Pension Boosting article discussion

SnowMan

Zin_Darwin wrote: »

Do we have a definitive answer yet?

If you look at the Pension Boosting article it seems the MSE team have indeed, as promised, checked it out with the DWP press office and updated the article see

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/state-pension

and further MSE news article at

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/news/2009/04/deeadline-extended-to-boost-stae-pe


That ties in with what the Pension Service have included on their website and what the chief executive of the Pensions Service said on Moneybox on radio 4 on Saturday see this post for links to that info.

I expect that is as much clarification as the Pensions Service will be giving.

Former_MSE_Dan

Hi folks

The following has now been added to the article. Also, the calculator has been updated with the option to roughly work out whether boosting your pension is worth it at 2009/2010 levels, as well as the old 2008/09 prices

---

Stop Press! Govt web crash means deadlines extended. Mon 6 April.

If you want to pay to boost your state pension, the deadline to pay at last tax year's prices has been extended, after the Govt's website crashed due to high demand. However, you had to get a pension forecast by Sunday 5 April to get the reduced £421 per National Insurance year price, after which you have a month or so to pay.

If you couldn't get through online or by phone, the Pension Service may extend the deadline for you if its records show there were problems when you tried (though it can't trace your attempt). Full details in the Paying to Boost Your Pension section.

velofellow

In the pension article you ask the question "How long will I live?" and give the answer 18 years for a man of 65 and 21years for a woman of 60. These can't be right, as that would mean women live less long than men, or does it just seem like it?

SnowMan

velofellow wrote: »

In the pension article you ask the question "How long will I live?" and give the answer 18 years for a man of 65 and 21years for a woman of 60. These can't be right, as that would mean women live less long than men, or does it just seem like it?

Married people on average live longer than single people similarly although again some would argue it just seems that way :rotfl:

But yes I agree with you.

It's not a major part of the article but you are right. I don't know where the FSA data referred to is but the 18 and 21 year figures are expectations of life at age 65 for both males and females (and not at ages 65 and 60 respectively as stated in the Pension Boosting article). For example look at the expectations of life downloadable from the Government Actuary Department website at

http://www.gad.gov.uk/Demography_Data/Life_Tables/Period_and_cohort_eol.asp

That clearly confirms these are both age 65 figures relevant to someone around retirement age now.

Actually using expectations of life for this sort of comparison is frowned upon by the actuaries as it is not theoretically correct and can even lead to wrong conclusions in some cases. But in terms of providing a simple understandable way of looking at things, which is the most important thing here, and as most of the comparisons are nowhere near to being borderline, and given the other approximations going on, it is 100% completely justified.

SnowMan

It looks like further information has been added to the Pensions Service website re the ability to buy back years to 6/4/75 for anyone reaching SPA between 6/4/2008 and 5/4/2015 who already has 20 qualifying years (including HRP credits) and at least one year of paid (or treated as paid contributions). The information can be accessed from

http://www.pensions.gov.uk/resourcecentre/ni/home.asp

You will see there are two guides available. One relates to those reaching SPA between 6/4/2008 and 5/4/2010 and the second relates to those reaching SPA between 6/4/2010 and 5/4/2015.

The new information in these guides seems to be that if the class 3 contributions are paid before 5/4/2011 then the increase in State Pension will be backdated to SPA. If paid after 5/4/2011 the increase will not be backdated to SPA but will apply from the date they are paid (or SPA if later).

There is an absolute limit of 6 years after reaching SPA for paying these contributions (so the earliest possible deadline is 6 years after 6/4/2008 i.e. 6/4/2014)

SnowMan

I like the way that the Pensions Booster calculator has been extended post 6/4/2009 and to allow for the option to buy post 75 years.

However there appears to be a bug in the calculator. Type in SPA any time in the calendar year 2009 with 20 existing years and the option to buy back years post 1975 doesn’t come up. Seems to work for other periods between 6/4/2008 and 5/4/2015 (although it gets it wrong the opposite way for SPA between 1/4/08 and 5/4/08)

Also it does not restrict the purchase of post 1975 years (outside the normal 6 year time limits) to 6.

It does not allow for (say) SPA 6/4/2010, existing qualifying years 19, missing years 07/08 and missing year 75/76. Here the 07/08 year can be purchased to bring the qualifying years up to 20 which then makes it possible to buy the year 75/76 year, I am assuming. Obviously you could run the calculator twice and I am not sure if practically you would have to buy the years in 2 steps in any case. This is a minor point especially as there are not separate inputs for past years to 6/4/2009 and future years after 6/4/2009, which remains the major problem with the calculator.

Could a comment also be added in the article about the backdating of post 75 years to SPA if paid before 5/4/2011 or perhaps better still a link to the Pension Service website page detailed in the previous post?

Thanks

Wowyes

This is my first question on a forum so bear with me.
I retired 2005 aged 60. My pension is short some years,I am currently getting £64 can I buy back the missing years ?

SnowMan

Wowyes wrote: »

This is my first question on a forum so bear with me.
I retired 2005 aged 60. My pension is short some years,I am currently getting £64 can I buy back the missing years ?

It is unlikely I'm afraid. I take it you are female and your state pension is based on your own national insurance contributions.

The only years that you could buy back if missing would be
a) the 2003/2004 tax year (cost £12.05pw, deadline 5/4/2010)
b) the 2004/2005 tax year but only if you reached age 60 on or after 6 April 2005 (cost £12.05pw, deadline 5/4/2011)

The concession to buy 6 years back to 6/4/75 won't apply to you because you reached SPA before 6/4/2008. And the concession to buy years from 96/97 to 2001/2002 won't apply to you as you reached SPA after 24/10/2004.

harryhound

SnowMan wrote: »

It looks like further information has been added to the Pensions Service website re the ability to buy back years to 6/4/75 for anyone reaching SPA between 6/4/2008 and 5/4/2015 who already has 20 qualifying years (including HRP credits) and at least one year of paid (or treated as paid contributions). The information can be accessed from

http://www.pensions.gov.uk/resourcecentre/ni/home.asp

You will see there are two guides available. One relates to those reaching SPA between 6/4/2008 and 5/4/2010 and the second relates to those reaching SPA between 6/4/2010 and 5/4/2015.

The new information in these guides seems to be that if the class 3 contributions are paid before 5/4/2011 then the increase in State Pension will be backdated to SPA. If paid after 5/4/2011 the increase will not be backdated to SPA but will apply from the date they are paid (or SPA if later).

There is an absolute limit of 6 years after reaching SPA for paying these contributions (so the earliest possible deadline is 6 years after 6/4/2008 i.e. 6/4/2014)

Hi Snowman,

Is the above "window of opportunity" intended to "reinstate" those who opted out with the "married woman's stamp"?

SnowMan

harryhound wrote: »

Hi Snowman,

Is the above "window of opportunity" intended to "reinstate" those who opted out with the "married woman's stamp"?

Unfortunately not. Anyone paying or registered for the married woman's stamp for a year are unable to buy back that year.

The window of opportunity is for others without current credits for these years.

Personally I am very sympathetic towards women who paid the married woman's stamp, as I don't believe most understood the consequences. But unfortunately the rules don't allow any of these years to be bought back.