State pension post 2016

GingerJim

A few questions as i’m still increasibly confused about contracting out. I work for the NHS.

1. My predicted state pension is £164 if I keep paying national insurance. My statement says there is £40 COPE. It also says I cannot increase my state pension. If I had never cotracted out, would my predicted state pension be higher than £164?

2. Does anyone who begings to claim their state pension after 2016 get more than £164? If so, how?

3. What exactly happens with the £40 listed under COPE on my pension statement? Is it just a figure there I can ignore, will the NHS effectively pay £40 of my £164? It is very confusing.

4. Was I ever asked if I wanted to contract out, or was this just automatic for anyone with another pension like my NHS final salary pension?

Thanks.

simonineaston

Hi GJ, I'm asking a very similar Q at the mo' on another thread. I agree that it's hard to understand! I'm puzzled because I thought that the qualfying no. of years you need to have paid full NI is 30. (I've paid more than 40, and yet I have two figures quoted. Like you I will receive the maximum state pension (£164 and some pence, each week) if I continue to make NI contributions, or a lesser sum if I don't... So from my simple viewpoint, it looks as if I do qualify of the max. state pension and at the same time, I don't...
It's all to do with contracting out, I think. Like a lot of people, I contracted out back in the mid eighties. I'm going to ring their help line next week and ask them to talk me through it.
There are now helpful remarks on here now if you're interested...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5968903/q-about-qualifying-for-state-pension

Dazed_and_confused

1. Quite possibly. But isn't having the NHS pension as well as the State Pension a good thing? The absolute maximum State Pension under the old (and transitional) rules is less than £300/week I think

2. Yes. Because of the transitional rules. Strictly the "new" State Pension only applies in full to those starting on their pension journey from April 2016.

3. Nothing. Ignore it. It is irrelevant.

4. I may be wrong but it was probably a choice between being in the NHS pension and be contracted out or don't be in it.

Your post suggests you think you are losing out. You are almost certainly a winner under the new system.

It also says I cannot increase my state pension

Are you sure about this? I think you'll find you can increase your current entitlement but not to more than £164.35 (which does go up annually for inflation purposes under the triple lock system, will be £168.xx from April 2019)

GingerJim

Thank you for the clarification D&C. No, I am not grumpy and thinking I am losing out, I am happy that I am on track to get the full new state pension, I'm just baffled by the complexity of pensions in general but also the poor explanations of the COPE stuff with the state pension. No, I am very fortunate to have both a full state pension and a good NHS pension; in fact, it may all be too good and I'll be facing tax bills down the line, but that is a story for another day.

Yes, it says "You cannot improve your forecast any further, unless you choose to put off claiming." The forecast if I contribute another 13 years before my SPA is £164.35.

Thank you.

Dazed_and_confused

So you have currently built up an entitlement to c£100-105/week.

And can improve this to (a maximum of) £164.35 by adding more qualifying years.

GunJack

GingerJim wrote: »

Thank you for the clarification D&C. No, I am not grumpy and thinking I am losing out, I am happy that I am on track to get the full new state pension, I'm just baffled by the complexity of pensions in general but also the poor explanations of the COPE stuff with the state pension. No, I am very fortunate to have both a full state pension and a good NHS pension; in fact, it may all be too good and I'll be facing tax bills down the line, but that is a story for another day.

Yes, it says "You cannot improve your forecast any further, unless you choose to put off claiming." The forecast if I contribute another 13 years before my SPA is £164.35.

Thank you.

On the gov.uk site, it normally gives 2 numbers..

1. £what you have built up to today, and
2. £what you will get if you keep contributing.

Also on there will be a number of years you need to raise 1£. to 2£.

What exactly does the gov.uk page say ??

Tom99

GunJack wrote: »

On the gov.uk site, it normally gives 2 numbers..

1. £what you have built up to today, and
2. £what you will get if you keep contributing.

Also on there will be a number of years you need to raise 1£. to 2£.

What exactly does the gov.uk page say ??

1, 2 and often:-
3. The maximum pension you can get.
If this is more than No.2 it means there are passed years where a top-up contribution can be made.

GingerJim

Dazed_and_confused wrote: »

So you have currently built up an entitlement to c£100-105/week.

And can improve this to (a maximum of) £164.35 by adding more qualifying years.

Yes, Correct. Thank you.

GingerJim

GunJack wrote: »

On the gov.uk site, it normally gives 2 numbers..

1. £what you have built up to today, and
2. £what you will get if you keep contributing.

Also on there will be a number of years you need to raise 1£. to 2£.

What exactly does the gov.uk page say ??

As D&C suggests; about £105, £164.xx and 13.

Thank you.

GunJack

Tom99 wrote: »

1, 2 and often:-
3. The maximum pension you can get.
If this is more than No.2 it means there are passed years where a top-up contribution can be made.

Yes, this is possible too, but everyone gets the max-you-can-get figure even if it is the £164.35. Even if it's less, it may not be possible to increase it (age, time to Sp, etc.)

GunJack

GingerJim wrote: »

As D&C suggests; about £105, £164.xx and 13.

Thank you.

Makes perfect sense then