UK State pension help please

r3dc45r

I looked up my state pension forecast on the uk Gov website and its as follows:
Forecast is £169.83 if I contribute till 5th April 2024
Estimate based on NI record to date is £144.80
Max pension is £175.20
Im unlikely to contibute further NI as Im living and working abroad
My NI contibutions in the UK (from the UK Gov website) total 33 years, so I should be 2 years away from the maximum
Why will I only get £144.80 if I retire without contributing further ?
Am I misunderstanding something ?
Thanks in advance for any help

molerat

You have so far accrued £144.80.  35 years is irrelevant to you because you have a pre 2016 history and having less than 33/35ths of £175.20 points to you being in a contracted out scheme at some point - the front page of the forecast will tell you.  In 2016 a calculation was done which gave you the higher of your entitlement under the new or old schemes, x/30ths + S2P old or x/35ths - COPE new.  If you were working when you left the UK and continue to work overseas you may be eligible to pay class 2 contributions, which are considerably cheaper than class 3, to make up the gap - a one off payment of £3.05 per week will give you £5 per week for life in pension, go figure ! Even class 3 is good value, a one off £15.30 gives you that £5 for life. (You do have to pay 52 x those weekly amounts to get benefit)  Depending on where you live though the pension may or may not increase once in payment.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

My NI contibutions in the UK (from the UK Gov website) total 33 years, so I should be 2 years away from the maximum

Am I misunderstanding something ?

Yes.  You are under the mistaken impression that 35 years is relevant however it is only relevant for people starting their State Pension journey from April 2016.  Everyone else is under transitional rules.

Do you have a COPE figure mentioned further down your forecast?

xylophone

https://www.royallondon.com//siteassets/site-docs/media-centre/good-with-your-money-guides/topping-up-your-state-pension-guide.pdf

Have you made any contributions from 6/4/16?

If you make no further contributions, the £144.80 will increase under (at the moment) the triple lock before and after SPA.
https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/state-pension-triple-lock-sunak-pensions-manifesto-pledge-541947

r3dc45r

Thanks for the replies

I did ‘Opt out’ at some stage (Cope estimate is £57.89 per week)

No contributions since 2012

molerat

If you do decide to make further contributions be aware that only post 2016 years will add value to the pension as highlighted very good in the Royal London link above.

xylophone

I did ‘Opt out’ 

"Contract Out".....

It would seem then that you already had more than 30 years at 6/4/16.

Consider making contributions for years from 6/4/ 16 in order to bring yourself up to full NSP - see guide.

In which country do you expect to be resident when you reach SPA?

r3dc45r

Im currently resident in Gibraltar, but will probably move to Spain (Brexit permitting) when I retire

xylophone

Im currently resident in Gibraltar, but will probably move to Spain (Brexit permitting) when I retire

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pensions-annual-increases-if-you-live-abroad/countries-where-we-pay-an-annual-increase-in-the-state-pension