Contracted out

Silvertabby

xylophone said:

Please can you state exactly what each pension  forecast says?

And are you certain that neither you nor your wife ever worked for an employer offering a contracted out pension scheme?

You may think this an odd question but there have been other posts indicating that the poster simply  hadn't realised that his workplace pension scheme was contracted out.

....if I could count the times the LGPS has finally tracked down deferred (contracted out) pensioners, to be told 'but no-one told me I had been in the pension scheme'....

30072009

Thank you for your response greatly appreciated.
For myself I can say with certainty  that I was not in an opted out pension scheme. I am a retired police officer my salary and my pension and I did  not opt out. Even for the short time that I was unemployed / retired I did not believe that I would be eligible for any any state benefits as I already had an alternative income to be honest I would  not have thought it proper to claim any benefits when in receipt of a reasonable pension.    
With regards to my wife she did work for the Royal Mail post office, and we are not now sure whether they automatically opted out their post office staff.
We will will make a few more enquires and I will also try and cut and paste both our pension forecasts 
kind regards

 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Not really sure what you mean by "opted out" but I think you'll find the Police pension scheme most definitely was a contracted out scheme.

Silvertabby

As Dazed says.  The police pension scheme, like all public sector pension schemes, is contracted out  (of SERPS/SP2).  It wasn't your choice.

You certainly didn't opt out, as you are in receipt of your police pension.  Opting out meant that you didn't want to join the pension scheme, didn't pay any contributions, and didn't accrue any pension benefits.

Did you by any chance speak to police pensions to ask if you had opted out?  If you did, then they would of course have replied that you hadn't.  Right answer to the wrong question.

The Royal Mail pension scheme was also contracted out, at least some time in the past. 

dunstonh

For myself I can say with certainty  that I was not in an opted out pension scheme. 

Opt out is the term used when someone opts out of joining the workplace pension.  I think you mean contracted out.   And as mentioned above, the police pension scheme was contracted out.

With regards to my wife she did work for the Royal Mail post office, and we are not now sure whether they automatically opted out their post office staff.

Again, the confusion with opting out but the RM pension in its original final salary guise was contracted out.

30072009

Thanks to all above for enlightening me, your help and guidance is appreciated. I was of the opinion opting out / contracting out meant that I had paid into a private pension pot opting out all together from the government pension scheme. 
What I find confusing and a little frustrating is that throughout my time in the police service and in the full time employment of others my pension forecast shows full contributions. The only gap where I did not pay NI contributions is the 3 years that my wife and I operated as a limited company and as result I now have to work a further 3 years in order to reach 44 years full contributions. However I can live with that not an issue.
My main concern is that my wife whose pension forecast shows that she has paid 39 years full contributions will only receive £142.56 per week as opposed to the full rate of £175.20 a considerable drop of £32.64 per week. My question is why is that when to my understanding 39 years was the required limit for woman in order to receive a full pension.  
In addition there a a couple of years where the shortfall in contributions is around the £100 and £150 mark can my wife be specific in paying these years shortfalls in order for them to count as full years, as I believe this would be cost viable? 
Kind regards
[Removed by Forum Team].

30072009

Hi I have now been educated by some of your colleagues my pension was apparently contracted out. 

[Removed by Forum Team].

Your State Pension summary

You can get your State Pension on 25 November 2022. Your forecast is

£152.57 a week

£663.41 a month, £7,960.88 a year

Your forecast

• is not a guarantee and is based on the current law
• does not include any increase due to inflation

You need to continue to contribute National Insurance to reach your forecast

Estimate based on your National Insurance record up to 5 April 2020

£142.56 a week

Forecast if you contribute until 5 April 2022

£152.57 a week

You can improve your forecast

You have shortfalls in your National Insurance record that you can fill and make count towards your State Pension.

The most you can increase your forecast to is

£172.59 a week

Your forecast may be different if there are any changes to your National Insurance information. There is more about this in the 

You’ve been in a contracted-out pension scheme

Like most people, 

 

[Removed by Forum Team].

Your National Insurance record

[Removed by Forum Team].

You have:

• 39 years of full contributions
• 2 years to contribute before 5 April 2022
• 9 years when you did not contribute enough

[Removed by Forum Team].

Your State Pension summary

You can get your State Pension on 9 March 2027. Your forecast is

£175.20 a week

£761.81 a month, £9,141.69 a year

Your forecast

• is not a guarantee and is based on the current law
• does not include any increase due to inflation

You need to continue to contribute National Insurance to reach your forecast

Estimate based on your National Insurance record up to 5 April 2020

£163.95 a week

Forecast if you contribute another 3 years before 5 April 2026

£175.20 a week

£175.20 is the most you can get

You cannot improve your forecast any further, unless you choose to put off claiming.

 

 

[Removed by Forum Team].

Your National Insurance record

[Removed by Forum Team].

You have:

• 41 years of full contributions
• 6 years to contribute before 5 April 2026
• 3 years when you did not contribute enough

I am not too concerned with my situation I am quite happy and hoping to work for the next 3 years. It is the considerable shortfall in my wife's pension that appears to be unfair. My wife has no intention of going back to work.  Is the pension forecast correct  

garmeg

You may want to redact both your names and NI numbers from the above post?

meadow2018

I have 45 years full contributions upto April 2020 and have only just reached the full new state pension amount although 35 years is the number now needed.  This is because I was contracted out in the 80's.  I still have several years before SPA.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

My main concern is that my wife whose pension forecast shows that she has paid 39 years full contributions will only receive £142.56 per week as opposed to the full rate of £175.20 a considerable drop of £32.64 per week. My question is why is that when to my understanding 39 years was the required limit for woman in order to receive a full pension.  

You are referring to the old rules.

Your wife is under transitional rules where neither 39 or 35 years is relevant.

She had a starting amount calculated in 2016 and has been able to add to that with contributions since then.

I think you are looking at this as glass half empty when it should be glass half full.  Would you rather the old rules applied and your wife get "basic" state pension of c£120 rather than "new" State Pension of £142.56?