State Pension help! Please

sixtytwo

Does any one know if personal savings affect the State Pension in any way.
Thanks in advance

djohn2002uk

State Pension is not means tested. You get it regardless of how much you have saved. Not many other things you can say that about mind you.

Farway

sixtytwo wrote: »

Does any one know if personal savings affect the State Pension in any way.
Thanks in advance

As stated the basic state pension is not affected by savings, however if you apply for Pension Credit on top of the basic then savings do come into the means testing, forgot exactly the figure but about 6K or less is disregarded, but there is an added Savings Credit added, just to make it more complicated

http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/pensioncredit/entitled.asp

sixtytwo

Thanks for your replies.
I must admit I find it all a bit confusing.My husband paid a full stamp all his working life,he is 65 next May so what state pension will we be allowed.

djohn2002uk

Go to this site http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/PensionsAndRetirement/StatePension/DG_10014008 and it gives you all the info on how to get a forecast of what you will both get.

sixtytwo

Thanks ever so much for your help,much appreciated.

chesky369

The problem is with the pension forecast, they're not doing them for the next 18 months.

CIS

I think its only forecasts that come under the new rules ie retiring after 2010 that cannot currently be produced as the system has to be updated.

djohn2002uk

chesky369 wrote: »

The problem is with the pension forecast, they're not doing them for the next 18 months.

This is from the link I gave above.
The Pension Service currently can only respond to State Pension forecast requests from people who reach State Pension age on or before 5 April 2010.

seven-day-weekend

sixtytwo wrote: »

Thanks for your replies.
I must admit I find it all a bit confusing.My husband paid a full stamp all his working life,he is 65 next May so what state pension will we be allowed.

It is difficult to say. He SHOULD get the full Basic pension. However, he may ALSO get SERPS, Second State Pension and Graduated Pension added onto it, depending on various things.

How much you yourself will get will depend upon your age and whether or not you have paid/been credited with enough full NI Contributions.

If BOTH your retirement dates are before April 6th 2010, you both need to apply for pension forecasts.

margaretclare

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

It is difficult to say. He SHOULD get the full Basic pension. However, he may ALSO get SERPS, Second State Pension and Graduated Pension added onto it, depending on various things.

How much you yourself will get will depend upon your age and whether or not you have paid/been credited with enough full NI Contributions.

If BOTH your retirement dates are before April 6th 2010, you both need to apply for pension forecasts.

Good for your reply, 7DWE. I read this yesterday and I must admit, I was a bit puzzled by the way the OP worded her question.

My husband paid a full stamp all his working life, he is 65 next May so what state pension shall we be allowed?

On the face of it, he qualifies for full state retirement pension which at present is £87.30 a week (increases in April). Depending on what job he did, his earnings level, whether he was ever contracted-out into an employer's scheme or stayed within the state pension system, he could also qualify for SERPS or what is now called S2P. This is very well worth having. My DH gets full SRP but he also gets as much again in SERPS, some £160 or so a week in total, paid 4-weekly.

There is no 'we' in all this. The state of play for a woman who hasn't earned her own pension entitlement is that she qualifies for 60% of the amount her husband gets, based on his contributions. 60% of £87.30 is £52.38.

HTH

Margaret