State Pension Statement question regards contracted out period

thebizz

Hi.  I am trying to get grips with my pension planning and how early I can potentially wind down work.
Part of this is my state pension.  I am 47 and was part of Barclay's 1964 final salary scheme for the first 15 years of my career.   My understanding was that I was 'contracted out' during that time.
My pension statement (from mygov site) says I am on course for £179 at 68.  Currently, I have £160 and require 4 more years for the £179.
On that screen, it does say I was contracted out and when I drill into that it says I have a cope of about £20 but that will not affect my state pension.
When I check my national insurance years I have 31 years listed with my university years the only ones not showing full.
This has left me confused.  It would seem that the years I was in the DB seem to have counted as full years contributions.
That would be great if it's the case but I wouldn't want to find out later it's a mistake or I have not understood correctly.
If anyone can help me understand this I would be very grateful.

QrizB

Short version: trust the forecast.

Longer version: the "35 years for a full pension" bit only applies to people who commence work after 2016, everyone else has a pension entitlement based on the better of their old and new calculations. Some people may need fewer than 35 years of full contributions, others may need more.

There's a much more detailed explanation in one of the recent threads which you can seek out if you really want to.

Linton

In 2016 your new SP accrued was calculated as the maximum of the SP accrued under the old rules and that accrued under the new rules.

Under the old rules the time you were contracted in resulted in an addition to the Basic State Pension (currently £137.60) accrued to 2016.   Under the new rules the time you were contracted out resulted in a decrease (COPE) against the full State Pension (currently £179.58) accrued to 2016.

 After 2016 your SP is increased by the fullSP/35 for each NI year but the maximum you can get is the full State Pension.  If you had already accrued more than the full SP in 2016 you could keep that but further NI years would not result in any increase.

The 31 NI years quoted are the years during which you paid NI.  That number is the same whether you were contracted in or out.  Their effect on your SP is complex as some of those years are under the old rules and some under the new.  The 35 years often stated in pension documenetation is only relevent if all your NI years are under the new rules.

molerat

You needing 31 + 4 = 35 is purely a coincidence.  If you were fully under the new system your current amount with 31 years would be £159.07. Very likely your old and new full  amount calculations were within a £ or so of each other.

thebizz

Thanks for your help.  I have to admit I am still confused, but would very much like to trust the forecast as that will basically mean I get the maximum state pension on the new scheme (as will be contributing NI for probably another 10 years at least)
The way my forecast reads is I have 31 years currently (which takes me back to being 16 years old).  And it says I need 4 more years contribution to increase my current forecast from the current £160 to £179.58 which is the maximum I can get (4 x 35/179 roughly)
That appears to be what I would expect if I had worked the whole time under the new rules paying a full contribution for the 35 years.  My time contracted out and at uni would say that isn't true. 
The statement is consistent because I did one 2 years ago and that said I had 6 years to get to the then maximum 'new' pension amount.
I don't think I will get to understand how the 2016 calculation was done but it seems a coincidence that the end result is 35 years

molerat

I put the rounded figures you gave through my spreadsheet and with 26 pre 2016 years you would have had a basic old pension of £103.39 and S2P of £13.06 so £116.46.  26 years new pension - before the COPE deduction - would have been £115.63 so you see those 2 are very close and would both need a total of 35 years to reach the full amount.

thebizz

Again thanks for your help it is very much appreciated.
I have some confidence in my state pension amount which is my first step in planning.
I need to look at whether to transfer out my db pension now so much research is needed.