This Is Money: Will the Government raise state pension age to 68 sooner than planned - and what should those about to retire do about it?

Those aged between 43 and 54 may have been concerned by rumours this week that the Government is planning to increase the state pension age to 68 much sooner than planned. Officially, the rise to 68 is set to happen between 2044 and 2046, but ministers allegedly want to bring forward the change to 2035 with the policy being floated for inclusion in the March Budget. It comes as warnings have been sounded that those retiring in future decades will face a gap between the income that pension savings and the state pension will provide, and what they need to live even a moderate retirement. This is Money's pensions and investment editor, Tanya Jefferies, deputy editor Helen Crane and host Georgie Frost discuss how likely this is to actually happen - and what pension savers could do to prepare for it. We also look at mortgage rates which, having gone from all-time lows to unexpected highs in the last year and a half, could now be edging down past the 4% mark. Why have a raft of high street lenders cut their rates in recent days, and will they simply hike them back up again if the Bank of England decides to increase the base rate again next week? And what should borrowers in the unenviable position of needing to remortgage at the moment be factoring in when they make their decision? Another group set to be impacted by next week's base rate decision are savers. With NS&I having increased the interest rate on its ever-popular Premium Bonds from 1% to 3.15% in the space of a year, is that now the best place to keep your rainy day fund? EToro's Sam North also lets us know why next week is going to be a big one for the investment market. Helen gives us the lowdown on which companies are doing right by their customers, and which are not. Once renowned for its tip top service (free coffee, anyone?) John Lewis has taken a battering in Money Mail's wooden spoon awards - but it also placed high on a separate survey of the firms that customers liked best. So what is going on? Finally, we dish out some advice on how to spot bargains in charity shops, haggle down prices at car boot sales and then make money selling things on.