New State Pension Guide

50Twuncle

Spiggle wrote: »

Thanks again molerat and jem16,

You've really saved me £1456 that I would have spent buying pointless pre-2016 contributions, thank you, thank you, thank you. :A

I've spoken to the FPC and the lady I discussed this with was very helpful. You are aware of the rules, changes, etc. and she confirmed all the advice you gave above to be spot-on.

She informed me that it is possible to pay by Direct Debit to HMRC for future years i.e. from 6 April 2019 going forward which I intend to do at least for 2019-20 if not the following year as well. I am about to get form CA5603 from the Gov.uk website to set this up. Please note Direct Debit payment is only for future years not yet started and not for any buy back contributions.

In addition, she explained that I was close to deadline for the 2016-17 missing year so I will pay that and 2017-18 with a cheque and letter explicitly identifying which years I'm buying back. She also advised asking for a written receipt from HMRC for audit purposes (or neatness as I like to call it).

The FPC lady also advised me what the cost for 2018-19 will be (£761.80) though I do have some time to consider this buy back so will not jump straight onto it but await the amended SP forecast once the two years I'm about to settle are added in.

Assuming I pay the DD for the whole of 2019-20 and buy back 18-19 before the option expires, I
can then reassess the whole situation in 12 months or so as I would still require a further 2yrs post-2016 contributions to bring my SP up to the max of £164 pw.

Does that sound like the right plan to you knowledgeable people on here please?

TIA and best wishes,
Spigs

Alternatively you may want to save yourself a whole lot more by getting the NI conts paid for you - if you fit any of the criteria in my posts ?
Are you claiming any benefits?
If so - you are coveted

Spiggle

Thanks 50Twuncle,


I do receive PIP but that doesn't qualify me for contributions and in all honesty I could never claim to be capable of let alone actively looking for work.


Possibly off topic a bit but just for anyone in a similar situation to me - my own LGPS and late husband's/spouse's LGPS pensions - the option to nominate a beneficiary for the death grant which was until 2 months ago mirrored between myself OH at 100% struck me as an anomaly today. So I rang my LGPS administrator and they will send me a new nomination form so that I can change it. Hopefully won't happen too soon but I thought it might jog a thought if any of you kind souls find yourself in these sad circumstances when there is just so much to organise, arrange and sort out.


All the best,
Spigs

jem16

Spiggle wrote: »

She informed me that it is possible to pay by Direct Debit to HMRC for future years i.e. from 6 April 2019 going forward which I intend to do at least for 2019-20 if not the following year as well. I am about to get form CA5603 from the Gov.uk website to set this up. Please note Direct Debit payment is only for future years not yet started and not for any buy back contributions.

Why not just save the money yourself and at least gain a small amount of interest and then pay just before each year rises? You have 2 years from the end of each tax year to do this as far as avoiding a cost increase is concerned.

In addition, she explained that I was close to deadline for the 2016-17 missing year so I will pay that and 2017-18 with a cheque and letter explicitly identifying which years I'm buying back. She also advised asking for a written receipt from HMRC for audit purposes (or neatness as I like to call it).

It's not exactly a deadline in so far as it's then not available. It will still be available for up to 6 years afterwards but at a higher cost if bought more than 2 years after the end of the tax year.

For example if you buy 2016/17 before April 6th, then the cost is around £733. If you buy it after that it will be whatever the cost is for the year you buy it - so buy it in tax year 2019/20 it will cost around £780.

So 2017/18 you will have till April 2020 to buy it at its original cost.

The FPC lady also advised me what the cost for 2018-19 will be (£761.80) though I do have some time to consider this buy back so will not jump straight onto it but await the amended SP forecast once the two years I'm about to settle are added in.

Yes you will have till April 2021 to buy at that price.

lampshuk

I've convinced myself that _for me_ it makes sense to buy 4 years of back-NI before April.

I have checked my missed years statements for eligible years using the Gov portal, and have obtained a pension statement (by carrier pigeon, apparently).

But on all the sites I have looked at, including the Government portal, I can't see a "fill in this form to buy additional years."

Where should I be looking?

(Thanks to this forum, I have just found form CA5603, but that seems to be used to pay "contemporary" NI Class 3, rather than paying off previous years. If it is for previous years it's a very poorly designed form)

Thanks for any advice,

p00hsticks

lampshuk wrote: »

I've convinced myself that _for me_ it makes sense to buy 4 years of back-NI before April.

I have checked my missed years statements for eligible years using the Gov portal, and have obtained a pension statement (by carrier pigeon, apparently).

But on all the sites I have looked at, including the Government portal, I can't see a "fill in this form to buy additional years."

Where should I be looking?

(Thanks to this forum, I have just found form CA5603, but that seems to be used to pay "contemporary" NI Class 3, rather than paying off previous years. If it is for previous years it's a very poorly designed form)

Thanks for any advice,

https://www.gov.uk/pay-voluntary-class-3-national-insurance

You can write to them enclosing a cheque and saying what years you want to pay for (don't forget to give your NI number).

Or you can phone them (0300 200 3500) and they'll give you a reference to make a faster payment, but I suspect they'll be pretty busy this time of year
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/national-insurance-enquiries-for-employees-and-individuals

molerat

There is no form. Phone them up and get a reference to pay or simply write a letter with a cheque. https://www.gov.uk/pay-voluntary-class-3-national-insurance
Are you 100% certain the years you want to pay will add value ?

xylophone

I've convinced myself that _for me_ it makes sense to buy 4 years of back-NI before April.

Have you checked with the Future Pensions Centre

https://www.gov.uk/future-pension-centre

Spiggle

Hello and thank you again to molerat, jem16, xylophone and poohsticks.

Good thing I didn't reply to lampshuk before scrolling to the bottom of the thread! I did make it bold to say the form referred to above is for future years not for buy back but perhaps you missed that. There is a positive though as you've downloaded the form, the notes at the beginning of that form give you detail how to get your state pension forecast and the telephone numbers for the Future Pensions Centre.

Ok, jem16 I think you're probably right and I haven't yet done anything further since my last post regarding the NI but have decided to pay just the one year (2016-17) by cheque and letter and diarise looking again at this whole issue next January 2020. Particularly because I agree that for while the facility is available I may as well be earning interest on the money no matter how paltry it is.

I think I've probably exhausted this years questions now on the New State Pension so will see you on this thread in a year - providing nothing goes wrong!

Thank you all so very much, :T
Spigs

lampshuk

Thanks, all. Yes, according to my forecast I'm 11 years short of the full pension. There are 4 years I can buy back now and I'll decide whether to get the others in the future. The MSE thumbnail-guide makes it look like it's worthwhile buying the years (at least, under the current rules).

DianaSt

I have just discovered that I can add extra years to my NI contribution record at no extra cost because of Specified Adult Childcare credits.

As a grandparent who regularly looks after grandchildren under 12 whilst my daughter is at work, I have been able to claim Class 3 NIC credits which will give me 3 added years post April 2016 (my state pension date is May 2019). I was contracted out whilst working and had the maximum number of qualifying years under the old scheme so could not improve my pre 2016 pension position. I took early retirement so had paid no contributions under the new post 2016 scheme. To pay for 3 years voluntary Class 3 contributions would have cost me over £2000. I estimate my pension will be boosted by about £60 per month gross.

I don’t believe this scheme, which was introduced in 2011, is well publicised and there must be thousand stars of (mostly) women in my position who could claim these credits. These are also likely to be 1950s born women like me adversely affected by the accelerated changes to the women’s state pension age.