National Insurance Contributions - Part years

chilled

I'm in my late forties and everything I read suggests I need 35 full years of NI contributions to qualify for a full state pension.  My pension forecast says I need another 3 years to get the maximum and so far I have 32 years.  Makes sense so far.  However 2 of my contributing years are not full.  On one of those years I had 22 weeks of NI credits and the other part year I had 34 weeks.  If I made sufficient contributions in tthose years then why are they noted as part years?  There must surely be a lot of people in this position for various reasons but I can't find a definitive answer anywhere online.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

chilled said:

I'm in my late forties and everything I read suggests I need 35 full years of NI contributions to qualify for a full state pension.  My pension forecast says I need another 3 years to get the maximum and so far I have 32 years.  Makes sense so far.  However 2 of my contributing years are not full.  On one of those years I had 22 weeks of NI credits and the other part year I had 34 weeks.  If I made sufficient contributions in tthose years then why are they noted as part years?  There must surely be a lot of people in this position for various reasons but I can't find a definitive answer anywhere online.

Can you give us a link to anywhere that says someone with a pre 2016 NI history needs 35 years?

Can you clarify what exactly it is you think is wrong with those 2 years?

chilled

Hi, here's a link to an article from MSE in February this year:-

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/state-pensions/#:~:text=To get the full new,some will need many more).

Citizens Advice also suggests 35 years.  

If there's nothing 'wrong' with my 2 part years and they do qualify then great.  I'm just after confirmation and an explanation of the minimum requirements.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

chilled said:

Hi, here's a link to an article from MSE in February this year:-

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/state-pensions/#:~:text=To get the full new,some will need many more).

Citizens Advice also suggests 35 years.  

If there's nothing 'wrong' with my 2 part years and they do qualify then great.  I'm just after confirmation and an explanation of the minimum requirements.

You seem to have overlooked the bit highlighted in bold,

Reached (or will reach) State Pension age ON OR AFTER 6 April 2016? 

Your age means you fall under the new State Pension system. How much State Pension you will get (if any) depends on how many qualifying National Insurance (NI) years you have:

To get the full new State Pension (currently £221.20 a week), you'll likely need at least 35 qualifying NI years (though some will need many more)

Nothing you have posted explains why there might be something "wrong" with the 2 years you are referring to.  But why would you want to pay to make them complete years if you have 25+ years ahead of you to add the final two you appear to need 🤔

TadleyBaggie

The 35 years only applies to anyone who started the working like from April 2016 onwards. Anyone who started working before this may need as little as 29 years or as many as 49 years. 

chilled

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

chilled said:

Hi, here's a link to an article from MSE in February this year:-

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/state-pensions/#:~:text=To get the full new,some will need many more).

Citizens Advice also suggests 35 years.  

If there's nothing 'wrong' with my 2 part years and they do qualify then great.  I'm just after confirmation and an explanation of the minimum requirements.

You seem to have overlooked the bit highlighted in bold,

Reached (or will reach) State Pension age ON OR AFTER 6 April 2016? 

Your age means you fall under the new State Pension system. How much State Pension you will get (if any) depends on how many qualifying National Insurance (NI) years you have:

To get the full new State Pension (currently £221.20 a week), you'll likely need at least 35 qualifying NI years (though some will need many more)

Nothing you have posted explains why there might be something "wrong" with the 2 years you are referring to.  But why would you want to pay to make them complete years if you have 25+ years ahead of you to add the final two you appear to need 🤔

The bit in bold is the very bit suggesting (at least)35 years are required.

What I'm suggesting could be wrong with 2 of my years was spelt out clearly in my orginal post - they are listed as part years on my NI record, not full years.  If they qualify then that's great but I'm questioning whether or not the calculator is correct in saying I need 3 more years as well as my current 32.  If the part years count then correct, I only need 3 more years.  If they don't count then I need 5 more.

It matters because as a limited company director I need to review my annual salary post April when NI thresholds change.  After April, the primary threshold(where employers NI becomes due) will be below the lower earnings limit(above which, NI contributions are automatically made).  

As for paying to top up previous years, that's way too late - they were around 20 years ago.  

Dazed_and_C0nfused

chilled said:

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

chilled said:

Hi, here's a link to an article from MSE in February this year:-

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/state-pensions/#:~:text=To get the full new,some will need many more).

Citizens Advice also suggests 35 years.  

If there's nothing 'wrong' with my 2 part years and they do qualify then great.  I'm just after confirmation and an explanation of the minimum requirements.

You seem to have overlooked the bit highlighted in bold,

Reached (or will reach) State Pension age ON OR AFTER 6 April 2016? 

Your age means you fall under the new State Pension system. How much State Pension you will get (if any) depends on how many qualifying National Insurance (NI) years you have:

To get the full new State Pension (currently £221.20 a week), you'll likely need at least 35 qualifying NI years (though some will need many more)

Nothing you have posted explains why there might be something "wrong" with the 2 years you are referring to.  But why would you want to pay to make them complete years if you have 25+ years ahead of you to add the final two you appear to need 🤔

The bit in bold is the very bit suggesting (at least)35 years are required.

What I'm suggesting could be wrong with 2 of my years was spelt out clearly in my orginal post - they are listed as part years on my NI record, not full years.  If they qualify then that's great but I'm questioning whether or not the calculator is correct in saying I need 3 more years as well as my current 32.  If the part years count then correct, I only need 3 more years.  If they don't count then I need 5 more.

It matters because as a limited company director I need to review my annual salary post April when NI thresholds change.  After April, the primary threshold(where employers NI becomes due) will be below the lower earnings limit(above which, NI contributions are automatically made).  

As for paying to top up previous years, that's way too late - they were around 20 years ago.  

Is this statement from your original post correct?

My pension forecast says I need another 3 years to get the maximum

If so why would you ever need 5 years?

molerat

And no, those part years do not count.  If they counted they would be marked as full.

If your forecast states you need another 3 years then that is what you need.  35 years is of absolutely no relevance to someone with a pre 2016 history. You may though coincidentally have 35 years and get a full pension, for those with a pre 2016 history it is anywhere between around 28 to 48 all down to personal circumstances..  At April 2016 you were given a £££ amount, the better of the old or new system calculations, and can add to that with post 2016 contributions up to the new full pension amount. 

chilled

molerat said:

And no, those part years do not count.  If they counted they would be marked as full.

If your forecast states you need another 3 years then that is what you need.  35 years is of absolutely no relevance to someone with a pre 2016 history. You may though coincidentally have 35 years and get a full pension, for those with a pre 2016 history it is anywhere between around 28 to 48 all down to personal circumstances..  At April 2016 you were given a £££ amount, the better of the old or new system calculations, and can add to that with post 2016 contributions up to the new full pension amount. 

Thanks, that makes sense with the part years then but you're saying that 35 full years isn't necessarily a requirement?  Do you have a link to your source please in order to understand the details of how it's calculated?

molerat

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-single-tier-pension-a-simple-foundation-for-saving--2

It's a long read.

At April 2016 2 calculations were done based on your record to date

Old of X (max 30) x (£119.30 / 30) + (S2P - COD)

New of X (max 35) x (£155.65 / 35) - COPE

You then received the higher of the two as your foundation amount.

The old calculation could be higher than the new pension max amount and is protected, at April 2016 you were no worse off  transitioning into the new scheme than you were under the old.

If you post up the following anonymous info from your forecast it can be worked out what your situation was at April 2016 and what you need going forward, it is pretty straightforward maths.

Current weekly £££.pp amount accrued up to April 2024.
Number of full NI years 15-16 and earlier
Number of full NI years 16-17 and later
Tax year you reach state retirement
Any COPE amount.  If you have "You've been in a contracted-out pension scheme" on your forecast then click
here https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-your-state-pension/account/cope whilst logged into your tax account

chilled

Thank you very much for the into molerat.  I've bookmarked the page and will defintely have a proper read when I get the chance.

In answer to your questions:-

Current weekly amount up to April 24 = £206.56
Number of full years 15-16 and earlier = 22
Number of full years 16-17 and later = 8