State pension

p00hsticks

JJAGSP said:

MSE State Pension Top Up Calculator.  It doesn't seem to matter what shortfall in year you put in, the answer is always 3 years break even.  This is absolute rubbish!  My current forecast is £150 per week, that's a reduction from the max of £185.  My top up is £9066 in order to get the MAX £185 per week, currently.  So, divide 9066 by 35 and you get 259 months, or more than 21 years to get my money back!!!

@JJAGSP Apart from your obvious mistake of mixing up months and weeks that tr7phil has already pointed out, your figures don't appear to make sense in other ways
(I'm not sure if it's you or the calculator that is wrong - I wasn't aware that such a calculator existed and can't find it on a quick search)

Each post-2016 year will buy you £5.29 of additional pension up to the maximum £185.15 - so with £150 already you are around 6-7 years short of that. 

The current rate for voluntary Class 3 contributions is £15.83 a week, or £824.20 for a full year. 

Even assuming that you have no gaps to fill at past (cheaper) rates and have to pay going forward, (I believe rates increase each year in line with inflation) then it should cost you considerably less than £9066 to buy those years. 

molerat

A year costs £824.20.  It gives an inflation proofed £5.29 per week or £275.08 per year.  £824.20 divided £5.29 gives 156 weeks, 3 years to break even.  Of course there is tax to take into account but that is the same with any pension income.  For £824 an annuity would give you something like 50p per week, you do the math as our trans atlantic cousins would say.

p00hsticks

p00hsticks said:

JJAGSP said:

MSE State Pension Top Up Calculator.  It doesn't seem to matter what shortfall in year you put in, the answer is always 3 years break even.  This is absolute rubbish!  My current forecast is £150 per week, that's a reduction from the max of £185.  My top up is £9066 in order to get the MAX £185 per week, currently.  So, divide 9066 by 35 and you get 259 months, or more than 21 years to get my money back!!!

@JJAGSP Apart from your obvious mistake of mixing up months and weeks that tr7phil has already pointed out, your figures don't appear to make sense in other ways
(I'm not sure if it's you or the calculator that is wrong - I wasn't aware that such a calculator existed and can't find it on a quick search)

Each post-2016 year will buy you £5.29 of additional pension up to the maximum £185.15 - so with £150 already you are around 6-7 years short of that. 

The current rate for voluntary Class 3 contributions is £15.83 a week, or £824.20 for a full year. 

Even assuming that you have no gaps to fill at past (cheaper) rates and have to pay going forward, (I believe rates increase each year in line with inflation) then it should cost you considerably less than £9066 to buy those years. 

Edit: I've just found the calculator JJAGSP is referring to in the MSE article and the figure of £9066 has come from saying that you want to top up 11 years - but with £150 accumulated already, only 7 will be necessary to get you to the maximum (and the seventh may not work out worth it as you can;t exceed the maximum)