State Pension Changes NI Contributions

[Deleted member 26715]

This youtube came up on my feed last night, it's about missing NI contributions so that you can only go back 6 years, not sure if it's worth paying the extra as per the guy whose video it is, but thought it was interesting as I had a few years self employed so need to check

View: https://youtu.be/EoEZn_cXkEQ

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Depends how many missing years you have and whether you think you’ll hit 35 years contributions before you retire anyway. You don’t get a bigger pension with more than 35 years contributions. But it makes a difference below that.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

My own problem is I can't get access to check, I can't find my online 12 digit number, so I follow the links to get it sent to me, I use the email address that they have sent me resets in the past, but now when I put that email in I get the code, go back to the website only to be told there isn't an account with that email.

Edit:- Just to add they closed the phones down on Monday, although the website still says phone them.

 

[PaulSB]

Depends how many missing years you have and whether you think you’ll hit 35 years contributions before you retire anyway. You don’t get a bigger pension with more than 35 years contributions. But it makes a difference below that.

This is correct but it doesn't quite show the full picture. If one retires, stops working and so contributing, before reaching state pension age each of the years between retiring and SP age will count as non-contributory. To receive the full SP one needs to have worked till SP age.

There is a cut off point of some sort and I'm unclear as to what it is. I was born in '54, my wife in '56. I retired just prior to my 63rd birthday and received the full, new, SP automatically. Mrs P retired age 60 and we had to buy the additional years. It's very worthwhile, originally i calculated the payback time as 38 months. As the SP rose 10% just after we'd bought the years the payback dropped to 22 months and from then it's a significant return on investment. Mrs P gets +/- £2200 pa more than if we had done nothing.

 

[PeteXXX]

If you were S/E wouldn't you have been paying the relevant stamp?

 

[Deleted User]

If you were S/E wouldn't you have been paying the relevant stamp?

Depends if you bothered, I had a spell where I didn't pay any but as stated above you only need 35 yrs and you can easily check (or not in the case quoted) the Gov website will tell you whether paying any more will improve your pension.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

If you were S/E wouldn't you have been paying the relevant stamp?

Well that was my hope as it was sorted by an accountant but you never know.

I have now got access but it was not easy, I was going around in loops until it eventually told me

Which explains why I couldn't get on with the details I thought were correct, once on I got

But on the matter of SE it looks like something wasn't done quite right, but logically with 46 years already paid & 3 more to go it's not worth making up.

 

[Deleted User]

Well that was my hope as it was sorted by an accountant but you never know.

I have now got access but it was not easy, I was going around in loops until it eventually told me

View attachment 694563

Which explains why I couldn't get on with the details I thought were correct, once on I got

View attachment 694562

But on the matter of SE it looks like something wasn't done quite right, but logically with 46 years already paid & 3 more to go it's not worth making up.

View attachment 694561

Mine says the same (although I have 36 full and 6 'not full') it should also tell you how much you'll get and whether you can improve it or not. Mine says £200 odd per week and I can't improve it so I can't see the point in you making 1 yr up.

Just re checked.....

£204.53 "This is the most you can get" is what it says with 36 yrs full contributions so unless yours says different I doubt paying any more will make a difference.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

To receive the full SP one needs to have worked till SP age.

I thought if you had 35 full contribution years then it doesn’t matter how far ahead of state pension age you retire. As you won’t be collecting the state part, till state pension age. Certainly I can’t see anything about having to work to 66 to get full pension. You are referring to the basic state pension, not the additional one many of us opt out of?

 

[Deleted member 26715]

No I see no point in making the year up either, although I can't find the page which shows me £204.53 but only created the account today after they deleted the old one, maybe it takes a while.

I thought if you had 35 full contribution years then it doesn’t matter how far ahead of state pension age you retire. As you won’t be collecting it till state pension age. You are referring to the basic state pension, not the additional one many of us opt out of?

If I understand it right with 46 years of full contributions I can't get anymore out of the system as I'm over the 35 threshold, I theoretically could stop working now, not pay anymore contributions & collect my full pension at 66.5 years, or as I can't afford to retire, continue working put more in & get exactly the same at 66.5 years.

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

MSE has a programme on ITV at 8pm tonight about this particular subject.

 

[Deleted User]

No I see no point in making the year up either, although I can't find the page which shows me £204.53 but only created the account today after they deleted the old one, maybe it takes a while.

It shows mine on the opening page (in green) along with retirement date, then under that is the option to 'view your National Insurance record' which is where you got the screen shot from showing your years?

 

[PaulSB]

I thought if you had 35 full contribution years then it doesn’t matter how far ahead of state pension age you retire. As you won’t be collecting the state part, till state pension age. Certainly I can’t see anything about having to work to 66 to get full pension. You are referring to the basic state pension, not the additional one many of us opt out of?

I'm referring specifically to my wife's direct experience. She retired aged 60 with .gov.uk showing full NI contributions - 40 years. When she came to claim the current SP every year subsequent to her retirement was deemed incomplete. To get the full SP she had to buy 5 or 6 years.

I've also failed to find any information on this despite careful checks on several occasions. When making the purchase one has to call the Pension Service to receive an "authorisation" code. The guy we spoke to confirmed the payments were necessary.

The SP is not clear on this but it is what happens. I know others in the same situation.

I'm not talking about SERPS. My wife worked for the NHS and was automatically opted as the NHS pension is superior. I on the other hand remained opted in for a period - when I receive the annual notification of my SP the two are clearly shown as two separate amounts but the four weekly payment aggregates them.

 

[PaulSB]

No I see no point in making the year up either, although I can't find the page which shows me £204.53 but only created the account today after they deleted the old one, maybe it takes a while.



If I understand it right with 46 years of full contributions I can't get anymore out of the system as I'm over the 35 threshold, I theoretically could stop working now, not pay anymore contributions & collect my full pension at 66.5 years, or as I can't afford to retire, continue working put more in & get exactly the same at 66.5 years.

You might well be proved wrong. What any of us understand or expect to be the case is irrelevant. The only certainty is what the .gov.uk website states.

It really is as simple as that. I wish all the luck in the world to anyone wanting to argue with the DWP on that one.

Once these things came on the horizon I checked annually to be sure of the position.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

You might well be proved wrong. What any of us understand or expect to be the case is irrelevant. The only certainty is what the .gov.uk website states.

It really is as simple as that. I wish all the luck in the world to anyone wanting to argue with the DWP on that one.

Once these things came on the horizon I checked annually to be sure of the position.

Sorry I don't understand you point, if there indeed was one?