Great Things To Know Before You Retire Hunt

Thanks for that, Margaret - I do my normal banking with Nationwide online, and they do a reasonable cash ISA too - I shall check if that's something I can handle online. I like to be able to keep an eye on my money!

Sorry to sound so daft, but what happens after you have paid for 30 years and are still working - do you just keep on paying until you retire?

Being a bit phone phobic (my phone bill is virtually non-existent!) I tried sending the details of my child rearing years by email first, but because they don't trust sending National Insurance numbers by internet, they suggested I should phone. It's taken me around 5 weeks to get round to that, and the conversation has left me a bit uneasy.

I spent about half of my child rearing years in Germany as a Forces wife, and the person I spoke to said they'd have to send me a form to fill in as it's possible I'm not eligible for credits for those years.
I'm trying not to get really mad :mad: :mad::mad: before I've even seen the form, because serving soldiers abroad pay UK tax, and you're still eligible for jury service while you're abroad ( I was called, but excused because of needing to travel over to do it). Fairly sure I was still entitled to Family Allowance too.

Surely, they can't be suggesting that you lose entitlement to credit because your husband is serving his country? If it turns out to be so, I definitely feel a letter to my local MP coming on. Or marching up and down outside Gordon Brown's house with a placard. What do they expect Forces wives to do? Stay over in England and raise the children alone?

EdInvestor wrote: »

The entitlement is related to receiving child benefit, which is usually paid to the mother. Some women have lost entitlement because the CB was in their husband's name.

I do wish my memory was better for that period - I can't think I would ever have had my child benefit paid in my ex-husband's name, we decided on honeymoon that it would need to be me who managed the finances, as he'd just lost 2 months wages playing poker :eek:, and I'm finance obsessive. Unless it was a Forces thing - had to paid in with the salary or something while over there?

I think it's possible I may have had it paid into my UK bank account while I was in Germany, but it's difficult to remember. It was certainly in my name whenever we were in the UK.

I'm thinking those 7- 8 years out of 18 spent child rearing may not be too important though - by the time I retire I will have 27 years in employment, the last 10 part time (hope THAT doesn't make a difference). It all has to add up to 30, doesn't it, so I should be OK, shouldn't I? Except the last 8 years of child raising I was also working - bets on those being mutually exclusive, cancelling it out almost entirely. I think it still comes pretty close to 30 years though.

I'm beginning to wish I'd been born 9 months earlier, and didn't have to consider all this at all! But at least I'm doing what I can now to ensure I get a full pension.

I'm grateful for your advice, again, though, it's like a minefield out there!