State pension forecast

3card

Good evening guys
I have just logged on to the Gov site to check my state pension forecast. I am 60 at present and was made redundant last year with a state retirement age of 66.
My forecast says its £175.20 which is the most i can get and its the most i can get 
My question is that it tells me my COPE (contracted out pension equivalent) is £50.79. What exactly is the COPE??
If i understand correctly does it mean if i hadn't contracted out my state pension would have been to 2 figures combined? 
Will my state pension forecast change if i dont work from now until my 66th birthday? I have worked from the age of 16 until i was 60 and the only breaks have been in between jobs which total 16 weeks so i should be over the 35 years of NI contributions

Edit - my NI records actually state that i have 45 years full contributions but then is states that 5 years to contribute until 5th April 2025

Thanks for any clarification

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Forget about 35 years, those rules don't apply to you as you are under transitional rules.

Your forecast will increase each year for whatever inflation increase the government approved.  Currently the triple lock is in place so your £175.20 will become £179.60 on 6 April 2021.

The COPE amount was used as part of the original calculation to set your new State Pension starting amount back in 2016.  You don't really need to know much more than that.

But you presumably have a company pension which is likely to pay more than £50.79/week (could be less but it's unlikely).

NB.  I'm assuming there was a typo in this somewhere and you mean you have already accrued £175.20 by 5 April 2020.

My forecast says its £175.20 which is the most i can get and its the most i can get 

Marcon

See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pension-fact-sheets/contracting-out-and-why-we-may-have-included-a-contracted-out-pension-equivalent-cope-amount-when-you-used-the-online-service

xylophone

Does it say

£175.20 is the most you can get.

You cannot improve your forecast any more?

3card

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

Forget about 35 years, those rules don't apply to you as you are under transitional rules.

Your forecast will increase each year for whatever inflation increase the government approved.  Currently the triple lock is in place so your £175.20 will become £179.60 on 6 April 2021.

The COPE amount was used as part of the original calculation to set your new State Pension starting amount back in 2016.  You don't really need to know much more than that.

But you presumably have a company pension which is likely to pay more than £50.79/week (could be less but it's unlikely).

NB.  I'm assuming there was a typo in this somewhere and you mean you have already accrued £175.20 by 5 April 2020.

My forecast says its £175.20 which is the most i can get and its the most i can get 

Thanks for the reply
Yes the forecast did say it doesnt include for an inflation increases, sorry i missed that off my post
you are correct regarding a company pension (considerably worth more that the £50 per week) which is in drawdown at present even though i am not actually taking anything out of it at the moment. But as a 'non- earner' i have asked for a nominal figure paid to me from April this year so at least i will have a steady stream of tax free money which will (should) easily last me for a number of years and obviously my state pension should start in 2026.
I need to read up of these transitional years because i have no idea how it works lol

3card

xylophone said:

Does it say

£175.20 is the most you can get.

You cannot improve your forecast any more?

Yes it does.
Sorry for not clarifying that point

3card

Sorry guys it me again with another question
If i didn't work again before my state retirement age which meant i wouldn't me paying any NI contributions will this affect my forecast figure?
I have tried reading some of the transitional pages but i cant see an answer to this

Dazed_and_C0nfused

No, from what you have posted you have reached the standard new State Pension of £175.20 and cannot increase this any further by contributing more.
So whether you work or not you will remain at that level (plus whatever inflation increase is applied each April).

This is worth a read,
https://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/pensioners/approaching-retirement

xylophone

you are correct regarding a company pension (considerably worth more that the £50 per week) which is in drawdown at present even though i am not actually taking anything out of it at the moment. 

Could you expand on the above?

You don't have a DB pension already in payment?

3card

xylophone said:

you are correct regarding a company pension (considerably worth more that the £50 per week) which is in drawdown at present even though i am not actually taking anything out of it at the moment. 

Could you expand on the above?

You don't have a DB pension already in payment?

What i mean by that is about 5 years ago i released my 25% tax free element from my private pension to purchase a property for rental as part of my retirement planning which automatically put the rest of that plan in a drawdown but i haven't actually withdrawn any since so its still invested in my SIPP