Voluntary NI

gaggyball

Hi, I contacted the Future Pension Centre a few years ago and paid some voluntary NI contributions to complete a full year. I was given a 16 digit reference number so can someone tell me if I can just use this number to pay a few more years of missing NI contributions (without contacting them again) in order to get the full state pension.
Secondly, I have 31yrs NI full contributions so do I just need to pay 4 more to make it 35 qualifying years?

molerat

Secondly, I have 31yrs NI full contributions so do I just need to pay 4 more to make it 35 qualifying years?

No.  35 years is not relevant with a pre 2016 NI record. You need to work out the difference between your currently accrued amount and the maximum available pension, which might not be the full £185.15, and divide that by £5.29 to get an idea of the number of years needed.  There is also the pre 2016 factor to take into account where, depending on your personal situation, buying those may not add to your pension.

If you would post up the full details from your forecast the knowledgeable posters here will point you in the right direction.

billy2shots

molerat said:

 There is also the pre 2016 factor to take into account where, depending on your personal situation, buying those may not add to your pension.

Not the OP but...

This is what really confuses me. 

My wife has missing years where voluntary contributions can be made. 

Over the past few years I've toyed with biting the bullet and buying them as on the whole, it works out good value. 

Each and every time (this time included as of the quoted point) I fall short of buying the years. 
Each time I read something about buying those years might not mean anything and won't add to your contribution years. 

I really don't get it. Why allow someone to buy years that won't count towards the total earned. It's money for nothing isn't it. 

Still confused. 

molerat

billy2shots said:

molerat said:

 There is also the pre 2016 factor to take into account where, depending on your personal situation, buying those may not add to your pension.

Not the OP but...

This is what really confuses me. 

My wife has missing years where voluntary contributions can be made. 

Over the past few years I've toyed with biting the bullet and buying them as on the whole, it works out good value. 

Each and every time (this time included as of the quoted point) I fall short of buying the years. 
Each time I read something about buying those years might not mean anything and won't add to your contribution years. 

I really don't get it. Why allow someone to buy years that won't count towards the total earned. It's money for nothing isn't it. 

Still confused. 

2 separate not joined up systems, the payments and benefits systems do not talk to each other. It would be very difficult to automatically weed out on a personal basis those where payments would or would not make a difference to one particular outcome of the NI record.

If you are unsure whether pre 2016 gaps will add you either need to contact FPC or post the full details of the forecast and NI record and gaps and posters here will point you in the right direction.

77shelf88

hello i wonder if i can have some advice from some more knowledgeable than me
 , i  have had a pension forecast  of £172.78 a week they say that i would have to pay 3 years NI total of £2420.26  to get it to £185 15 full pension by my reckoning  to get the extra £12.37 a week it would be nearly 4 years of getting my pension before i would break even (not the 3 years on the ML calculator)  am i missing something  as on these figures  not sure if it would be worth it .

Any comments welcome thank you   

Dazed_and_C0nfused

77shelf88 said:

hello i wonder if i can have some advice from some more knowledgeable than me
 , i  have had a pension forecast  of £172.78 a week they say that i would have to pay 3 years NI total of £2420.26  to get it to £185 15 full pension by my reckoning  to get the extra £12.37 a week it would be nearly 4 years of getting my pension before i would break even (not the 3 years on the ML calculator)  am i missing something  as on these figures  not sure if it would be worth it .

Any comments welcome thank you   

Yes, you're missing the fact that you could well live for 30 years after State Pension age.

And the amount you will be paid gets increased by the triple lock inflation proofing each year.

If you don't fancy paying 3 years then the first two will add £10.58/week in total.

The third year adds the final £1.79/week.

77shelf88

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

77shelf88 said:

hello i wonder if i can have some advice from some more knowledgeable than me
 , i  have had a pension forecast  of £172.78 a week they say that i would have to pay 3 years NI total of £2420.26  to get it to £185 15 full pension by my reckoning  to get the extra £12.37 a week it would be nearly 4 years of getting my pension before i would break even (not the 3 years on the ML calculator)  am i missing something  as on these figures  not sure if it would be worth it .

Any comments welcome thank you   

Yes, you're missing the fact that you could well live for 30 years after State Pension age.

And the amount you will be paid gets increased by the triple lock inflation proofing each year.

If you don't fancy paying 3 years then the first two will add £10.58/week in total.

The third year adds the final £1.79/week.

Thank you for your quick reply
I final Question (i hope) , can you buy any of the years in any order at any time to stagger the payments 

Marcon

77shelf88 said:

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

77shelf88 said:

hello i wonder if i can have some advice from some more knowledgeable than me
 , i  have had a pension forecast  of £172.78 a week they say that i would have to pay 3 years NI total of £2420.26  to get it to £185 15 full pension by my reckoning  to get the extra £12.37 a week it would be nearly 4 years of getting my pension before i would break even (not the 3 years on the ML calculator)  am i missing something  as on these figures  not sure if it would be worth it .

Any comments welcome thank you   

Yes, you're missing the fact that you could well live for 30 years after State Pension age.

And the amount you will be paid gets increased by the triple lock inflation proofing each year.

If you don't fancy paying 3 years then the first two will add £10.58/week in total.

The third year adds the final £1.79/week.

Thank you for your quick reply
I final Question (i hope) , can you buy any of the years in any order at any time to stagger the payments 

No. See https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/

77shelf88

Marcon said:

77shelf88 said:

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

77shelf88 said:

hello i wonder if i can have some advice from some more knowledgeable than me
 , i  have had a pension forecast  of £172.78 a week they say that i would have to pay 3 years NI total of £2420.26  to get it to £185 15 full pension by my reckoning  to get the extra £12.37 a week it would be nearly 4 years of getting my pension before i would break even (not the 3 years on the ML calculator)  am i missing something  as on these figures  not sure if it would be worth it .

Any comments welcome thank you   

Yes, you're missing the fact that you could well live for 30 years after State Pension age.

And the amount you will be paid gets increased by the triple lock inflation proofing each year.

If you don't fancy paying 3 years then the first two will add £10.58/week in total.

The third year adds the final £1.79/week.

Thank you for your quick reply
I final Question (i hope) , can you buy any of the years in any order at any time to stagger the payments 

No. See https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/

Thank you again but the only thing i can find is this " Do note you don't need to buy all the NI years you want in one go – you could buy some now and some later in the year if that suits your cash flow better."  

unfortunately i have just sent them a cheque for the last 2 years to top up my pension so will have to see what happens 

molerat

The answer depends on what exactly your question is.

Yes, you can buy any available past year whenever and in any order you wish.  Years cease to be available after 6 years from the end of the year, with the exception of 2006-07 to 2015-16 which are treated for timeline purposes the same as 2016-17, and increase in price to the current year price 2 years after the end of the year.

gsw55

I made a NI voluntary payment to HMRC in January 2022. I waited the recommended 3 weeks and then contacted HMRC to confirm the payment had been registered and DWP to confirm the transfer had been made, because it is not an automatic process. 12 months on I am still waiting for my pension to be updated or even a communication to say it is being progressed. I have contacted DWP virtually every month to get an update and to ensure this doesn’t get forgotten. I have been given a variety of excused and twice told the request has been escalated to a team leader. But nothing ever changes. The only consistent statement I get is that the payments will be back dated. But that will only happen if I ultimately get it which I’m not confident about. 

So it seems one thing to identify eligible years and make a contribution but ye another to actually get it processed and actioned by DWP