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

Marcon

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!

Completely agree with educating as many people as possible as early as possible, but exhorting people in their early 20s to 'plug gaps in NI as you go' may be money wasted at a time they can least afford it. Those born this century will (currently) need only 35 years for a full state pension. Trying to predict what the position might be when they retire 40+ years hence is pretty futile.

Silvertabby

Just a point re your intention (?) to defer payment of your State pension.… Yes, doing so may increase it to the full rate, but you would permanently lose 12 months of payments. The break even point of doing this is something like 18 years so, unless you are confident that you will live well past your late 80s, you won't actually gain anything.

GunJack

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82034313#Comment_82034313

This is always the conundrum when talking about DB and State Pension (which is, in effect, another DB) - what's more important to you, the total overall amount over 20-30 years or the actual weekly/monthly/annual income level?

I for one couldn't claim my CS pension early as the drop in annual income by doing so wouldn't work for me,

DRS1

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.

OK. Sorry to question it. I just remembered when I topped up in 2022 you had to speak to DWP to see which years made sense to top up before talking to HMRC to pay the money. For some reason that made me think DWP were the record keepers.

I appreciate I won't get a reply for a long time.

There are stories of topping up taking longer to sort out after you get to SPA and I wonder if sorting out your issues with the records would also take longer after you get to SPA. I don't know. Maybe someone like @molerat would know. If you are thinking of deferring your state pension you may not be that bothered. Anyway I was thinking it might be good to present them with something in as simple a way as possible which they could resolve in the next few months (before they start writing to you telling you what your state pension will be). I think the approach suggested by @doodling would be a good one backed up by selected evidence such as the P60s or payslips showing the cumulative position (perhaps an April payslip or the first and last one for a particular job).

jem16

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82034205#Comment_82034205

“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.”

Just to clarify this point.

The Future Pension Centre is part of the DWP. They are not and never have been part of HMRC.

The Future Pension Centre will tell you what years will improve your pension and how many years you still need. They have nothing to do with NI which is the remit of HMRC.

DRS1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82034507#Comment_82034507

Thanks. I fear I am responsible for that particular diversion.

noideapleasehelp

MallyGirl you're absolutely right. It's for us to now share with our younger people why it's important and get them to check etc and to udnerstand the implictions. I didn't realise until last night that when I was unemployed for a few weeks but not claiming unemployment benefit, that I could have asked for NI credits torwards my pension. If I had done that then the 7 years I have of working 42-48 weeks could have been full years of over 7 years. As it is, none of those years will count towards my state pension now.

When I was a kid, my parents never said anything about any of this never mind getting an NI number. They just told me to "get a job" and start paying my way when I was 16, otherwise they would kick me out of the family house and I would be on my own (although I did Saturday jobs age 14 onwards). So like many young peope now, I go lots of part time jobs, which in part is why I'm submitting all those payslips from the 1970s with multiple NI numbers but I was also in a tech college studying for A levels, but my parents still had this view that I should pay my way.

I never understood how the work I did then could contribute to my state pension now. And after A level's, when they kicked me out of the family home, and I went to rental accommodation, it was really hard to make ends meet and pay my rent and I did lots of temp jobs both day and night to survive. At that time, claiming unemployment benefit was frowned on, and so I didn't do it but yes, interesting to know that at that time I could have got NI credits, which woud have got me my full state pension now but at that time I didn't know.

I'm not sure that any of what I present will have a difference, but yet, had I been aware of these issues when I was younger, I would now be sitting happily with over 48 years of employment and a full state benefit under the new rules. As it it, I'm 2 years off from full state benefit, and will continue to work for 2 more years until I'm 68. 9 months just to get a basic state benefit although I've worked all my life, but I just didn't understand the system and how it works at that time and there wasn't the internet, or anything else there that we now have to understand the implications.

Apologies again for the long reply. And thank you for your response!

kermchem

OP mentioned A-levels.
I checked my state pension about 7 years ago and it told me I would need to work to age 62 in 2028 to get a full SP at 67. Then sometime the tax years containing my 16, 17 and 18th birthdays were added. Check again and I had a full SP before age 62.
Are the years you were taking A-levels full?

QrizB

As it it, I'm 2 years off from full state benefit, and will continue to work for 2 more years until I'm 68. 9 months just to get a basic state benefit although I've worked all my life

As you've worked all your life, do you have pensions from your employment? Have you been making contributions to a private pension?

Continuing to work for two years just to achieve "a number" for your state pension seems a little bizarre, to be honest.

If you don't have any sort of private pension and your only income in retirement will be your state pension, have you looked at whether you'd qualify for Pension Credit? That would top your state pension up to nearly full without you having to work beyond state pension age, and comes with additional entitlements.

https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit

LHW99

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82035122#Comment_82035122

If the OP left school at 16, then he was probably not in full time education during those years (or at least in 2 of them). Still worth checking though.