42 years of NI Contributions do I need to but missing 2 years?

XzavierWalnut

As the title says, I am missing 2 years 2017 to 2018 and 2018 to 2019, both full years missing.
My forecast states that I cannot improve my forecast and I retired at 59 last year with no plans to return to work, with my state pension starting in 2030.
Am I correct in thinking under current rules there is no point in paying for the missing 2 years?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

XzavierWalnut said:

As the title says, I am missing 2 years 2017 to 2018 and 2018 to 2019, both full years missing.
My forecast states that I cannot improve my forecast and I retired at 59 last year with no plans to return to work, with my state pension starting in 2030.
Am I correct in thinking under current rules there is no point in paying for the missing 2 years?

If you have definitely already accrued £221.20 then adding post 2016 years cannot improve on that.

On-the-coast

I agree, but it’s possible the original poster is confused…

Both my & my partners online hmrc statement contain these exact same words…

£221.20 is the most you can get

You cannot improve your forecast any further, unless you choose to put off claiming.

But in the paragraph above those words, it makes it clear to my partner that “ You need to continue to contribute National Insurance to reach your forecast”, whereas in my case it does not - as I already have all the years I need.

I think that summary page is long overdue for simplification. 

XzavierWalnut

On-the-coast said:

I agree, but it’s possible the original poster is confused…

Both my & my partners online hmrc statement contain these exact same words…

£221.20 is the most you can get

You cannot improve your forecast any further, unless you choose to put off claiming.

But in the paragraph above those words, it makes it clear to my partner that “ You need to continue to contribute National Insurance to reach your forecast”, whereas in my case it does not - as I already have all the years I need.

I think that summary page is long overdue for simplification. 

Mine states this.

Your forecast

• is not a guarantee and is based on the current law
• is based on your National Insurance record up to 5 April 2023
• does not include any increase due to inflation

£221.20 is the most you can get

You cannot improve your forecast any more.

p00hsticks

On-the-coast said:

I think that summary page is long overdue for simplification. 

It's one they can't win though - too little information and people say that it does not go into enough detail to explain things thoroughly enough, too much and they say it's confusing....

I think it's gone under quite a few iterations since it first seeped into the public consciousness, and is probably something they still monitor, but has a lower priority that other things.