Not Getting as Much State Pension as Expected

molerat

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81888879#Comment_81888879

In which case purchasing the cheapest of those 2 empty years will add £6.58 per week, £26.32 per 4 weeks, to your pension. Still well worth doing. Or were you looking after grandchildren whilst the parent was working for those years ? - an easy way to top up.

af1963

Half the problem is that most people have never understood ( nor needed to understand at the time, because it often happened automatically) what exactly "contracting out" of SERPS/SSP meant. (Paying lower NI and not earning so much state pension, because another pension was being built up instead.) Many confuse it with "opting out" of the company pension, in statements like:

… part of my career by local government but I never opted out whilst working for them

Anyway, the good news for the questioner is that they can pay for just one top-up year and get up to within about a pound a week of the maximum.

From the original post:

… now feel totally cheated by the system.

Yet once all the facts emerge, turns out to be one of the winners from the new system, having paid a lower rate of NI for many years and yet still able to build up an almost-full new state pension, PLUS keep the contracted-out DB pension.

Smasher1959

Thank you everyone for your replies I will look at topping up my pension