State Pension

xylophone

Unlikely that you can 

I was 18 in 1972 and retired in 2005.
After that I did not make any more contributions, so I was 2 years short of the 35 required.

If OP had 33 qualifying years at 6/4/16 (see above) then only post 6/4/16 contributions up to SPA would improve his position.

jem16

xylophone said:

Unlikely that you can 

I was 18 in 1972 and retired in 2005.
After that I did not make any more contributions, so I was 2 years short of the 35 required.

If OP had 33 qualifying years at 6/4/16 (see above) then only post 6/4/16 contributions up to SPA would improve his position.

If his Starting Amount was based on the old rules ( which seems likely but not guaranteed ) then yes only contributions post April 2016 onwards will improve his position. However it is possible for someone with 33 years and a small COPE to be better off under the new rules in which case having 35 years could improve the situation.

wkt54

This is quite baffling but interesting.
Why can I not pay contributions before 2016.
Step 5 in Xylophone's link of Royal London says you can for 12 pounds a week, not 15.

molerat

wkt54 said:

This is quite baffling but interesting.
Why can I not pay contributions before 2016.
Step 5 in Xylophone's link of Royal London says you can for 12 pounds a week, not 15.

Under the old scheme you can only use a maximum of 30 years -   you have 33 -  so adding more will not add to the pension

Under the new scheme you can use up to 35 but COPE is deducted from that amount.

One of the 2 calculations will always come out on top, you cannot add to your old scheme amount and adding more to the new scheme amount may not wipe out the effects of the COPE figure when compared to the old scheme amount.

The prices in the link are out of date and those lower amounts were only available up until April 2019, you would need to pay the current year price for those years now.

xylophone

If his Starting Amount was based on the old rules ( which seems likely but not guaranteed ) 

The OP mentions occupational pension income of £100 a week which may well indicate that he was contracted out at some period between 1978 and 2005 when he retired. If so, he will have a COPE.

He may have been contracted in for some periods and will probably have some graduated retirement benefit 1972-1975.

The best thing for him to do will be to check with the pension service the years for which making a voluntary contribution will improve his state pension.

Incidentally, the OP says above that his SP will be £141 a week but in an earlier post

I am due 150 pounds a week on 15 November this year. 

Which is it?

jem16

xylophone said:

If his Starting Amount was based on the old rules ( which seems likely but not guaranteed ) 

The OP mentions occupational pension income of £100 a week which may well indicate that he was contracted out at some period between 1978 and 2005 when he retired. If so, he will have a COPE.

He may have been contracted in for some periods and will probably have some graduated retirement benefit 1972-1975.

The best thing for him to do will be to check with the pension service the years for which making a voluntary contribution will improve his state pension.

Incidentally, the OP says above that his SP will be £141 a week but in an earlier post

I am due 150 pounds a week on 15 November this year. 

Which is it?

He was definitely contracted out because if he wasn't then 33 non-contracted out years would have given him £165.19. However we cannot be sure if his Starting Amount was under the old rules or the new rules. Knowing his COPE amount would allow us to guess but only the DWP can give his the exact answer. HMRC will not allow him to pay for any years unless he's contacted the DWP first so no mistakes should be made.

For what it's worth I would think it's likely to have been based on the old rules but we cannot be sure. 

nigelbb

molerat said:

Unlikely that you can but without a full breakdown of your NI history and pension forecast it is only a guess.  The vast majority who spent many years in a contracted out pension scheme can only make up their pension with post 2016 years of which there are obviously only a limited amount before your state pension age.  The Royal London guide describes how it works.

I have 42 years but only get £168 simply because there were not enough post 2016 years to get the extra amount.

The only way of increasing your pension is deferment. You can do this instead of claiming your pension or once only after you are in receipt of your pension. Each year of deferment increases pension by 5.9%. 

wkt54

In 1972 I was in the Royal Navy, and left in December 1981.
After that was 9 years in the Northern Ireland Civil Service and 9 years in Royal Mail.
6 years unemployed in between and I was signing on.
Not sure why I said 150 pounds in August.
I think because I looked a few years ago and guessed it would be that.
I should have checked again in August.
Thank you for all your help.

xylophone

In 1972 I was in the Royal Navy, and left in December 1981.
After that was 9 years in the Northern Ireland Civil Service and 9 years in Royal Mail.
6 years unemployed in between and I was signing on.

In view of this post https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/77721596/#Comment_77721596

and as you had fewer than 35 years, it would be worth checking  with DWP whether making pre 2016 contributions would make any difference to your situation.

wkt54

I am not going to bother with the voluntary contributions.
I am getting 241 pounds a week pension now, and 75 pounds a week interest from my Egyptian bank account.
It is 8% interest,
I am paying 60 pounds a week for a big apartment, cigs are 1 pound a packet, and a pint 2.50.
Thank you for all your help.