State Pension

margaretclare

oldboy64 wrote: »

£116.75 a week???? Most people that I know have a State Pension of in excess of £170 a week. Your State Pension is made up of two parts. The basic amount - £110 a week plus an additional pension based on what you have paid in during your lifetime in NIC's. In my case I get an extra £66 a week because of the amount that I paid in.

To only get an extra £6 must mean that you haven't paid in much in over the past 49 years.

It also depends on whether you were opted-out into an occupational pension scheme. If you were, you get the occupational pension money. If you weren't, you get SERPS/S2P.

DH gets quite a lot of SERPS because he was never opted-out into an occupational scheme. It's about the same amount as the basic SRP so he comes into the category above. I have a smaller amount of SERPS because I was a member of the NHS scheme for some of the time. My SRP totals £150.31 a week, but I also get money from annuities.

princessdon

I wonder how it will work for my generation (not that I expect any pension by then), but with SERPS being in affect cancelled and our opt out is now none existent, it makes you wonder.

xylophone

If the OP's wife paid NI until 1979 there is the hope that she didn't opt for the infamous 'married women's lower contribution' which was withdrawn for a woman who married from April 1978 onwards. If she was at home looking after children and receiving Child Benefit she would qualify for Home Responsibilities Protection. So, hopefully, she will qualify for SRP in her own right, but only when she - not her husband - reaches retirement age.

There is some protection under transition for certain of these women:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/181229/single-tier-pension.pdf

The Government therefore intends to make provision for married women and widows who paid "
these reduced rate contributions. Where a valid election existed at any point in the 35 years
before State Pension age, they will be able to access a single-tier pension based on their own
contributions to the point at which the single-tier pension is implemented. This will include
an amount equivalent to the full rate of the ‘married woman’s’ lower-rate basic pension or, if
widowed or divorced, the full rate of the basic State Pension. If they would also qualify for a
single-tier pension based just on their own contributions, they will receive the higher of the two."

There is also some protection under transition for Derived Entitlement.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/181235/derived-inherited-entitlement.pdf

xylophone

To only get an extra £6 must mean that you haven't paid in much in over the past 49 years.

The OP is in receipt of a Final Salary pension https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/9219873#Comment_9219873 and his Scheme will almost certainly have contracted out of SERPS- this would explain why his entitlement over and above BSP is only a small amount.

seven-day-weekend

xylophone wrote: »

The OP is in receipt of a Final Salary pension https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/9219873#Comment_9219873 and his Scheme will almost certainly have contracted out of SERPS- this would explain why his entitlement over and above BSP is only a small amount.

Neither myself nor my husband have much SERPS (my pension is £118 a week) because we paid into Final Salary Schemes (Teachers and Local Government) and therefore were opted out of SERPS.

People who have £170 a week Pensions must never have opted out of SERPS.

margaretclare

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Neither myself nor my husband have much SERPS (my pension is £118 a week) because we paid into Final Salary Schemes (Teachers and Local Government) and therefore were opted out of SERPS.

People who have £170 a week Pensions must never have opted out of SERPS.

Like DH. His SERPS is just about the same amount as his SRP. There will be people who didn't have access to an employer's scheme.

margaretclare

princessdon wrote: »

I wonder how it will work for my generation (not that I expect any pension by then), but with SERPS being in affect cancelled and our opt out is now none existent, it makes you wonder.

You build up your own entitlement. Look on the bright side. You're never going to be classed as a 'dependant', which is so humiliating.

princessdon

margaretclare wrote: »

You build up your own entitlement. Look on the bright side. You're never going to be classed as a 'dependant', which is so humiliating.

Yeah it's just you opt out for some years etc, I'm glad at least we are on some notice, those whose retirement is closer than mine, I do feel for though. Especially as final salary will be a thing of the past soon.

We have time, those in their 50's I think will feel it more.

oldboy64

xylophone wrote: »

The OP is in receipt of a Final Salary pension https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/9219873#Comment_9219873 and his Scheme will almost certainly have contracted out of SERPS- this would explain why his entitlement over and above BSP is only a small amount.

How do you work that out?

I will receive the 2nd pension amounting to £66 on top of the basic pension PLUS I have two government final salary pensions and four private annuities.

I worked for the government for about half my working life (two stints) and then went into industry where I paid into my own private schemes.

The 2nd pension can come about through having a mix of different types of pension arrangements.

Horseunderwater

I opted out of S2S and into SERPS and wish I had not. Was the worst decision I ever made IMO. Still my Civil service pension will be slightly higher because of it. Shame that it is not still with the CS as my department got privatised and yes I do mean privatised.