Voluntary NICs

molerat

I have edited my post with a bit more detail.

Linton

melena said:

Linton said:

You do not gain anything from buying NI for the tax year during which you reach State Pension Age.  However if you are buying for a previous year you can do so up to 6 years afterwards, you reaching State Pension Age does not matter.

You can also pay for any gaps in the years 2006/2007-2015/2016 until April 2023.  However this may or may not do you any good.  You will need to get advice.

Are you saying that I could buy previous years' NICs  AFTER taking my pension?  "you reaching State Pension Age does not matter".

Yes you can buy old NICs after taking your pension see https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/deadlines for example.  And I believe that payments are backdated but cant find any confirmation of this.

melena

molerat said:

I have edited my post with a bit more detail.

Thank you. It's good to know I won't have to worry about missing out and can safely leave taking the decision on buying the final year's worth until even nearer my pension age. I guess the sensible thing would be to buy, if I do, a month or two before my 66th birthday, and I think it will make sense unless I'm only going to get a matter of pence a week extra for a whole year's contribution. The triple lock won't last forever, but it seems wise to take as much [presumably] index linked income as possible, it only takes a couple of years of 70's style inflation to wreck other plans like 3% increasing annuities, let alone flat rate ones. [I do realise that annuities and state pensions are not alternatives.]

melena

Linton said:

melena said:

Linton said:

You do not gain anything from buying NI for the tax year during which you reach State Pension Age.  However if you are buying for a previous year you can do so up to 6 years afterwards, you reaching State Pension Age does not matter.

You can also pay for any gaps in the years 2006/2007-2015/2016 until April 2023.  However this may or may not do you any good.  You will need to get advice.

Are you saying that I could buy previous years' NICs  AFTER taking my pension?  "you reaching State Pension Age does not matter".

Yes you can buy old NICs after taking your pension see gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/deadlines for example.  And I believe that payments are backdated but cant find any confirmation of this.

I'd read that page but took all the specific ages - eg. "You’re a man born before 6 April 1950 or a woman born before 6 October 1952" -  and dates - eg. You have until 5 April 2023 to pay voluntary contributions to make up for gaps between April 2006 and April 2016 - to mean that they were only referring to the old state pension. There's certainly no point in my buying pre-2016 NICs, they won't increase my pension at all, and only post 2016 years will benefit me.

OldBeanz

melena said:

molerat said:

I have edited my post with a bit more detail.

Thank you. It's good to know I won't have to worry about missing out and can safely leave taking the decision on buying the final year's worth until even nearer my pension age. I guess the sensible thing would be to buy, if I do, a month or two before my 66th birthday, and I think it will make sense unless I'm only going to get a matter of pence a week extra for a whole year's contribution. The triple lock won't last forever, but it seems wise to take as much [presumably] index linked income as possible, it only takes a couple of years of 70's style inflation to wreck other plans like 3% increasing annuities, let alone flat rate ones. [I do realise that annuities and state pensions are not alternatives.]

Your pension requires DWP and HMRC talking to one another which they start doing a few months before you receive your pension. I would be buying extra years 6 months before as that would give you a better chance of things progressing smoothly .

melena

OldBeanz said:

melena said:

molerat said:

I have edited my post with a bit more detail.

Thank you. It's good to know I won't have to worry about missing out and can safely leave taking the decision on buying the final year's worth until even nearer my pension age. I guess the sensible thing would be to buy, if I do, a month or two before my 66th birthday, and I think it will make sense unless I'm only going to get a matter of pence a week extra for a whole year's contribution. The triple lock won't last forever, but it seems wise to take as much [presumably] index linked income as possible, it only takes a couple of years of 70's style inflation to wreck other plans like 3% increasing annuities, let alone flat rate ones. [I do realise that annuities and state pensions are not alternatives.]

Your pension requires DWP and HMRC talking to one another which they start doing a few months before you receive your pension. I would be buying extra years 6 months before as that would give you a better chance of things progressing smoothly .

Thanks, that's probably very sensible advice, though as you have to claim your pension, and can defer as long as you want, I wonder whether the powers that be would do all the calculations before you've put your claim in. Then again, I don't suppose many people defer nowadays under the meaner rules of the new pension. I see they are meant to get in touch at least two months before your retirement date so I guess there'd be no harm in making all the payments a while before that.

Linton

melena said:

Linton said:

melena said:

Linton said:

You do not gain anything from buying NI for the tax year during which you reach State Pension Age.  However if you are buying for a previous year you can do so up to 6 years afterwards, you reaching State Pension Age does not matter.

You can also pay for any gaps in the years 2006/2007-2015/2016 until April 2023.  However this may or may not do you any good.  You will need to get advice.

Are you saying that I could buy previous years' NICs  AFTER taking my pension?  "you reaching State Pension Age does not matter".

Yes you can buy old NICs after taking your pension see gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/deadlines for example.  And I believe that payments are backdated but cant find any confirmation of this.

I'd read that page but took all the specific ages - eg. "You’re a man born before 6 April 1950 or a woman born before 6 October 1952" -  and dates - eg. You have until 5 April 2023 to pay voluntary contributions to make up for gaps between April 2006 and April 2016 - to mean that they were only referring to the old state pension. There's certainly no point in my buying pre-2016 NICs, they won't increase my pension at all, and only post 2016 years will benefit me.

melena said:

Linton said:

melena said:

Linton said:

You do not gain anything from buying NI for the tax year during which you reach State Pension Age.  However if you are buying for a previous year you can do so up to 6 years afterwards, you reaching State Pension Age does not matter.

You can also pay for any gaps in the years 2006/2007-2015/2016 until April 2023.  However this may or may not do you any good.  You will need to get advice.

Are you saying that I could buy previous years' NICs  AFTER taking my pension?  "you reaching State Pension Age does not matter".

Yes you can buy old NICs after taking your pension see gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/deadlines for example.  And I believe that payments are backdated but cant find any confirmation of this.

I'd read that page but took all the specific ages - eg. "You’re a man born before 6 April 1950 or a woman born before 6 October 1952" -  and dates - eg. You have until 5 April 2023 to pay voluntary contributions to make up for gaps between April 2006 and April 2016 - to mean that they were only referring to the old state pension. There's certainly no point in my buying pre-2016 NICs, they won't increase my pension at all, and only post 2016 years will benefit me.

OK try the bottom of https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions : "If you're over State Pernsion Age".

melena

Linton said:

melena said:

Linton said:

melena said:

Linton said:

You do not gain anything from buying NI for the tax year during which you reach State Pension Age.  However if you are buying for a previous year you can do so up to 6 years afterwards, you reaching State Pension Age does not matter.

You can also pay for any gaps in the years 2006/2007-2015/2016 until April 2023.  However this may or may not do you any good.  You will need to get advice.

Are you saying that I could buy previous years' NICs  AFTER taking my pension?  "you reaching State Pension Age does not matter".

Yes you can buy old NICs after taking your pension see gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/deadlines for example.  And I believe that payments are backdated but cant find any confirmation of this.

I'd read that page but took all the specific ages - eg. "You’re a man born before 6 April 1950 or a woman born before 6 October 1952" -  and dates - eg. You have until 5 April 2023 to pay voluntary contributions to make up for gaps between April 2006 and April 2016 - to mean that they were only referring to the old state pension. There's certainly no point in my buying pre-2016 NICs, they won't increase my pension at all, and only post 2016 years will benefit me.

melena said:

Linton said:

melena said:

Linton said:

You do not gain anything from buying NI for the tax year during which you reach State Pension Age.  However if you are buying for a previous year you can do so up to 6 years afterwards, you reaching State Pension Age does not matter.

You can also pay for any gaps in the years 2006/2007-2015/2016 until April 2023.  However this may or may not do you any good.  You will need to get advice.

Are you saying that I could buy previous years' NICs  AFTER taking my pension?  "you reaching State Pension Age does not matter".

Yes you can buy old NICs after taking your pension see gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/deadlines for example.  And I believe that payments are backdated but cant find any confirmation of this.

I'd read that page but took all the specific ages - eg. "You’re a man born before 6 April 1950 or a woman born before 6 October 1952" -  and dates - eg. You have until 5 April 2023 to pay voluntary contributions to make up for gaps between April 2006 and April 2016 - to mean that they were only referring to the old state pension. There's certainly no point in my buying pre-2016 NICs, they won't increase my pension at all, and only post 2016 years will benefit me.

OK try the bottom of gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions : "If you're over State Pernsion Age".

Always expecting the small print to hold a twist, had I not asked I'd have assumed an implicit "and not yet taken your pension" to go with "You’ve reached State Pension age and want to fill in gaps in your National Insurance record". My intention was only ever to buy NICs before before I take my pension, just wondering exactly when, but I'm really surprised to find you can do so afterwards.

melena

Just in case anyone is interested, I just phoned HMRC - waited ages! - and was told you can indeed buy VNICs after you start taking your pension but the increase in pension won't be backdated - as you'd expect. To be [almost] certain a VNIC will be taken into account when you start to take your pension without having to push for it, the advice was to pay it at least four months before you want your pension to commence.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

I wonder if DWP, who actually pay the State Pension, would say the same??