New State Pension Guide

Silvertabby

Straightbat wrote: »

Thank you Poohsticks but the plot yet thickens more. I have now discovered that I do not have to pay a voluntary NI contribution for 2016-17 after all because for men of my age it is automatically credited!
Now where in all the published advice and guidance does it tell me that, and why does everywhere talk of me having to pay a voluntary contribution for that year instead :question::wall:?

I think the problem is that everyone is so different, so just one leaflet won't cover it all !

In Mr S's case, he will be 65 in May but retired 5 years ago. He had always been contracted out, so there would be no benefit in paying the missing years between retiring and 2015/2016 - but he gets 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 'free' due to his reaching pension credit age at 63+ (ie, the age his twin sister, if he had one, would have received her State pension).

Once State pension age equality has been reached (later this year) the pension credit age NI credits will cease, which will make things a little easier to understand.

xylophone

Now where in all the published advice and guidance does it tell me that,

https://www.gov.uk/automatic-pension-credits-for-men

Straightbat

Thank you all but unless there are links in the guides to this page it will not be found, which was my experience. Meanwhile guides do however talk about paying voluntary NI contributions post April 2016 which naturally implies that no such credits are awarded!

Silvertabby my situation is almost the same to Mr S except he gets a second year's free credit as my 65th birthday was this February. However I like the twin sister comparison because I actually have one.

p00hsticks

Straightbat wrote: »

Thank you all but unless there are links in the guides to this page it will not be found, which was my experience. Meanwhile guides do however talk about paying voluntary NI contributions post April 2016 which naturally implies that no such credits are awarded!

The Royal Londonguide to topping up your state pension which I gave you a link to a couple of days ago has this on the bottom of page 22

Credits
The main way of building up entitlement to a StatePension is by paying NICs on money you earn.But if you are not working and therefore not paying NI,the Government will, in some situations, give you NI credits. This simply means that for the purposes of your State Pension you are treated as if you had paid NI.
For example, you can get NI credits if you are claimingcertain sickness or unemployment benefits, are a carerand meet particular conditions or are registered toreceive Child Benefit for a child under 12.
Some NI credits are given automatically while others you have to apply for.
To check if you are eligible, see https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/eligibility

If you click on the link provided there you will see that one of the eligibility conditions is

Men approaching 65

Your situation: You are between the current womens State Pension age and 65, live in the UK at least 183 days a year and you are in one of these situations: you do not work, you do not earn enough to make a qualifying year, or you are self-employed with a small earnings exception
How to get credits: You get Class 1 credits automatically

Straightbat

Thank you Poohsticks.

greenglide

There is a grave danger of future generations believing everything they read on the internet as if it were 'the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth'.

While there has been nothing similar in the print medium over many, many, many years?

Personally I still find the print media "worse" for this.

mgdavid

greenglide wrote: »

While there has been nothing similar in the print medium over many, many, many years?

Personally I still find the print media "worse" for this.

Weren't most of us of a certain age pretty cynical about the press whereas the younger generations seem prepared to believe the *net without question.
Whether that's due to the medium or the readers, I can't say.

Straightbat

Poohsticks wrote: However, it is pretty straightforward to get an individual pension forecast online via gov.uk and everyone should be encouraged to do this.

Interesting, I can't even get an online quote now. My approaching state pension age letter from October says it gives me all the information I need to claim my pension (starting this process seems to be the only way to try to get an online quote now) but omits to tell me my "invite code" that I need to do this!

50Twuncle

My on-line state pension forecast has me down as having 32 years of FULL NI contributions
However - the whole of this period - I was contracted out (Civil Servant)
According to https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/state-pensions- this implies that I will receive full benefits (despite paying less contributions)
I am totally confused
How does this work ?

molerat

50Twuncle wrote: »

My on-line state pension forecast has me down as having 32 years of FULL NI contributions
However - the whole of this period - I was contracted out (Civil Servant)
According to https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/state-pensions- this implies that I will receive full benefits (despite paying less contributions)
I am totally confused
How does this work ?

You do have a full record but for the period you were contracted out there will be a deduction. Your post 2016 contributions will most likely be the ones that make up the deficit so you will receive the full benefit at retirement. What exactly are the numbers on the forecast ?