State Pension query

50Twuncle

Could someone please explain to me how the government plans to give everyone a fixed (£155) state pension from April 2016 - yet are still advising us to make up missing NI contributions in order to achieve a maximum income at retirement ?

Mojisola

You will need 30 years of contributions to get the full amount of the new pension.

Deneb

And they're not giving everyone £155. It's a single tier pension, not single rate.

50Twuncle

Mojisola wrote: »

You will need 30 years of contributions to get the full amount of the new pension.

I have 27 years + an extra 3 years (which, I discovered that I had been credited with from age 16 for some reason)

pathtofreedom

How old are you, as you might need 35 years, not 30 years of ni to get the full pension.

bigfreddiel

Mojisola wrote: »

You will need 30 years of contributions to get the full amount of the new pension.

Wrong -you need 35 years of NI contributions.

fj

bigfreddiel

Deneb wrote: »

And they're not giving everyone £155. It's a single tier pension, not single rate.

Quite correct, I should be getting£155.77 under the new rules in July!

Cheers fj

missbiggles1

50Twuncle wrote: »

I have 27 years + an extra 3 years (which, I discovered that I had been credited with from age 16 for some reason)

Everybody gets these so that, if you stay in education you won't be disadvantaged.

Don't forget, NI credits (which you get when claiming certain benefits) count towards your pension in the same way that NI contributions do.

missbiggles1

There's many threads about this on the Pensions Board for those who are interested, or you can read up on here.

https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/your-national-insurance-record-and-your-state-pension

50Twuncle

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Everybody gets these so that, if you stay in education you won't be disadvantaged.

Don't forget, NI credits (which you get when claiming certain benefits) count towards your pension in the same way that NI contributions do.

I now work for minimum pay and don't earn enough to pay NI - So that is it - I am 52 years old !!
I do claim DLA (Which I understand does not help) ?

Alter_ego

bigfreddiel wrote: »

Quite correct, I should be getting£155.77 under the new rules in July!

Cheers fj

Sorry to disillusion you, you will get an entirely different figure as your pension will be calculated using your history under the old system or some calculation that's a mystery to me. Anyway you get the greater of the 2. The one thing you are most unlikely to get is £155.77.
Try getting a pension forecast which will help to explain things.