State Pension

Audaxer

Pat38493 said:

Audaxer said:

Pat38493 said:

sevenhills said:

Pat38493 said:

I remember being told by the HR dept of my company many many years ago, that I might receive lower state pension because we are "contracted out".

However if I log into the gov.uk website and look, it says I will receive the full maximum state pension of £9300.  I assume this is now correct?

I was also contracted out. My forecast is £9,371.27 a year.

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

My retirement date is 2029

Yes mine is about the same - I just want to make sure this is the correct true amount I will get and can't be adjusted downwards later because of "contracting out" situation.

If you were contracted out that will have been taken into account in your forecast. Just to make sure you definitely don't have any further NI contributions to make to get to the maximum amount, it would be helpful if you advised us of the following:

• What amount does your Statement show under "Estimate based on your National Insurance record up to 5 April 2021"
• Below that does it show an amount for how much you can increase your forecast to? 

Estimate based on your national insurance record up to 5th April 2021 - £179.60 / week £9371.27 / year

Then it says "You cannot improve your forecast any more"

This seems pretty clear, but I just wanted to make sure that there is not some catch that is not shown on that website.

That does seem clear to me as well, and I can't see how there could be any sort of catch. I've got a few years more voluntary contributions to pay to get to the maximum, after which I hope to see that on my statement.

Mayopont

Hi if I am reading the above correctly. If someone retired early/took their occupational pension before 2016...they would fall under the old system. Meaning even though they don't reach State Pension age until after April 2016, they have stopped paying Nat Insurance contributions?

molerat

Mayopont said:

Hi if I am reading the above correctly. If someone retired early/took their occupational pension before 2016...they would fall under the old system. Meaning even though they don't reach State Pension age until after April 2016, they have stopped paying Nat Insurance contributions?

You seem confused. The state pension system you fall under depends on when you reach state pension age, pre or post April 2016.  Up to state pension age under either system you are liable to pay NI contributions on earned income, pension income of any type is not subject to NI whether pre or post state pension age. From April 2023 earned income will be subject to the 1.25% NI levy even if over state pension age.

Secret2ndAccount

When you work, unless you earn a very low salary, you pay NI. If you stop working, you stop paying NI, though you could choose to continue paying voluntarily, or you might receive NI credits depending why you stopped work.

At your retirement age - State Pension Age - about 67, depending how old you are - you get State Pension. The amount of that pension depends on your NI contributions, but not in a simple way. Sometimes paying more years of NI gets you more pension. Sometimes it doesn't.
Edited to add:  After State Pension Age, you no longer pay NI if you keep working - but it's SPA - nothing to do with whether you retired or not.

First port of call is https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension     Get a forecast. The top line tells you how much is the most you can get, but keep reading: below that it says what you've built up so far, and how many more years of NI are needed to get to the full headline amount.
2016 doesn't affect anything I said above

Dando83

Hello forum people,

MSE's article on pension top-ups is focussed on plugging gaps in the history. I didn't spot advice on paying in advance.

For example, if someone knew they would be leaving the UK and then living/working out of the UK for the next ten years, could they pay national insurance in advance to ensure they got the full state pension allowance?

Just curious.

molerat

No ......................

tightauldgit

Dando83 said:

Hello forum people,

MSE's article on pension top-ups is focussed on plugging gaps in the history. I didn't spot advice on paying in advance.

For example, if someone knew they would be leaving the UK and then living/working out of the UK for the next ten years, could they pay national insurance in advance to ensure they got the full state pension allowance?

Just curious.

For most (many?) people who have been working in the UK and making NI contributions who then move abroad it should still be possible to make voluntary NI contributions in the future in order to ensure they get a full state pension. You can't pay in advance though.

Dando83

Cheers, smart people.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-if-you-go-abroad

nigelbb

Dando83 said:

Hello forum people,

MSE's article on pension top-ups is focussed on plugging gaps in the history. I didn't spot advice on paying in advance.

For example, if someone knew they would be leaving the UK and then living/working out of the UK for the next ten years, could they pay national insurance in advance to ensure they got the full state pension allowance?

Just curious.

You cannot pay in advance but you can set up a direct debit to pay your voluntary contributions monthly going forward. There is even a direct debit form to complete in HMRC's leaflet NI38 "Social Security abroad"