Voluntary contributions

56 Posts

Re MSE show last night.Can anyone guide me I am pretty sure It will not be worth my while paying extra to boost my state pension but want to be sure I have 45 full years in up to 20/21 tax year.I am short 21/22, and current tax year I have no contributions.I have 2 years 4 months before I can claim state pension.
Advice please
Advice please
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i needed 6 yrs extra payments to get my max pension
it cost £4.9K getting extra £25 after tax a week, ( before the pension rise comes in) so it takes 3 1/2 yrs to get my money back
Do you know what it means by COPE? It also says my pension isn't affected by this I would just like to understand it.!!!
Thanks to Martin lines to pension forecast are busy !!!!
It was used in the 'new rules' calculation when determining your 'starting amount' of new state pension as at April 2016, but after that can be ignored, and does not have any impact on your forecast amount.
It does indicate that there is potentially an employers pension out there for you as well as the state pension.
On reaching state pension age under the old rules you would have received your basic state pension plus your workplace pension but no additional pension based on SERPS etc as it was reduced to nil by the Contracted Out Deduction (COD) to reflect the fact that you were contracted out.
The calculation of your starting amount to transfer you from the old to the new rules in 2016 has to take account of the fact that you were contracted out and this is achieved by deducting the amount of COPE. Once your starting amount has been calculated, you add £5.29 to that for each full NI year from 2016/17 onwards until you either reach the new maximum of £185.15, or stop paying NI because you reach state pension age.
At pension age you will receive the new state pension and, of course, your workplace pension.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pension-fact-sheets/contracting-out-and-why-we-may-have-included-a-contracted-out-pension-equivalent-cope-amount-when-you-used-the-online-service
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/state-pensions/
Many thanks for all answers.Much appreciated.