State Pension after 2010

lindabea

My partner is considering taking early retirement. His state pension age is after 2010 - our understanding is that anyone retiring after 2010 only needs 30 years of NI contributions not 44. I think this includes women as well. At present he has 38 years - if he does retire now, would he be elligible for the full state pension or does he have to make voluntary contributions? We're not sure what to do.

kathie1404

http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/state-pension/forecast/home.asp

You can contact the Pensions Service, part of the Dept of work and pensions by phone 0845 3000 168 or online via the above link. They will be able to advise and give you a Pension Forecast of the amount you are likely to receive when reaching pension age. They will also advise whether you will be need to pay voluntary contributions if you do not have a full National Insurance record. Hope this helps.

jancee_2

If his retirement date is after 6 April 2010 then yes, he only needs 30 qualifying years for the full basic state pension. There's no point paying any voluntary if he already has 38.

seven-day-weekend

Although he has enough for the full State Pension and does not need to pay any voluntary contributions (my husband is in this position too), if he does work and earns enough money he will still have to pay NI until he reaches State Retirement age. This is because the NI qualifies you for other things such as Incapacity Benefit.

ATF101

Also, I believe NI contributions beyond 30 years will increase SP2 entitlement.

seven-day-weekend

Just wanted to clarify my post above and also comment on ATF's - the entitlement to Incapacity Benefit and S2P only applies to contributions paid through working, not voluntary ones, AFAIK.

So to recap for the OP; if your husband is not working and has 38 years of contributions, there is no need for him to pay additional voluntary ones.

lindabea

That's very interesting to know. We were wondering whether to make voluntary cont, but it doesn't seem to make any difference to the final pension. Thank you for all your useful replies.