Checking State Pension increase

DRS1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82120905#Comment_82120905

Wasn't your full situation discussed in your 2016 thread? @molerat (who is a guru on this sort of stuff) posted on 17 May 2016 that

"You have a "new" pension 34/35 of £155.60 = £151.15 - £45.96 = £105.19 so your actual amount must be your "old" pension of £122.60 as it is larger. Buying an additional pre 2016 year would make no difference to the "old" pension as you already have 30/30 but the "new" calculation would be £155.60 - £45.96 = £109.64, still lower than the "old" pension."

That should explain why "replies to this thread think the BSP was a greater amount for me" although again you are confusing things as the old calculation is not just for the BSP it includes the ASP and the deduction for contracting out. It would only be the BSP if your ASP was exactly cancelled out by the COD.

So now, for someone with 35 qualifying years, they are ELIGIBLE for both the full Basic State pension and the full New State pension amounts.

35 years for someone in the transition between old and new state pensions is a complete red herring. Forget it. You need to work out a starting amount - as per @molerat's post quoted above. You may be able to add to that starting amount if you have available post 2016 years you can fill. You didn't have those years. You can't add to your starting amount. The only reason I could help my state pension by contributing pre 2016 years is because I only had 27 pre 2016 years not the full 30 that you had.

Wouldn't the contracted out deduction be less for the NSP calculation by virtue of a smaller ratio of contracted out years compared with total number of years (30 and 35 for BSP and NSP respectively).

I really don't think the 30 or 35 year divisor has any relevance to the COD or COPE figures used in your state pension calculation. The 30 divisor in the old rules calculation is used against your BSP not against the ASP or the COD. The 35 divisor in the new rules calculation is used against the NSP not against the COPE.

goodValue

35 years for someone in the transition between old and new state pensions is a complete red herring. Forget it

Do you mean this just for me personally?
Another person reaching state pension age in the years just after 2016, might have a New State pension valuation greater than their Basic State pension valuation. 35 years is then fundamental for their valuation.
Re-reading some posts, I think I've made a realisation that has helped - the valuations at 2016 are a starting point with other rules taking over after that. Is one of these that you cannot purchase pre 2016 years to improve your New State pension valuation?
So it would be wrong to say "if I had, say 8 pre-2016 years available for purchase then the New State pension valuation could become greater than the Basic State valuation."

eskbanker

Another person reaching state pension age in the years just after 2016, might have a New State pension valuation greater than their Basic State pension valuation. 35 years is then fundamental for their valuation.

No, it really isn't! Their starting point, calculated in 2016, will leave them needing anywhere between circa 28 and 50 qualifying years in total to reach the full NSP, depending on their pre-2016 history - a small subset of such people will need 35 by coincidence but in general it has no significance for this cohort and is only relevant for those born this century, i.e. those who started making NI contributions after 2016.

DRS1

Do you mean this just for me personally?

No I don't.

Another person reaching state pension age in the years just after 2016, might have a New State pension valuation greater than their Basic State pension valuation. 35 years is then fundamental for their valuation.

Except that you have left out the bit you have been going on about recently - their contracted in or contracted out status.

The 35 years figure is only fundamental in the new scheme calculation if you have no COPE to deduct in that calculation. But of course if you have no COPE then you have no COD and you may have a whole lot of ASP to add into the old scheme part of the calculation which can mean the old scheme calculation is higher than the new scheme calculation.

I think it has been mentioned on this forum that someone with as little as 28 years (or was it 26) had clocked up a full state pension (because they were contracted in - so no COD or COPE).

Is one of these that you cannot purchase pre 2016 years to improve your New State pension valuation?

Did you not read my post where I said that in 2022 I had purchased pre 2016 years to boost my state pension? But I only bought 3 of them because that is what it took to get me from 27 to 30. The other pre 2016 years which were "available to purchase" I did not buy because they would have made no difference to my state pension. That is the same as your position with pre 2016 years - you are already at 30 so buying any more will make no difference. Buying post 2016 years would have but they weren't available to you because of when you reached SPA.

goodValue

I have often seen the fundamental aspect of the old rules is that you need 30 years for a full pension, and of the new rules that you need 35 years for a full pension.

It is a bit of a shock to find that this was a misconception.

What about the query: "

 - the valuations at 2016 are a starting point with other rules taking over after that. Is one of these that you cannot purchase pre 2016 years to improve your New State pension valuation?

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82121330#Comment_82121330

It's not as simple as that and depends on the number of pre-2016 qualifying years you already have, but surely this is all moot anyway, given that it's now too late for anyone to buy pre-2016 years?

af1963

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82121330#Comment_82121330

If someone didn't have 30 years before 2016, it's possible that paying for pre-2016 years when they were allowed to do so would have improved their position. (In fact, DRS1 describes doing so in an earlier post)

But a) you did have 30 pre-2016 years and b) it's no longer possible to buy pre-2016 years.

Is there an actual point to this thread ? It started as "checking State Pension increase". What do you hope to get from it - to discover that there's some kind of mistake in your pension increase calculation, or your pension entitlement ? Either of these outcomes is highly unlikely.

t0rt0ise

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82121900#Comment_82121900

I think the point if the discussion is to help the OP to understand things, and it's good to see people explaining to him with patience.

goodValue

I should say that I have been driven to ensure I'm getting the correct state pension, having been outrageously short-changed by the company holding my company pension.
This has been very frustrating, due to ingrained misconceptions, and my problems with communication, memory, and interpretation.
So I would like to thank everyone for their tolerance in getting me to understand this better.