qualifying years for state pension.

hugheskevi

Agreed - to change from 30 back to 35 is ludicrous. How are people supposed to make plans..........

Consistent with having now made two changes to the lifetime allowance in the space of less than 3 years...

I sometimes wonder if it isn't perhaps some sort of second best solution for encouraging people to save more themselves - if you can't have a long-term coherent system due to politicians constantly meddling, then create complete uncertainty and change everything every 5 or so years so that nobody knows what they will have. Preferably lurching between universal and means-tested systems so that it is a lottery what will be in place at any given time in the future.

Only a fool would rely on something that uncertain for something as important as their retirement, and hence make their own provision

taktikback

university years don't count - no particular logic but they don't count - but after 1975 you get the tax year you were sixteen in plus 2 free years NI credits -don't ask me why, but I'll take it.

So as long as I can manage 35 years NI by 2017, by the looks of it, I will be able to accrue some more pension for the NI I'm paying that I can't avoid because no-one can contract out anymore...

kidmugsy

I applaud the government for recognising its mistake in reducing the period to 30 years; whether 35 years is enough of a correction I don't know.

seven-day-weekend

I think 30 years is too low also, but one would assume that they had worked it all out before they implemented the legislation and not just try it out, think, 'oh no, that's not enough' and then put it back up again!

Still, assuming it was a mistake, at least they are doing something about it pdq.

I will lose out under this new scheme, so will my husband. I am an existing pensioner so will just get my £115 a week (on today's rates), after having the then required 39 years' worth of contributions.. My husband becomes a Pensioner in a year's time and I don't think his will be £140 a week either.

chris_m

Vortigern wrote: »

I went to the government gateway site to check my entitlement and contribution record. I have registered for this site and used it before. It used to tell me how many years I had contributed and how much state pension I could expect. Now it just forwards me to a generic, non-personalised page. Is it working for anyone else?

Last time I looked it didn't tell me how many years I'd got, just that I qualified for the full starte pension. When I'd looked a year before it did tell me I was 2 years short but when I dug into it there was a year missing, soi that one must have caught up.

Not much point in looking again for now - not until we definitely know if it's changing from 30 years to 35 and they've had time to update the system.

p00hsticks

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I will lose out under this new scheme, so will my husband. I am an existing pensioner so will just get my £115 a week (on today's rates), after having the then required 39 years' worth of contributions.. My husband becomes a Pensioner in a year's time and I don't think his will be £140 a week either.

Neither you or your husband will 'lose out under this new scheme' as it won't apply to either of you.

I can see a lot of existing pensioners moaning about this because they will look at the headline rates per week and see that people in the future may get slightly more than they get. But I bet they'll conveniently forget that they will have been able to start claiming their pension earlier (by years in many cases) than those still to retire will be able to.

seven-day-weekend

p00hsticks wrote: »

Neither you or your husband will 'lose out under this new scheme' as it won't apply to either of you.

I can see a lot of existing pensioners moaning about this because they will look at the headline rates per week and see that people in the future may get slightly more than they get. But I bet they'll conveniently forget that they will have been able to start claiming their pension earlier (by years in many cases) than those still to retire will be able to.

I have not moaned! I was merely stating a fact. I appreciate that I was one of the last people to be able to get my pension at 60. How dare you!:)

p00hsticks

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I have not moaned! I was merely stating a fact. I appreciate that I was one of the last people to be able to get my pension at 60. How dare you!:)

My apologies, my comments about a 'lot of existing pensioners' wasn't intended to refer to you in particular - no offence intended.

As I pointed out in my original post, it's not a "fact" that you will lose out because of these changes - you will be completely unaffected by them - there's a difference.

seven-day-weekend

Apology accepted.

May I just state here that when I found I was entitled to 13 years of Home Responsibility Protection ( because I had a few years at home earning nothing, then jobs where I did not earn enough to pay NI), I was delighted. I dd not think I would get anything for those years. I got a pension forecast and was delighted to find, that because of this, I only had to pay another two years to get to my 39 years and receive a full State Pension in my own right. I paid these via Voluntary Contributions.

So, far from moaning, I am delighted with the amount I get, which I thought would be far less. (£140 would be even nicer though ).

molerat

JoeCrystal wrote: »

Another area I am concerned about is the ten year limit of not paying NI and not getting it at all! I am worried about it since it may affect my dad. Hope to get more information about that tomorrow.

I am not quite sure what you are worried about. You will need at least 10 years NI contributions to qualify for the new pension and those with less than 35 will have a reduced pension.