Gaps in National insurance contributions.

Lamril

I have 26 full years national insurance contributions up to 2006.
My estimate as of 5th April 2024 is £170.23 and my forecast if I continue to contribute is £214.47 at 5th April 2031 and the most that I can increase by is £221.20
I will get two more full years
for 2024/2025 and 2025/2026
after which I will retire early.
I turn 61 in 2025 and my state pension age is 2031
  So can anyone help me with which year's I should fill gaps for, they are 2006/2007 to 2022/2023  which are when I worked part time. 
Year 2023/2024 is a full year, (treated as paid)
Thank you.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Lamril said:

I have 26 full years national insurance contributions up to 2006.
My estimate as of 5th April 2024 is £170.23 and my forecast if I continue to contribute is £214.47 at 5th April 2031 and the most that I can increase by is £221.20
I will get two more full years
for 2024/2025 and 2025/2026
after which I will retire early.
I turn 61 in 2025 and my state pension age is 2031
  So can anyone help me with which year's I should fill gaps for, they are 2006/2007 to 2022/2023  which are when I worked part time. 
Year 2023/2024 is a full year, (treated as paid)
Thank you.

How much is each year going to cost you? 

Post 2016 will add £6.32/year (capped at £221.20/week).

Pre 2016 years don't always add anything but may be worth considering in your situation.  

QrizB

You can get to £220.79 with eight post-2016 years. The final 41p a week will take a ninth year and might not be worthwhile.

Lamril said:

So can anyone help me with which year's I should fill gaps for, they are 2006/2007 to 2022/2023  which are when I worked part time.

What are the individual prices of those gap years? Are any of them less than £800?

Lamril

I'm not sure what I'm doing, would it be ok to post the actual figures from the government gateway page, if it's safe to do so.

QrizB

Lamril said:

I'm not sure what I'm doing, would it be ok to post the actual figures from the government gateway page, if it's safe to do so.

Yes, it's safe, just blank out any personal info like your name, NI number and exact date of birth.

molerat

Do you have a statement "You've been in a contracted-out pension scheme" near the bottom of the forecast ?

The prices of the part filled years is very important here.  A pre 2016 year will add £5.65 and a post 2016 £6.32 so anything from 2016-17 and later offers more but if pre 2016 years are very cheap it could swing that opinion based on the answer to my first question, 4 would be viable in any case.

molerat

If you click here https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-your-state-pension/account/cope whilst logged into your tax account it will give your COPE amount.  There are some easy wins there but the COPE amount is important to figure out if they are of value.

Those 4 cheapest pre 2016 years look good, £1410.65 to give £22.60, equivalent to 3.5 post 2016 years for the cost of under 2 at full price

edit:  from later info those 4 years will give £25.28 for £1410.65, 4 year for less than the cost of 2.

Lamril

Thank you.  It says the COPE amount is equivalent to £0.29 of state pension.

Lamril

So if I pay for the 4 gaps pre 2016 which other gap years should I pay to fill to get to the full state pension amount? 
I will have full years for 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 before I take early retirement.  I will not be  receiving any national insurance credits.  

molerat

It looks like your starting amount is new rules so all years, pre and post 2016, are equal each giving £6.32.  You need 9 to reach the full amount but the 9th will only add 41p so not worth paying for.  So the cheapest 6 on top of the 2 you are going to receive from working. 24/25 & 25/26 take you to £182.87 plus the 4 cheap ones, 06/07 07/08 12/13 13/14, to £208.15 and the 2 others to £220.79. Obviously need to confirm on the call.  Based on you definitely having 26 pre 2016 years.

Lamril

Thank you very much for explaining it all molerat. I appreciate your help.
And also to QrizB and Dazed_and_C0nfused