pension credit and state pension

zeddy1

what is the difference between the two?

pension credit aka Guarantee Credit is something you automatically get once you reach pension age right? its free and you dont need to have contributed national insurance.

and state pension is something you get from working. with auto enrolment starting in october everyone is entitled to it if they're making enough. and you have to be contributing 30 years NI to get maximum pension.

so whats the difference then? both are connected to the state arent they?
you would be getting £142.70 and £107.45 a week?

i've checked .gov sites and theres no info on getting both simultaneously.

thanks
zed

Torry_Quine

State pension is dependent on having sufficient NI contributions which as you say is now 30 years.

Pension credit is a means tested benefit which is given as a top up to any other income you may have such as state or private pension.

The enrolment you talk of is something completely different and is a way of ensuring that everyone is paying into a private pension.

Hope that helps

McKneff

You dont automatically get pension credit, it depends on your
savings and income.

Torry_Quine

zeddy1 wrote: »

part of pension credts are savings credits, which you get if you made an effort in saving for retirement. but this is just extra, i think you get pension credit no matter what.

zed

No you don't get pension credit no matter what, that's just ridiculous. Yes you can still get if you have moderate savings but there is still an upper limit.

zeddy1

Torry_Quine wrote: »

Pension credit is a means tested benefit which is given as a top up to any other income you may have such as state or private pension.

top up? so you must have a state or private pension to qualify?

Torry_Quine

zeddy1 wrote: »

top up? so you must have a state or private pension to qualify?

No you don't have to have any other income to qualify.

zeddy1

Torry_Quine wrote: »

No you don't get pension credit no matter what, that's just ridiculous. Yes you can still get if you have moderate savings but there is still an upper limit.

okay my bad, but im just going by the directgov site which says "To be eligible for Guarantee Credit you must have reached the Pension Credit qualifying age" and thats it. there are no more obligations to qualify.

zeddy1

Torry_Quine wrote: »

No you don't have to have any other income to qualify.

im still not getting it lol, what do you need to do to qualify for pension credit? as far as im seeing, all you need to to is be at retirement age.

seven-day-weekend

Pension Credit makes up your income to

• single person £142.70
• couple £217.90

If your income from all sources is already at that level or more, you don't get it.

You need to have reached womens' State Pension age to get it .

So to qualify you need to have reached the appropriate age AND have an income from all sources which is less than stated above.

So, if you are single and have a State Pension of £100 a week, and no other income,you will also get £42.70 Pension Credit.

If you qualify for PC, you will also get rent and Council Tax paid.

Hope this helps.

margaretclare

zeddy1 wrote: »

im still not getting it lol, what do you need to do to qualify for pension credit? as far as im seeing, all you need to to is be at retirement age.

No, that is NOT all! On reaching retirement age it depends entirely on whether you qualify for means-tested benefits. Pension credit is a means-tested benefit and it means your income - pensions effectively - is low. Anyone whose state pension is above a certain limit doesn't qualify for a means-tested benefit. For example: some of us qualified for full state pension from our working lives and contributions, and in addition, on top of the basic, we qualified for something called S2P (used to be SERPS). In addition to that, we have pensions from our careers. All that, in total, puts us above the level at which we could claim pension credit or any other means-tested benefit. In addition to that, pension credit is claimed as a couple i.e. a household, whereas all the others I've mentioned are claimed as an individual.

Understood now?

Torry_Quine

zeddy1 wrote: »

okay my bad, but im just going by the directgov site which says "To be eligible for Guarantee Credit you must have reached the Pension Credit qualifying age" and thats it. there are no more obligations to qualify.

You have to reach the appropriate age and have insufficient other income,

zeddy1 wrote: »

im still not getting it lol, what do you need to do to qualify for pension credit? as far as im seeing, all you need to to is be at retirement age.

As above. :cool:

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Pension Credit makes up your income to

• single person £142.70
• couple £217.90

If your income from all sources is already at that level or more, you don't get it.

You need to have reached womens' State Pension age to get it .

So to qualify you need to have reached the appropriate age AND have an income from all sources which is less than stated above.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the figures and clarifying what I've been saying all along.