Was I opted out while self employed?

Steveystar

Hi, I worked for a company for several years and was opted out but then I left and became self employed for many more years. Q. During my self employed years I think I paid NI so do these self employed years contribute to my state pension entitlement along with the years in employment but prior to my opting out?

Isthisforreal99

Why not look at your NI record and state pension forecast?

You can't be 'opted out' when self-employed. You either paid Class 2 or you didn't.

LHW99

Isthisforreal99 said:

Why not look at your NI record and state pension forecast?

You can't be 'opted out' when self-employed. You either paid Class 2 or you didn't.

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

Read it all, and come and ask questions if you on't understand.

Marcon

Steveystar said:

Hi, I worked for a company for several years and was opted out but then I left and became self employed for many more years. Q. During my self employed years I think I paid NI so do these self employed years contribute to my state pension entitlement along with the years in employment but prior to my opting out?

All 'full' years (in terms of NI) count towards your state pension. See https://www.litrg.org.uk/pensions/state-pension/national-insurance-and-state-pension for full info.

I think you mean 'contracting out'. 'Opting out' means choosing not to be in an employer's workplace pension.

dunstonh

Was I opted out while self employed?

I suspect you mean contracted out.
Opting out refers to not joining a workplace pension and as you are self employed, you wont have a workplace pension.

the answer is no you were not contracted out as the self employed did not qualify for SERPS or S2P.  So, therefore you could not contract out of them.

During my self employed years I think I paid NI so do these self employed years contribute to my state pension entitlement along with the years in employment but prior to my opting out?

Being self employed didn't change your entitlement for the basic state pension.  You just didn't get SERPS or S2P entitlement.  However, under the new state pension, you are a winner as you now qualify for a higher amount than was possible under the old state pension.

Secret2ndAccount

https://www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record      or
https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension
Agreed, check your record and know exactly where you stand.
However, I can give you an approximate hand-waving description as the rules have changed repeatedly in recent years. Broadly, if you earned enough profit to pay income tax (£12,570) and you did your self assessment and paid the NI as it said, then yes, these years will count towards your state pension. It gets more complicated for lower earners, and depends which years you are referring to.