Top up NI contribution now, or invest money and pay nearer deadline?

martinC

I have to pay £4,000 of class 3 NI contributions by 5th April 2025 to top up my state pension. Should I do this now (will it increase with inflation?) or should I put it in a savings account awhile interest rates are high?

Ayr_Rage

Top up amounts are frozen until that date, find a good home for your money and pay as late as possible.

xylophone

https://www.oxbury.com/savings

Six months @ 5.59%?

Bostonerimus1

Pay your bills asap. Keep things simple and get things done so you don't miss any deadlines because you forget or HMRC screws up. The amount of interest you will lose is trivial.

Ayr_Rage

Bostonerimus1 said:

Pay your bills asap. Keep things simple and get things done so you don't miss any deadlines because you forget or HMRC screws up. The amount of interest you will lose is trivial.

It's not a bill !

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Ayr_Rage said:

Bostonerimus1 said:

Pay your bills asap. Keep things simple and get things done so you don't miss any deadlines because you forget or HMRC screws up. The amount of interest you will lose is trivial.

It's not a bill !

And I would call the interest trivial!

It could well be £350 in the 18 months or so until the NI must be paid.

BooJewels

Personally, I wouldn't leave it until the last minute - maybe split the difference - earn a bit on the money, but pay it in good time, to allow for mishaps. 

I've been paying voluntary NI contributions - all seemed straightforward enough - they sent statements and I paid them - and somehow between 2 departments of HMRC and some input from the DWP - they have totally screwed my whole tax and NI account.   Even they couldn't make sense of it when we last spoke.

I've been waiting 3 weeks for an HMRC troubleshooter to apparently ring me to try and get to the bottom of it.  

thegreenone

Are all the years you want to top up before 2016?  If some are and some aren't, top up the pre-2016 years now and save the rest until needed.

DWP advised me to do the above, just in case I earned over £8k in future and paid unnecessary NI.  It would be unusual for me to start paying NI now but who knows what the future holds.

If they are all post-2016* save and start looking at paying around Christmas 2024.

*Edit

molerat

I would be tempted to leave it until nearer the end of 2024.  It will once again be frantic at the start of 2025 and I doubt there will be a repeat of the extension.