NI Contributions for max State pension

Richmmm5645

My wife has been made redundant this year. She is 60. I have recently done a state pension forecast which says that to get the max state pension, she needs to add another 4 years of NI contributions between now and 2026.

If she cannot get another job, is there anyway she can get any NI credits to increase her future pension?

Regards Rich

OldBeanz

Richmmm5645 said:

My wife has been made redundant this year. She is 60. I have recently done a state pension forecast which says that to get the max state pension, she needs to add another 4 years of NI contributions between now and 2026.

If she cannot get another job, is there anyway she can get any NI credits to increase her future pension?

Regards Rich

Signing on is one way or if she becomes self employed then the cost comes down from £600+ to £100+. Self employed can cover a multitude of things from Ebay selling onwards. Otherwise finding a job paying over approx £160 per week.

molerat

Class 3 voluntary contributions at £795.60 per year.

Self employed class 2 voluntary contributions at £158.60 per year.

Class 1 credits from signing on.

Transfer of child benefit credits for looking after grandchildren.

Stonesmike

There was an article regarding this subject in the Saturday times, stating the government calculator should only be used as a guide only. The article points out a person who paid out £2,386.80 to boost there NI contributions and basically there was no reason for them to do this, as there was no more financial benefit given.
The times say if you have  more than 30 years contributions before 2016, that there usually no point of contributing any more.

If the gov calculator sees any gaps in your record before 2016 ( mine does ) it will recommend topping them up.
The paper goes on to say that when the pension checker was devised when Steve Webb was pension minister, and quote Mr Webb “ I think it is a little short of scandalous that they continue to send out information like this.”

I am more or less in the same situation as your wife, but 4 years older, so also looking into this subject.
like all financial aspects it and I recommend to double check with the DWP.

Stonesmike

Stonesmike said:

There was an article regarding this subject in the Saturday times, stating the government calculator should only be used as a guide only. The article points out a person who paid out £2,386.80 to boost there NI contributions and basically there was no reason for them to do this, as there was no more financial benefit given.
The times say if you have  more than 30 years contributions before 2016, that there usually no point of contributing any more.

If the gov calculator sees any gaps in your record before 2016 ( mine does ) it will recommend topping them up.
The paper goes on to say that when the pension checker was devised when Steve Webb was pension minister, and quote Mr Webb “ I think it is a little short of scandalous that they continue to send out information like this.”

I am more or less in the same situation as your wife, but 4 years older, so also looking into this subject.
like all financial aspects it and I recommend to double check with the DWP.

Please take a look at other article in this forum “ over paying voluntary class N3 contributions.

molerat

That Times article was a complete disaster, appalling standard of journalism and completely misrepresenting what had actually happened to the people concerned.  The pension forecast is an accurate representation of what is required as to how many years are needed, the problem comes when understanding which particular years to purchase and how they interact with your pension amount. The forecast and NI history does not "recommend" anything and I found working out what to pay for myself and MrsM quite straightforward.

squirrelpie

Perhaps worth posting a link to the article, or at least the title/headline, since a search reveals https://www.thetimes.co.uk/money-mentor/article/state-pension-amount/ which seems fairly good. But definitely the content as reported above should be ignored.

p00hsticks

squirrelpie said:

Perhaps worth posting a link to the article, or at least the title/headline, since a search reveals https://www.thetimes.co.uk/money-mentor/article/state-pension-amount/ which seems fairly good. But definitely the content as reported above should be ignored.

This is the article being referred to

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/beware-of-the-state-pension-top-up-trap-567qw8jzs?shareToken=30f16fd532126ee4e47b715ae10c5227

The discussion around it can be found here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6203954/overpaying-voluntary-class-3-ni-contributions#latest

Firfield

Just been made redundant age 56 and managing my budget closely. As such i am concerned if or how much i will need to pay in to ensure my state pension does not get affected my this period of not working. Gov NI record states i have 41 years of full contributions. My question is do i still need to contribute whilst i search for work to receive the full state pension at 67? I am reading all post and info but getting very confused. Thanks all xx

xylophone

What exactly does your pension forecast say?

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

molerat

As you have a pre 2016 history you are on  a hybrid scheme.  You can only tell by looking at your pension forecast - I personally had 42 years when I retired and still did not reach the full amount - a lot depends on whether you were in a contracted out pension scheme prior to 2016. If you are receiving unemployment benefits you should be getting NI credits and if you have earned over 52 x  the LEL this year you may already have done enough to fill it.  At 56 you still have a few years to go before retirement so unlikely any need to panic. So as a first step look at your forecast.