with that.

However, any good adviser will ensure that any investment, be it a pension plan or long-term investment, matches your attitude to risk, which could mean finding the best bank account for you.

There is also the belief that independent advice is only for the wealthy. Like anyone else, an independent financial adviser has bills to pay but isn’t the cost justified if it means you can choose whether or not you work past your normal retirement age?

These are difficult times, with certain sections of the media seeming to delight in the flow of bad news from the financial sector, but we have come a long way in the last century and with professional guidance you can have the choice whether to work past retirement age or not.

• For more information on pensions call freephone 0800 195 2161 or email moneymatters@armstrongwatson.co.uk