Pension Boosting article discussion

harryhound

eve1104 wrote: »

I am 54. From 1979 to 1990 I stayed home to raise my children therefore have no NI credits for these years. Can I claim HRP for this time? If so when do I claim.

Had you "opted out" by paying the married woman's stamp prior to stopping work to have children?

peterfc2

My wife has retired and receives a few pounds short of her full pension due to qualifing years. When I get to my retirement age will we get the full couples pesion rate.

worker800

ChampagneJoJo wrote: »

By the time I retire I will have 48 qualifying years, does this mean I will get more of a pension than if I only had 30 years, or can I stop paying contributions after the 30 years is up? (I'm self-employed)

I'm the similar except I am employed. According to the Pension Service I have already completed my required 30 years and I am 'only' 55. I will probably have nearer 40 years contributions when I reach retirement age.

MissTee1

I am 60 on 14/09/2011 and I received a letter from the Working Pensions Department informing me that I cannot have my pension until March 2013. I have paid the full stamp for 40 years and cannot understand why they are delaying it especially when the Government are now saying that you only need to have 30 years full stamp. How fair is this?

SnowMan

peterfc2 wrote: »

My wife has retired and receives a few pounds short of her full pension due to qualifing years. When I get to my retirement age will we get the full couples pesion rate.

Welcome to the forum

When you reach State Pension Age you will receive £97.65 pw (current figure) in basic state pension.

That will be on top of the basic state pension your wife is currently receiving which from what you say is slightly less than £97.65pw.

So between you will get just under £195.30 pw (97.65 x 2).

The so called “couple’s” basic state pension of £156.24 pw (=£97.65 x 1.6) is a bit of a misnoma really. Assuming you yourself have more than 30 years qualifying years when you reach SPA it would only apply if your wife’s basic state pension was less than £58.69 pw. But I’m guessing that’s not the case here.

SnowMan

MissTee1 wrote: »

I am 60 on 14/09/2011 and I received a letter from the Working Pensions Department informing me that I cannot have my pension until March 2013. I have paid the full stamp for 40 years and cannot understand why they are delaying it especially when the Government are now saying that you only need to have 30 years full stamp. How fair is this?

The State Pension Age for females is being increased from age 60 to 65, the increase being phased in between 2010 and 2020 (and eventually it will be further increased to 68). You can confirm that your date is correct from here

http://pensions.direct.gov.uk/en/state-pension-age-calculator/home.asp

With any system such as this there are always things that are unfair and sometimes things that are perceived as unfair. A male born on the same date as you would have to wait until 14/9/2016 to receive his state pension so might argue that the system was even more unfair to him. A female twin reaching State Pension Age at 11:59pm on 5/4/2010 needed 39 qualifying years to receive a full basic state pension while the other female twin who reached State Pension Age at (say) 00:01am on 6/4/2010 would require 30 qualifying years.

dunstonh

MissTee1 wrote: »

I am 60 on 14/09/2011 and I received a letter from the Working Pensions Department informing me that I cannot have my pension until March 2013. I have paid the full stamp for 40 years and cannot understand why they are delaying it especially when the Government are now saying that you only need to have 30 years full stamp. How fair is this?

Extremely fair. The new retirement ages have been known since 1995. You are getting it at age 62 which is 3 years earlier than the male retirement age and 5 years earlier when I will get it (age 67).

If the Govt had changed the age overnight then you could consider it unfair. However, you have had over 15 years.

rodders465

Interesting article on this site-lovemoney.com under the heading "Boost your pension by 27%"
Appears to be an offer made by the government for you to purchase extra years and get a 27% return ie. you are in profit in just under 4 years.:j.Worth a look.

nickysaver

Hi. This is my first post on any forum on the site but have been reading lots of others. My concern is that I am just coming to the end of a 5 year IVA :jthe conditions of which meant I couldnt continue to pay my pension (Teachers Pension Scheme). It was a final salary scheme and I also have a small NHS pension that I didnt transfer into my TPS when I changed jobs.

Now what do I do when my IVA is over? Who is the best person to get advice from?

Do I go back to paying into the TPS and what has my 'break' meant in financial terms?

I am a little lost

Thanks
Nicky

jem16

nickysaver wrote: »

Now what do I do when my IVA is over? Who is the best person to get advice from?

An independent financial adviser

Do I go back to paying into the TPS

Almost certainly the best option.

and what has my 'break' meant in financial terms?

It means you have lost 5/80ths of your final salary pension. It will also mean that when you rejoin you will join under the new regulations if the break has been 5 years or more. If it's less than 5 years hurry up and rejoin before you get to 5 years.

http://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/resources/factsheet15.htm