State Pension Query

notahopeinhell

I wonder if some kind person will clarify a (basic?) question or two about the State Pension for me please?

I shall be 65 around 18 months before my wife and am eligible for the full pension so presumably receive one in my own right? When my wife retires will we receive a joint pension or a separate pension each or do we actually have a choice in that regard?

I do not know if my wife will get a full pension as she stopped working for a few years to bring up our children is that the case?

Either way would it be better to have separate pensions (if possible) because of tax allowances or is that not relevant?

Any help gratefully received.

margaretclare

There is no such thing as a joint pension. There are 2 individual pensions.

It would be a good idea for you both to get a pension forecast:
http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/approachingretirement/home.asp

Once you're both 65 you each get a higher Personal Allowance of £7550: here http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/it.htm This amount is set against your individual incomes.

HTH

Margaret

robnye

margaretclare wrote: »

There is no such thing as a joint pension. There are 2 individual pensions.

It would be a good idea for you both to get a pension forecast:
http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/approachingretirement/home.asp

Once you're both 65 you each get a higher Personal Allowance of £7550: here http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/it.htm This amount is set against your individual incomes.

HTH

Margaret

well said.

am i right in thinking the husband (sexist) would receive a higher pension rate than the wife ? would this be paid before the wife had retired....?

dzug

robnye wrote: »

well said.

am i right in thinking the husband (sexist) would receive a higher pension rate than the wife ? would this be paid before the wife had retired....?

No - in general you would be wrong. The pensions are based on contributions, not sex.

And unless he chooses to defer it, the husband's pension is payable from age 65 whether he has retired or not. The wife's age/occupational status/existence even are irrelevant.

The area where confusion can creep in is that if the wife has insufficient contributions in her own right to get a pension she can claim a reduced pension based on her husband's contributions when BOTH of them have reached retirement age.

notahopeinhell

Thanks to all of you who replied but dare I ask something else please?

My wife is 59 and will be 60 before I am 65 I assume from what you folks have said that means that she will not receive any State Pension if her contributions are too few and only a reduced pension when I am 65?

In which case the old girl will have to keep working for a while yet.;)

seven-day-weekend

Your wife may have been eligible for Home Responsibilities Protection for the time she was bringing up the children. This reduces the amount of years she has to pay NI contributions.

If later than 1978 she has received Child Benefit and has always paid the full NI Contribution (not the married woman's 'small' stamp) she should be eligible for this for the time she was caring for children, up to a maximum of (I think) 19 years.

If her State Retirement date is before April 6th 2010, it will be worth her getting a Pension Forecast.

She may be pleasantly surprised. I was. I was in a similar position to your wife. I thought I would only get a reduced pension in my own right, but I got a Pension forecast when I gave up work at 54 and found that they had credited me with 13 years HRP. This meant that when this was taken off I only needed to pay two more years of Voluntary Contributions (as I had already paid 24 years) and I will get the full Pension when I am 60 in January 2010.

notahopeinhell

Thanks to everyone who responded I appreciate your help and advice and have learned a few things this morning.

I shall tell her to ask for a forecast and see what that brings.:T

EdInvestor

Note that if either of you retires after 2010, all the rules will be different (but better)

seven-day-weekend

Glad we've helped, notahopeinhell. Please let us know how your wife gets on!

margaretclare

I note that your wife was born in 1948 if she's 59 now. What is crucial is the decision that she made when she married you. Any woman who married after April 1978 no longer had the option to pay the 'small stamp' that 7DWE refers to - this was the 'married women's option' which meant that a woman who opted for that did not build up any entitlement to a pension in her own right. So, it depends (a) when she married you and (b) if that was before April 1978, which of those choices she made.

Any woman who opted to pay full contributions is now eligible for Home Responsibilities Protection, referred to above. But if she was still paying the 'small stamp' then she isn't eligible for HRP and hence, may not have built up enough NI contributions, paid or credited, for a state pension in her own right.

If she has, she can get her own pension at age 60, regardless of husband's age/retirement date.

It's said that there are now a minority, something like 15%, of all retired women, who receive a state retirement pension in their own right i.e. based on own and not husband's contributions. I'm in that minority, and 7DWE is going to be.

HTH

Margaret

evergreen

I got married in April 1978 and remember moaning my head off as I didn't have the option of the 'small stamp'. How glad am I now that choice was not given to me!!!!