Guide discussion: Voluntary national insurance contributions

Dazed_and_C0nfused

P1Fanatic said:

I just went on the Govt Gateway site and it says I have 28yrs of full contributions and the forecast says if I contribute another 4yrs by 2044 I will get the full state pension of £203.85 (or whatever it is come 2044). However I thought you needed 35 years of full contributions per:

https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/how-its-calculated#:~:text=You'll usually need at,10 and 35 qualifying years.

So I am trying to work out how they think I only need 4 yrs (which would be 32 total). My record shows 1996-1997 and 1999-2000 are not full years - do they contribute in any way e.g. 2 partial years might = 1 year?

You appear to have overlooked the part in bold in that guidance.

If you have 28 years of contributions today, in 2023, how can this be applicable to you?

You did not make National Insurance contributions or get National Insurance credits before 6 April 2016

P1Fanatic

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

P1Fanatic said:

I just went on the Govt Gateway site and it says I have 28yrs of full contributions and the forecast says if I contribute another 4yrs by 2044 I will get the full state pension of £203.85 (or whatever it is come 2044). However I thought you needed 35 years of full contributions per:

https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/how-its-calculated#:~:text=You'll usually need at,10 and 35 qualifying years.

So I am trying to work out how they think I only need 4 yrs (which would be 32 total). My record shows 1996-1997 and 1999-2000 are not full years - do they contribute in any way e.g. 2 partial years might = 1 year?

You appear to have overlooked the part in bold in that guidance.

If you have 28 years of contributions today, in 2023, how can this be applicable to you?

You did not make National Insurance contributions or get National Insurance credits before 6 April 2016

Indeed I did. However reading the first section "Valuing your National Insurance contributions and credits made before 6 April 2016" its still not clear to me on the number of full years required. Presumably my pre 2016 contribution starting amount is high enough that I only need 4yrs (only 3yrs from April 6th 2024) to max it out. But it would be good if they showed the breakdown and calculation of that.

molerat

P1Fanatic said:

Indeed I did. However reading the first section "Valuing your National Insurance contributions and credits made before 6 April 2016" its still not clear to me on the number of full years required. Presumably my pre 2016 contribution starting amount is high enough that I only need 4yrs (only 3yrs from April 6th 2024) to max it out. But it would be good if they showed the breakdown and calculation of that.

HMRC were previously criticised for giving too much information on the forecast so dumbed it down to the minimum needed, some still say there is too much information which leads to confusion - you can't please everyone.

Your 2016 starting amount was the higher of the new pension amount less COPE or the old basic pension amount plus S2P.  If you were in a reasonably well paid job and not contracted out your S2P could easily take you above the new pension amount.

It is not too difficult to work out your 2016 situation for yourself.

If you need another 4 years then your current amount at April 2023 is around £180.57.  With 7 post 2016 years that means your starting amount at April 2016 was £106.76 made up of 21 years basic of £83.51 and S2P of £23.25.

Crimsonfire

Learnt a lot on here. Hope someone can advise me.

Took early retirement in 2015, SP will be in 2026.

My SP forecast estimate up to 5 April 2022 is £174.72 a week

Forecast if you contribute until 5 April 2025 is £192.19 a week.

My COPE estimate is £40.53 a week.

My NI record gives me the following for 8 years - (this would be for Class 3 NICs);

• 1978/79 to 2013/14 - Payment Not Needed

• 2014/15 to 2019/20 - 824.20 per year

• 2020/21 - 795.60

• 2021/22 - 800.80

My main query is whether I can pay for all 8 years, or am I restricted to only 6? 

The phrasing on the Gov site is 'usually' 6, but  elsewhere it says,  "You can sometimes pay for gaps from more than 6 years ago, depending on your age. You’re a man born after 5 April 1951 or a woman born after 5 April 1953," to which I qualify.

If it is only 6 which of the 6 are the best years to pay? Will this get me up to the full amount?

I only have paper copies as I'm unable to create a Gateway account due to lack of suitable ID (I have plenty, just those options don't appear!). 

Every time I think I've understood it all I read something else and just get confused again! Any guidance would be much appreciated.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Crimsonfire said:

Learnt a lot on here. Hope someone can advise me.

Took early retirement in 2015, SP will be in 2026.

My SP forecast estimate up to 5 April 2022 is £174.72 a week

Forecast if you contribute until 5 April 2025 is £192.19 a week.

My COPE estimate is £40.53 a week.

My NI record gives me the following for 8 years - (this would be for Class 3 NICs);

• 1978/79 to 2013/14 - Payment Not Needed

• 2014/15 to 2019/20 - 824.20 per year

• 2020/21 - 795.60

• 2021/22 - 800.80

My main query is whether I can pay for all 8 years, or am I restricted to only 6? 

The phrasing on the Gov site is 'usually' 6, but  elsewhere it says,  "You can sometimes pay for gaps from more than 6 years ago, depending on your age. You’re a man born after 5 April 1951 or a woman born after 5 April 1953," to which I qualify.

If it is only 6 which of the 6 are the best years to pay? Will this get me up to the full amount?

I only have paper copies as I'm unable to create a Gateway account due to lack of suitable ID (I have plenty, just those options don't appear!). 

Every time I think I've understood it all I read something else and just get confused again! Any guidance would be much appreciated.

Why do you want to pay more than 5 years 🤔.

Have you taken the trouble to calculate how much 5 years will add to your current entitlement?

molerat

Some critical information missing.

When was that forecast generated?

How many pre April 2016 years do you have ?

What is the most you can get as shown on the forecast ?

Crimsonfire

Forecast was generated Sept 2023.

38 pre April 2016 years.

There's no other forecast figures given other than those I've already post. As it's a paper copy maybe they don't give it?

Crimsonfire

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

Crimsonfire said:

Learnt a lot on here. Hope someone can advise me.

Took early retirement in 2015, SP will be in 2026.

My SP forecast estimate up to 5 April 2022 is £174.72 a week

Forecast if you contribute until 5 April 2025 is £192.19 a week.

My COPE estimate is £40.53 a week.

My NI record gives me the following for 8 years - (this would be for Class 3 NICs);

• 1978/79 to 2013/14 - Payment Not Needed

• 2014/15 to 2019/20 - 824.20 per year

• 2020/21 - 795.60

• 2021/22 - 800.80

My main query is whether I can pay for all 8 years, or am I restricted to only 6? 

The phrasing on the Gov site is 'usually' 6, but  elsewhere it says,  "You can sometimes pay for gaps from more than 6 years ago, depending on your age. You’re a man born after 5 April 1951 or a woman born after 5 April 1953," to which I qualify.

If it is only 6 which of the 6 are the best years to pay? Will this get me up to the full amount?

I only have paper copies as I'm unable to create a Gateway account due to lack of suitable ID (I have plenty, just those options don't appear!). 

Every time I think I've understood it all I read something else and just get confused again! Any guidance would be much appreciated.

Why do you want to pay more than 5 years 🤔.

Have you taken the trouble to calculate how much 5 years will add to your current entitlement?

Maths has never been my thing - I'm really confused by all this. How do I do the calculation?

molerat

You need 5 years to reach 1p short of the max.  You must not purchase years pre April 2016 as they will not add any value.  Post April 2016 years will add £5.82 each, all years are equal so the cheapest will be best value.

Crimsonfire

molerat said:

You need 5 years to reach 1p short of the max.  You must not purchase years pre April 2016 as they will not add any value.  Post April 2016 years will add £5.82 each, all years are equal so the cheapest will be best value.

Many thanks - excellent! At last I know what to do. Much appreciated.