State Pension forecast only 33 full years retirement date 4 weeks off full year

p00hsticks

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82033495#Comment_82033495

Even if the OP carried on working, once they reach State Pension Age they don't pay NI any longer. AS the previous poster says the only impact on their pension would be if they chose to defer it, but this wouldn;t affect their basic entitlement calculation.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82033495#Comment_82033495

Yes, by default it would become deferred.

But the extra State Pension from deferring wouldn't change the initial amount accrued, which is what the op is trying to achieve (and may be entirely possible for them to do for years prior to 2026/27)

horsewithnoname

A point regarding the multiple NINos, do you mean different ones in the AA123456A format (not beginning with TN) or a format with numbers and one letter in the middle, which are used by HMRC to set up a record when they don’t have your correct NINo.
Either way though, you need to get all your various records reconciled to ensure you get all your contributions attributed to your record. Prepare for a slog getting it done, but it is important to do it.

af1963

I have some payslips, P45 and P60s for 2 of the years where it says they are not full and it says "It's too late to pay for this year. You can usually only pay for the last 6 years".

This sounds the most likely route to pursue. Do these payslips/P60s/P45s show NI deductions, for your correct NI number ? And what does the online record say you have contributed for these specific tax years ? If there's a discrepancy, that's something that you could possibly get fixed.

QrizB

Although the OP needs to keep in mind that there's more to getting a full NI year than simply having been employed during the year.

You'd need to have been employed for the whole year, or claiming benefits that came with NI credits, or have had a high enough income to have earned a full year's credits in less than 52 weeks.

If eg. they'd been temping for an employment agency and they'd had 40 weeks of low-paid work during the year but hadn't been claiming UB / IS or JSA / UC for the remaining 12 weeks, it's possible they still won't have a full NI year.

I remember receiving a letter from a Government body in the early 90s telling me that I'd not paid enough NI in the preceding years (when I'd been a student, then mostly unemployed). At the time it didn't seem important and as it turned out it wasn't, but in a different timeline those 4/5 years could have made a difference to my SP entitlement.

Silvertabby

The problem with temporary NI numbers, if that is the case here, is that they could apply to any number of people sharing the same birth date. (TN010160A being a temporary NI number for someone born on 1 Jan 1960).

In these cases, HMRC will need some form of proof, typically copies of payslips, before they can allocate NI contributions to the correct record.

Eldi_Dos

Would doing a Statuary Access Request to HMRC be the quickest way of getting details of the OP's NI record held by HMRC.

Edit; when I did it, got a detailed reply within ten days.

Marcon

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82033775#Comment_82033775

A Subject Access Request is well worth doing, especially as OP seems to have an 'interesting' history including periods of being contracted out and also working overseas.

OP, have a look at

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6267734/is-there-a-really-detailed-online-method-to-check-nics

and follow the suggestion in my post of 15 May 2021 (an oldie but still a goodie!). That's likely to give you the best starting point in working out which bits of your work history might be relevant - BUT bear in mind that it may simply be that a combination of contracting out/working outside the UK could mean you quite simply won't get to the required number of years to give you a full new state pension.

noideapleasehelp

Thank you to everyone who has replied to my post!! I'm very grateful for your thoughts and advice particularly those who have suggested sending so many pieces of paper with details of my weekly payslips may be extreme. And those of you who have shared that to get your state pension you've been working over 40 years to qualify!

DRS1, thank you, yes, I've now focused on the multiple NI numbers I've had as some of them should have 2 full years of contributions in the late 1970s, so I have photocopied weekly payslips for all of those entries (although some odd slips are missing but there's info about cumulative amounts for that current employment year). On my current NI number I have photocopied weekly payslips for 2 years which on the forecast under the "view details" tab have nothing against them. My thought process was to provide all the evidence I have upfront. I appreciate I won't get a reply for a long time. Thank you for your advice. As to who to send the information to, I contacted the Future Pensions team in 2025 who said I needed to provide the evidence to the National Insurance Contributions team at HMRC. Seems that at some point although that team were separate, they are now part of HMRC.

pinnks, thank you. Good thought, but no, this was Asia and I've double checked, and no such scheme existed in the 1990s (does after 2000, so that's good).

doodling, appreciate your suggestion, I've done excel spreadsheet with info for each year I'm providing evidence for, but decided to give all the payslip evidence up front so that they don't have to come back to me. Interesting, I only have 2 P60s which I have submitted. I moved around a lot and at that age didn't really understand the importance of forwarding addresses, and most likely never received them for that reason. Sounds silly now looking back, but since 1998 and particularly recently for elderly relevatives whose finances I've had to look after, I've been really good about forwarding addresses and notifying everyone and anyone I've/they have had correspondence with.

sheenas and QrizB, yes, I'm looking at differing claiming my state pension if I'm unable to qualify for a full-state pension when I'm due to retire. And yes QrizB, it means that I will not ever qualify for a full state pension but may mean that I can get the equivalent amount if I defer. Seem to remember that Martin Lewis has mentioned this a number of times as an option for those in the same situation as me.

Again, can I say a big thank you to all of you have taken the time to post and your kind advice.

I'm still kicking myself that my younger self didn't realise the implications of all of these issues particularly the multiple NI numbers. I do recall thinking that it was something I needed to address, but I didn't do anything about it because I didn't realise the importance. And in 2000, when I looked at it, and you needed 30 years to qualify I remember thinking "that's fine, I'll be working and have enough to qualify". Not sure why I totally missed the change in 2016, other than I was very busy with work, Dad being ill and dying, and supporting Mum who shortly after I realised had Dementia, so it wasn't until 3 years ago when Martin Lewis was sayng about plugging gaps in your state pension from 2006 onwards, that I finally started to investigate would I get a state pension and if so, how much. And more recently that I've realised I won't have 35 qualifying years, despite working all of my adult life. It's been interesting to go through this process, because it's brought back the thought process my younger self had about always working temporary jobs to get experience in lots of different jobs rather than full-time permanent job limiting my experience of different industries. I had no thought about the implications of this choice of work pattern on my state pension because it was so far off, that it just didn't think about it.

I'm talking to my nephews and nieces now in their early 20s about all of this because they are a bit like I was, and either doing contracting or temporary work because that's all the type of work they can get at this point despite University degress, again without understanding the implications for their future state pension. At least I've now explained, just keep up your NI contributions, even if you have to make them separately if you are not working and plug the gaps as you go!

Lesson learnt!

Again, my grateful thanks to all of you!

MallyGirl

getting our young people to understand about NI records, notifying of change of address and record keeping generally is something we can all do. The same goes for things like consolidation of tiny pensions built up here and there - easy to keep a small number up to date on addresses / expression of wishes etc.