Couple reaching retirement age at different times

Bogof_Babe

My husband will reach his retirement age in mid-2011 but I don't reach mine until the end of 2013. We have both paid sufficient NI contributions for full pensions in our own right.

When he starts to receive his, should he be claiming extra for me until my own kicks in, or does he just get the single person's basic pension?

I'm not even sure what I'm talking about, but I know my mum got included on dad's pension because she had never worked since marriage, so I was wondering how a couple who have made individual contributions are treated.

CLAPTON

he doesn't claim anything for you

we have reached the age of female emanication (well almost)

however, when you reach the retirement age you will receive the greater of a state pension based on your contributions or his

jamesd

Get a State Pension Forecast for each of you to find out what you can expect from the combination of basic state pension and additional state pension (which includes SERPS and S2P money and is income related).

Your husband will have the option to delay taking his state pension and it will rise by about ten percent for each year of delay, pro-rated for any parts of a year.

Bogof_Babe

Thanks both. It's funny how writing something down clarifies the mind. Lying in bed it dawned on me that of course there wouldn't be any additional payment for me until I reach my own state pension age :rolleyes:. My mum was older than my dad so he got extra for her immediately he reached 65, but in our case it is different.

Couple of things your replies have got me wondering...

however, when you reach the retirement age you will receive the greater of a state pension based on your contributions or his

Won't we each get separate "full" pensions as if we were two single people, given that we have both independently made full contributions?

the combination of basic state pension and additional state pension (which includes SERPS and S2P money and is income related).

Not sure what SERPS is, but we also have company pensions so I don't think SERPS applies to us. We won't qualify for anything income related as we have reasonable savings.

OH is working on getting ~£100 a week same as his dad did, and I thought I would get the same in due course. Also I thought they sent through a pension forecast automatically as you get near the relevant age, but I might be wrong there.

EdInvestor

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

Won't we each get separate "full" pensions as if we were two single people, given that we have both independently made full contributions?

Yes, but the option to claim on a husband's conts if yours are inadequate also exists, though it won't be relevant in your case.From next year husband's can also clame on wives' conts

Not sure what SERPS is, but we also have company pensions so I don't think SERPS applies to us.

Serps (later S2P) started in 1978 and was preceded by Graduated pension.Contracting out for many people didn't start until 1988.So you may well be eligible for extra state pension, get a forecast to see.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Pensionsandretirementplanning/StatePension/StatePensionforecast/DG_10014008

You have to claim your state pension anyway when the time comes, it's not automatic.

McKneff

As i hadnt paid enough contributions (i am 60 my OH is 65) i claimed on his contributions ie I got 60% pension on his instead of about 50% had i claimed on my own contributions. But, I also get about £28 a week second state pension on tops of this. It wasnt mentioned in my forecast when i got it so it was a nice surprise.
So you may well get it.

jamesd

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

Not sure what SERPS is, but we also have company pensions so I don't think SERPS applies to us. We won't qualify for anything income related as we have reasonable savings.

That's income-related, not means tested. Income-related because the amount paid in depends on income, so if you had higher incomes you were paying in more and get more paid out.

Most work final salary pension schemes were contracted out of SERPS so you're right that that would reduce the additional state pension you'd get but it wouldn't eliminate it because there would have been periods when you were in jobs that didn't contract out.

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

Also I thought they sent through a pension forecast automatically as you get near the relevant age, but I might be wrong there.

They do but by then it's too late to plan. You're asking now and it's easy to get them now, so why not do it now and once a year until retirement? I do even though it's much more into my future than yours. I don't like being caught out when I can monitor and plan.

Bogof_Babe

Thanks James, that's useful to know.

Don't think we'll get any SERPS as we both worked at our main employer for around 30 years (me 29, husband 35) and neither of us were ever paid more than £18K p.a. (This is Hereford - there wasn't and still isn't much choice of employment, and what there is generally pays peanuts!).

Good suggestion re. the pension forecast though. I'll have a look into doing that, following EdInvestor's link.

jamesd

If no good news on the SERPS front at least you're well set up on the tax side. Two people will each get a personal allowance of a bit under £10,000 after state retirement age so it's likely that most of your income is going to be tax free.