The Retirement Thread

[Dave7]

At least it wasn’t a rampant rabbit.

Oh you are rude..... But I like you.

 

[welsh dragon]

It's god punishing you for murdering a fluffy bunny.

The poor thing was suffering. It was the kindest thing to do and anyway, Mr WD did the deed.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Can I suggest you double-check this as I’m not sure it’s correct. If you have two missing years now, you may have more by the time you’re 66. You’re retired now but below State Pension age. As you’re no longer employed you’re not paying NI which is the important point for the state pension. I don’t know what age you are but lets say it’s 64, and your SP age is 66. If you make no NI contributions in the next two years I think you will find you have a choice; either accept a reduced SP or “buy” the additional years to receive the full SP. You can check all this on the .gov.uk website

My wife retired at 60 with an SP age of 66. To receive the full SP she had to buy the years , between 60 and 66, in order to receive the full SP. Financially it was a no brainer as the return on investment is very good, especially for those who’ve enjoyed the last two significant leaps in the SP.

The proportion you contracted out should have outperformed Additional State Pension (SERPS) making the pension you receive higher than it would otherwise have been. You haven’t been fiddled. It’s clear to you your SP is reduced, what you don’t know, is just how much your other pension increased by virtue of contracting out. Generally, it was a good thing to do.

Re the bit about retiring at 64 etc.

As long as you have 35 years of contributions you get the full SP, irrespective of what age you reach the 35 year milestone. You do not have to continue paying NI up to the SP retirement age.

I stopped payingn NI long before my SP age of 66 and get the full SP (+S2P/SERPS in addition).

You only have to continue paying SP, beyond your 35 years, if you carry on working up to SP age. This is because NI also funds benefits other than SP.

Your wife's position may be different if she was a member of a public sector pension scheme and was contracted out of the Additional State Pension scheme.

Based on the current rules you can, in effect, get your full SP by paying NI until you are 51 years of age (16+35).

You would only need to pay NI beyond that age if you carry on earning.

There are still some vagaries around the transition from the old SP scheme to the new SP where some people may need to pay more than 35 years of contributions.

Here is a reasonable explanation of how the full SP is derived and why we need to continue paying NI beyond 35 years if we carry on working.

https://www.ii.co.uk/analysis-comme...e-once-ive-paid-enough-state-pension-ii510447

 

[SpokeyDokey]

As far as I know, you need to have a total of 35 complete years of contributions to qualify for a full pension, although I'm sure this will increase as the age limit does. I think this allows for gaps so even if you stop paying but still have the 35 years, you should be okay. Of course this could all change at at time.

This is 100% correct.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Correct. My wife had 41 years, started work at 19, retired at 60. The gap was from non-payment between age 60 and 66. At the time this was easily checked on the .gov.uk website.

Log in, request the illustration. If one is short of years there is a button to click which shows the missing years. In my wife's case whenever I checked it the years would be post her retirement and would increase the longer she was retired.

Prior to reaching SP age we called the DWP who confirmed the years which needed to be purchased.

I know you're right about 35 qualifying years. I think this means literally that, one "qualifies" or is entitled to SP. The value though is a different and determined by the DWP based on contributions. In my mind it's a common misunderstanding. My knowledge is only through having checked many times as we waited for Mrs P's SP to be available. This is why I suggest ebiker double-checks.

Sorry Paul. This is not my understanding.

With some exceptions, if you have 35 FULL years of NI contributions you will receive the FULL New State Pension.

There is also no 'value' judgement made other than accounting for any SERPS/S2P.

I know this has been discussed a number of times on the Board with similar responses but...

... if you have any links to what you believe to be correct perhaps you could share them.

 

[welsh dragon]

That is my understanding of the SP as well. You need 35 years to get the full SP and as long as you have that then regardless of when you retire, you will get the full SP.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

The forecasts keep changing. When I checked last night we looked like getting a solid ten dry days. Now there’s a couple of days with rain.

Happens all the time - the predicted dry spells seem never to occur as forecast here.

Our predicted heatwave has also diminshed overnight.

I don't know why we bother looking at the forecasts tbh.

 

[welsh dragon]

Exciting news. The dust bag in my vacuum cleaner is stuck. I can't get the dam thing out. Queue Mr WD when he gets back from filling the bird feeders up.

 

[Mo1959]

Exciting news. The dust bag in my vacuum cleaner is stuck. I can't get the dam thing out. Queue Mr WD when he gets back from filling the bird feeders up.

I always look for hoovers that don’t need dust bags. They are just a nuisance.

 

[classic33]

Exciting news. The dust bag in my vacuum cleaner is stuck. I can't get the dam thing out. Queue Mr WD when he gets back from filling the bird feeders up.

8 ball or cue

 

[welsh dragon]

I always look for hoovers that don’t need dust bags. They are just a nuisance.

This one is about 20 years old. I have a dying rechargeable one that I use most of the time. I don't use the big one often, hence I couldn't remember how to do it.

 

[Mo1959]

This one is about 20 years old. I have a dying rechargeable one that I use most of the time. I don't use the big one often, hence I couldn't remember how to do it.

I’ve gone off my cordless one and went back to using my old Vax cyclinder. Just seems to pick up better and I find it more effective.

 

[Mo1959]

I think I’ll chance a 30 minute wander before lunch as the rain seems to have held off. It’s no doubt just waiting on me going out.

 

[Dave7]

Re SPs.
Things have possibly changed but.......
I retired aged 63 (nearly 6 years ago. I had worked since 15 so no probs.
MrsD had only limited contributions but they took into account looking after young children and later her poorly Mum.
Then it was a question of maths + a crystal ball eg how long would she live Vs what it would cost ie to pay for. 10 years would cost £x then it jumped up considerably.
So, finger in the air and then "pays your money and makes your choice". As things turned out we chose well.

 

[Dave7]

I’ve gone off my cordless one and went back to using my old Vax cyclinder. Just seems to pick up better and I find it more effective.

We bought a Dyson and have been really pleased with it.
Lots of others to choose from now.