NI contributions

dooey1
dooey1 Posts: 32 Forumite
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in Employment, jobseeking & training
Been told no such thing as stupid question so here goes!

I finished work a week ago and am currently not working. Have been told by worried relative that I should be paying own NI contributions. I do not intend to claim benefits as I have savings.

Please advise. I am 47.

Comments

  • garth549
    garth549 Posts: 486 Forumite
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    As far as I know you need 35 years of full contributions for a full state pension.

    If you already have say 28-30 year's contributions I wouldn't worry if you're planning to work 5-7 years more before you retire.
  • Exodi
    Exodi Posts: 2,864 Forumite
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    In a way, your relative is correct - working or claiming benefits would accrue NI contributions but doing neither wouldn't.

    Fortunately, you can easily check your current NI contributions online.

    Go to https://www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account and look at your NI contributions, it should clearly say how many years you have, and the cost to plug any gaps.
    Know what you don't
  • p00hsticks
    p00hsticks Posts: 12,805 Forumite
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    garth549 wrote: »
    As far as I know you need 35 years of full contributions for a full state pension.

    That's only for those that started work since the new State Pension was introduced in April 2016. For those older, transitional rules apply which mean you may need more or less than 35 years , depending on your individual work history.

    You can get a personal state pension forecast here
    https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension
    which will tell you both your current position and how many more years you need to get the new full rate.

    Depending on the OPs earnings so far this year, they may already have paid enough for the current to count as full, so I'd concur that as they say they do not intend claiming benefits in the future there is little immediate need to pay voluntary NI contributions.

    OP - you say you do not intend claiming benefits as you have savings. Are you aware that, if you are looking for a new job, your current NI record could entitle you to six months 'new-style' JSA regardless of any saving you may have ....
  • Dox
    Dox Posts: 3,116 Forumite
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    dooey1 wrote: »
    Been told no such thing as stupid question so here goes!

    I finished work a week ago and am currently not working. Have been told by worried relative that I should be paying own NI contributions. I do not intend to claim benefits as I have savings.

    Please advise. I am 47.

    Calculated on what basis...?

    The benefit of 'signing on' is that you get NI credits. If you are intending to take a relatively short career break of only a month or so, probably no issue. Longer than that and the lack of a complete NI history in both short, medium and long term might (or might not) create problems for you.
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