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

mrklaw

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82068399#Comment_82068399

yes

new system - you need 35 qualifying years

if you were paying NI before the new scheme then you’ll have an individual conversion rate based on whatever hodge podge of different contributions you paid. That results in a number of further qualifying years under the new scheme to get you to the full state pension

DRS1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82068411#Comment_82068411

Well I am a couple of months older than @noideapleasehelp, have 36 years full NICs and am still short of the full state pension.

@noideapleasehelp this question gets discussed a lot and it is not that rules do or don't apply to you. It is that we are of the generation which crossed over from the old system to the new one and so there is a calculation which is done to make the transition work. That calculation means the 35 year "rule" for the new system doesn't translate into 35 years for people affected by the transition - indeed they can need a lot more years (or for some a few less). There was probably more need for people to be aware of this when topping up could cover a lot of past years than there is now when you can only go back 6 years.

noideapleasehelp

Hi Eastcorkram

When you on go on the govt pension forecast what does it tell you?

I'm mindful that Martin Lewis said that this state pension change meant that there were winners and losers.

And that the state pension forecast says that's it's not guaranteed you'll get the forecast they are giving you so could be that mine will change to my detriment once I apply for it.

Why if you are just one year older than me is your potential state pension so different from mine for the number of years to qualify?

I was told by the Future Pensions Team that because I was part of the pre-2016 change, that anything I had work wise NI contributions after 2016 which is over 10 years qualified as the minimum entry for the new scheme, and full NI work year contributions before 2016 would count towards the new 35 year rule.

Is it different for you and others? If so why are you caught in this loop hole and why?

I appreicate this is dificult to reply to because it seems I am ones of those who are benefiting from this new ruling and you are not. And I would be now very annoyed if I'm being asked by people like me when I'm in your situation but I'm trying to understand why this has all changed, and perhaps get Martin to challenge?

Thank you again for replying and highlighting this to others.

All the best to you.

noideapleasehelp

Hi DRS1 and mrklaw

Is Martin Lewis aware of this issue?

DRS1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82068448#Comment_82068448

If he reads this forum then yes.

Marcon

Why if you are just one year older than me is your potential state pension so different from mine for the number of years to qualify?

Different earnings history, different contracting out history.

QrizB

You are saying that the new state pension rules don't apply in my case?

No, not at all. I'm saying the calculation done by HMRC for you personally when the new rules were introduced came out that you personally need 35 years.

That's a coincidence, and a result of your personal employment history.

You are suggesting that because people of my age group did SERPS, contracted out and beacuse of that maybe paid more in for several years then less, that some how there's a special calculation for us and that the 35 year rule doesn't apply?

The 35 year rule doesn't apply to anyone with an NI record that began before 2016. That will include almost everyone born before 2000.

And does this apply to others still working of my age group?

Yes. It applies to you, to people older to you, to people like me and my wife in our mid-fifties, to people in their forties, to people in their thirties, and to some people in their twenties.

All these people had a calculation done on their behalf by HMRC based on their NI record in 2016, and as a result might need anything from 20-something to 40-something NI years to earn a full New State Pension.

I personally need 36 years, for example.

Some of these people will have already retired and will not have been able to earn a full New State Pension despite having more than 35 full NI years. They can get quite agitated about this when they post on this forum.

Is Martin Lewis aware of this issue?

Martin Lewis is definitely aware of it, but tends not to talk about it in detail on his TV appearances because it's complicated.

See for example here, where it says:

Because anyone retiring now (or soon) likely built up most of their NI record before 2016, the calculation of how many years you need to get the full State Pension isn't straightforward. The best way to check how much you're on track to get is to see your State Pension forecast. 

GunJack

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82068399#Comment_82068399

I think you're still missing the point of how your personal state pension is calculated.

I'll try and put it simply...

1. Everybody who retired from April 2016 is on New state pension. That's when the system changed for everybody.
2. If you paid NI before tax year 2016/17, then you had already built an amount of sp entitlement. To transition to the new state pension from 2016/17, a pretty complex calculation was done to take into account your NI record up to April 2016, including any SERPS/S2P earned to that point, and that was your starting entitlement under new SP.
3. If you first started paying NI in 2016/17 tax year or later, then you would indeed need exactly 35 years NI for full new SP (so that's not you or your similar aged friends).
4. For every year worked from 2016/17 onwards, you added 1/35th of the full new SP amount to your starting amount, until the last tax year before you reach SP age. The tax year in which you reach SP age does not count towards SP.
5. In YOUR case, it will just so happen to work out at 35 years of NI for you to get the full new SP
6. For others of your age, it could have worked out as low as 31 years or up to around 44 years to get the full new SP. It all depends on your individual NI record up to April 2016 when they did your personal calculation.

So please don't get hung up on the fact that your missing 3 years took you personally to 35 years, it's a total and complete coincidence. I'm 58 and hit full new SP with 31 years.

Silvertabby

People reaching State pension age now will need anything between 28 years and 50 years of NI contributions to qualify for the full new single tier pension. It all depends on their pre 2016 SERPS/SP2/COPE history. As we get further away from 2016, this will narrow until more and more people will reach SPA needing nearer (but rarely exactly) 35 years.

QrizB

Just as an example, there's a post by xylophone here that explains for one person what the calculation was and what it then meant for how many years thry needed post-2016. It's a bit involved.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82003355#Comment_82003355

There are lots of those calculations on this forum, many of them carried out by xylophone.