I don't trust any politician....am I paranoid or sensible?

bostonerimus

I pay Class 2 voluntary NI and now have 35 years of contributions and a forecast state pension of £168.60 a week. I cannot increase that pension with additional contributions, but the forecast is just that and there is the nice CYA phrase in the forecast that states:

Your forecast is not a guarantee and is based on the current law.

So as Class 2 is so inexpensive should I keep paying in case they move the goal posts again? Am I paranoid, cynical, spend-thrift or have I just taken the "red pill" like Neo did?

nigelbb

As I recall you have lived abroad & paid NI Class 2 for 30 years. As you have benefited from a loophole that has enabled you to buy a pension of £8767/year for the equivalent of under £5K I would hope that you have the good conscience to continue paying £150/year contributing just a little more while still able.

Prism

I wouldn't pay any more, but then I'm one who pays zero NI for their state pension contributions.

Notepad_Phil

bostonerimus wrote: »

I don't trust any politician....am I paranoid or sensible?

Probably sensible , but in the current environment I don't think that any politician would dare to further change the state pension rules in any dramatic negative way for people who were within sight of pension age.

However if you are still earning then I think it would only be fair to the UK to voluntarily continue paying the Class 2 NI.

Malthusian

There is no reason to pay Class 2 if you aren't obliged to.

If you want to pay voluntary tax then pick the amount you want to pay and send HMRC a cheque (or check). The Class 2 limits are irrelevant to how much voluntary tax you want to pay.

If the Government does increase the amount of NI years you need for a full pension, you will almost certainly be given an opportunity to make up the difference, in the same way that class 3 backdating was extended when the New State Pension was introduced for 2016.

jimi_man

nigelbb wrote: »

As I recall you have lived abroad & paid NI Class 2 for 30 years. As you have benefited from a loophole that has enabled you to buy a pension of £8767/year for the equivalent of under £5K I would hope that you have the good conscience to continue paying £150/year contributing just a little more while still able.

I just don't get this? Why would anyone pay more than they had to? If that's the case then where do you draw the line? Voluntarily pay more tax as well? Voluntarily carry on paying more NI after SPA? And then how much more should you pay and how long for?

If there is a desire to divest yourself of excess income then there are numerous charities that I feel would be more deserving.

phillw

bostonerimus wrote: »

So as Class 2 is so inexpensive should I keep paying in case they move the goal posts again?

It's impossible to predict, I opted out of serps and yet the web site says that those years are full years despite acknowledging that I had previously opted out of serps & I so have no idea what I'll get or whether the rules will change again.

I wouldn't give them any more money as they are just as likely to say you don't qualify for a pension at all.

Linton

phillw wrote: »

It's impossible to predict, I opted out of serps and yet the web site says that those years are full years despite acknowledging that I had previously opted out of serps & I so have no idea what I'll get or whether the rules will change again.

https://www.yourpension.gov.uk/

nigelbb

phillw wrote: »

It's impossible to predict, I opted out of serps and yet the web site says that those years are full years despite acknowledging that I had previously opted out of serps & I so have no idea what I'll get or whether the rules will change again..

Opting out of SERPS was just that opting out of the extra earnings related pension. It did not opt you out of the basic state pension.

Linton

bostonerimus wrote: »

I pay Class 2 voluntary NI and now have 35 years of contributions and a forecast state pension of £168.60 a week. I cannot increase that pension with additional contributions, but the forecast is just that and there is the nice CYA phrase in the forecast that states:

Your forecast is not a guarantee and is based on the current law.

So as Class 2 is so inexpensive should I keep paying in case they move the goal posts again? Am I paranoid, cynical, spend-thrift or have I just taken the "red pill" like Neo did?

When the state pension system changed in 2016 the government/civil service went to great lengths to ensure that nobody lost any benefit they had already legally earned. The changes were related to the effect of post 2016 contributions. This seems to be a general principle and it seems extremely unlikely to me that this would change in the future.

[Deleted User]

Anything can happen in very many ways. The future government policy is unpredictable. The only reasonable approach is to act based on today’s rules.