Work 4 months - earn a “full year” of NI for state pension?

NoMore

They are saying you can only count towards the total, weeks where you earned more than £125. 

So if for the first 4 months you earned more than £125 per week in every week and also earned more than £6500 in total then it will count as a qualifying year. Weeks you didn’t earn more than £125 don’t get added to the total. 

cfw1994

I *think* it means if you earned over £6,500 in your 4 months, eg, £2k each month, then you are sorted: the other 8 months is zero, but that is fine, you’ve met the requirements.
I did that a few years back in my last year.  Just checked, & yes, I paid just over £1k in NI that “part year” & it added the year 💪

SouthCoastBoy

This is my understanding

You need to earn 52 * 125 (the lower earnings limit, LEL) = £6500 in the financial year.

However the maximum contribution for one month is restricted to the upper earnings limit (UEL) of £4,189. So if you have taxable income of £4,189 per month, or more, you would can earn 1 years state pension in a couple of mths (around 7 weeks)

If you had a taxable income of £2,300 per month, it would take approx 3 mths to earn 1 years state pension.

2childmum2

I have to say I'm confused too, it's not just the op.

So if I earn £400 for each of 20 weeks I will have earnt £8000 (which is more than £6500).
Can I then earn nothing for the rest of the year and still be credited with a year's NI contributions, or do I still have to earn £125 in each of the remaining weeks? 
I think it's the first of those two options, but as the op says, neither of the examples given relate to his situation.
I think it's the 'exclude any week when you earn less than £125' line that is causing the confusion.

Snot

Yes you can earn a complete year of NI contributions even if you only work for x months. As I have done.
If I remember rightly the min is 2 months, as anything over the UEL doesn't count. 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

2childmum2 said:

I have to say I'm confused too, it's not just the op.

So if I earn £400 for each of 20 weeks I will have earnt £8000 (which is more than £6500).
Can I then earn nothing for the rest of the year and still be credited with a year's NI contributions, or do I still have to earn £125 in each of the remaining weeks? 
I think it's the first of those two options, but as the op says, neither of the examples given relate to his situation.
I think it's the 'exclude any week when you earn less than £125' line that is causing the confusion.

Why do you think you might need to earn £125 in each of the following weeks if you can exclude weeks where you earn less than £125 🤔. 

What_time_is_it

Thanks everyone for the additional info and explanation. I hadn’t considered the UEL! In my case that won’t be a problem, but it helps clarify things for me.

Some of us take a little longer to understand things and need a bit more explanation, so thanks everyone! You are all amazing. 🙂

Grumpy_chap

What_time_is_it said:

Thanks for the responses.

Do I have to earn something every week (or month) though? Or can I earn in 4 months, and then not work for the next 8 months? Would that still count as a full year in terms of building my state pension?

Two years back I got caught on this.  I worked April to August (5 months) but then did not work until the following tax year.  Although I had paid more in monetary terms than the minimum employed-NI for a full year, I did not have enough weeks and therefore did not accrue a full contributions year.

The devil may well be in the detail, plus rules may have evolved since my event (2023).

What_time_is_it

Grumpy_chap said:

What_time_is_it said:

Thanks for the responses.

Do I have to earn something every week (or month) though? Or can I earn in 4 months, and then not work for the next 8 months? Would that still count as a full year in terms of building my state pension?

Two years back I got caught on this.  I worked April to August (5 months) but then did not work until the following tax year.  Although I had paid more in monetary terms than the minimum employed-NI for a full year, I did not have enough weeks and therefore did not accrue a full contributions year.

The devil may well be in the detail, plus rules may have evolved since my event (2023).

Oh no. Sorry to hear that.
So, is there is minimum number of weeks required? Regardless as to whether the LEL has been exceeded or not?

german_keeper

If you think of the £6,500 figure as a target, it just means that if there are any pay periods below the LEL the earnings in that pay period can not be included in your quest to hit that target.