Advice on NI Record Gaps, Pension and self employment

rafhelp

I have worked many years, some years been on dole and some years self employed but low income so as a result not paid NI contributions.


I did a State Pension forecast here:
https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-your-state-pension


It states I would be eligible for £X amount in 2048, and says I need to contribute another 24 years.


I checked my National Insurance Records here:
https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-your-state-pension/account/nirecord

Summary

11
years of full contributions
30
years to contribute before 5 April 2048
11
years when you did not contribute enough

There were several "Year is not full" years. For one of them it said i could pay £400+ quid as voluntary contribution.


The question is as the forecast states a decent amount, do i not need to worry about the 'gap years' and hopefully just pay NI contributions for next 24 years.


Also as im self employed id like to ask what are my best options when it comes to planning for retirement, something where you make monthly payments and get some kind of bonus on top and then can use that money after retiring.

Brynsam

Hard to know what the state pension will look like/what NI record you'll need if you aren't reaching SPA for nearly a quarter of a century. If you're happy with the amount currently quoted and are confident you'll be able to make contributions until then, probably not worth worrying about. In any case there is nothing you can do about years which aren't full and for which you don't have the option to pay voluntary contributions.

A simple pension scheme (stakeholder or even NEST - do a bit of googling) would fit the bill in terms of retirement planning.

rafhelp

Brynsam wrote: »

Hard to know what the state pension will look like/what NI record you'll need if you aren't reaching SPA for nearly a quarter of a century. If you're happy with the amount currently quoted and are confident you'll be able to make contributions until then, probably not worth worrying about. In any case there is nothing you can do about years which aren't full and for which you don't have the option to pay voluntary contributions.

A simple pension scheme (stakeholder or even NEST - do a bit of googling) would fit the bill in terms of retirement planning.

But isnt NEST for workplace pensions not self employed?

xylophone

But isnt NEST for workplace pensions not self employed?

https://www.nestpensions.org.uk/schemeweb/nest/members/my-nest-pension/joining-nest/joining-as-self-employed.html

https://www.cavendishonline.co.uk/stakeholder-pension