State pension forcast: what does ‘full contribution year’ mean?

xylophone

gilly56 wrote: »

Can anyone help me understand my forecast please? I will be 66 in Sept 2021 (female). It shows forecast as £159.55 per week. It also states "Estimate based on your NI record up to 5/4/2016 £137.81 per week" and "Forecast if you contribute another 5 years before 5/4/2021 £159.55 per week".

When I go to the 'Summary' page it clearly states that I have 38 years of full contributions. (I understand you need 35 years for the new flat-rate pension). My last 'Full year' NI record was 2012-13 after which I took early retirement and stopped paying NI. So can I assume my forecast is definitely the £159.55 figure and not the £137.81?

No - if you make no more contributions, your pension at SPA will be your "starting amount" uprated by (presumably) triple link to SPA.

To achieve a full NSP (£155.65 uprated by (presumably) triple link to SPA) you will need to make the five years' contributions as indicated in your forecast.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/nov/29/state-pension-to-rise-by-25-in-april-2017

sevenhills

"£159.55 is the most I can get" "I cannot improve my forecast any further, unless I choose to put off claiming."


I opted out of serps, received £33,400 and still get the full pension, would I have got more if I had not opted out of serps?

bigadaj

sevenhills wrote: »

"£159.55 is the most I can get" "I cannot improve my forecast any further, unless I choose to put off claiming."


I opted out of serps, received £33,400 and still get the full pension, would I have got more if I had not opted out of serps?

You're almost certainly better off having opted out.

Depending on your age, income and income, profile then the old state pension would pay anywhere between £112 and £290 per week, and potentially less than £112 if the earnings record wasn't full.

If you have been quoted a cope figure on your statement then that gives an indication of the earnings that would have been earnt in the opted out sums, however it's possible that you received this and then topped up enough in NI in any case, so the opted out sum could be in addition.

gilly56

Many thanks to bigadaj, p00hsticks and xylophone for your replies. I'm still a bit confused as I only ever worked in same clerical job in the Civil Service and I wasn't aware they 'contracted-out' part of the scheme. It says my COPE estimate is £21.21 per week. I've uploaded some screenshots of what I see on the gov.gateway site at link below. I can't afford to make up any shortage in NI contributions so I guess the £137.81 will be my lot. :-(

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1Y77dv7BxpcQmpfUnp2eGFaVVE

Silvertabby

Many thanks to bigadaj, p00hsticks and xylophone for your replies. I'm still a bit confused as I only ever worked in same clerical job in the Civil Service and I wasn't aware they 'contracted-out' part of the scheme. It says my COPE estimate is £21.21 per week. I've uploaded some screenshots of what I see on the gov.gateway site at link below. I can't afford to make up any shortage in NI contributions so I guess the £137.81 will be my lot. :-( Posted by Gilly56

£137.81 plus your civil service pension - which I'm betting is considerably more than £21.21 per week! I'm a similar age to you, and have always been contracted out ( Armed Forces and then Local Governent).

My State pension estimate is on a par with yours (even though my COPE is over £60) and I only ever expected to receive the equivalent of the old basic pension of £120 per week. It looks like we've both benefitted from the 2002 SERPs/SP2 changes, which topped up our State pensions. I went part time in my LG job a couple of years after 2002, which classed me as 'low paid' and therefore eligible for the top up.

gilly56

Reason I took early retirement was to care for elderly mother with Alzheimer's for 3-4 years. I did not get any Carer's Allowance during that period so I take it I would not be entitled to any NI credits for those years??

Silvertabby

Reason I took early retirement was to care for elderly mother with Alzheimer's for 3-4 years. I did not get any Carer's Allowance during that period so I take it I would not be entitled to any NI credits for those years??

AFAIK, carer's allowance isn't means tested. Was someone else in the household getting it?

xylophone

Reason I took early retirement was to care for elderly mother with Alzheimer's for 3-4 years. I did not get any Carer's Allowance during that period so I take it I would not be entitled to any NI credits for those years??

https://www.gov.uk/carers-allowance

Are you sure that you cannot afford to pay for voluntary contributions?

You might buy 2016/17 and then make regular payments?

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/604827/CA5603_12_16_V1_0.pdf

gilly56

I've been googling some more and have found that if the person being cared for was getting AA then the carer should be able to have NI contributions credited to them whether or not they were in receipt of a Carer's Allowance. My late mother was getting AA and I am on their records as her full-time carer so I think I should be due credits for the years I cared for her. I will likely need to apply for them. Would it be better to phone or write to the Pensions Centre to clear this up? I've found the following details online...

Telephone: 0345 3000 168
Newcastle Pension Centre, Futures Group
The Pension Service 9
Mail Handling Site A
Wolverhampton
WV98 1LU

Thanks again for all he help! I will get a look at your links later xylophone...

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Can i ask what counts as year of contracting out of serps/sp2 therfore making up your COPE amount? If you joined a contracted out company pension scheme from lets say June 1982 to October 1991 then how many years are you contracted out? are you classed as contracted out for tax year 1982-83 and tax year 1991-92? as in those tax years you was not a member of the scheme for a full tax year.