Better-off pensioners would keep benefits, such as the winter fuel allowance, and be able to leave a larger inheritance to their children under a future Conservative government, David Cameron has signalled.
The Prime Minister's comments will be seen as a further appeal to the 'grey vote' following last week's pensions shake-up. Labour has suggested that it could scrap some universal benefits for wealthier pensioners.
It added that it could not be right for millionaires to get free bus passes while public services were cut.
But Mr Cameron hinted that the payments would stay if they won the next general election.
Means-testing the benefits to ensure they were not claimed by affluent pensioners would save "a tiny amount" of money, he said.
Speaking at an event organised by Saga, the campaign group for older people, he said cutting the benefits would "introduce another complexity into the system".
He added: "We will set our policy for the next Parliament at the next election. I don't want to pre-judge that.
"But the only thing I would say is that people think you save lots of money by not giving these benefits to upper-rate, top-rate taxpayers."
He also suggested that the manifesto could include a pledge to raise the inheritance tax threshold.
Passing money down helped contribute towards "a stronger society", he said.
He added: "Inheritance tax should only be paid for by the rich. It shouldn't be paid for by people who have worked hard and saved, and bought a family house."
Most of the reforms will apply from next April, but a handful will come into effect on Thursday - to ensure those close to retirement do not miss out.
Under the changes, individuals with total pension savings of £30,000 or less will be able to take out the full amount, instead of the current £18,000 limit.
Yesterday, No 10 suggested it was relaxed about warnings from experts that pensioners would use the money to invest in property and inflate the housing market.
Mr Cameron's official spokesman said: "The Prime Minister's view is that it is right to give people greater choice."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article