Buying Added State Pension Years

[mr hil.]

Everybody should check their state pension entitlement, visit https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

Log in or register then check how many years you are short, some years may not be full years but only require a small amount to top them up. The deadline for paying for short years is listed below each year with the amount you would need to pay.
An example of the sort of details is shown below when you click on the link to view your national insurance record. Each year is listed and I would recommend working out which would be the cheapest years to pay for to get the required number of years for the max pension

2010-11Year is not full

You have contributions from

Paid employment: £1.48

National Insurance credits: 46 weeks

These may have been added to your record if you were ill/disabled, unemployed, caring for someone full-time or on jury service.

Find out more about gaps in your record and how to check them.

You can make up the shortfall

Pay a voluntary contribution of £76.50 by 5 April 2023. This shortfall may increase after 5 April 2021.

Find out more about voluntary contributions.

[heapsy]

I've just checked my records. Only the 3rd time ever. I'm told I have 37 years of full contributions dating from 1983-84 including some years with credits. It also says 14 years to contribute before 5th April 2034. No gaps in my records. I'm currently on target for a weekly pension of £160.39. Forecast is £175.20 if I contribute another 3 years before 5th April 2034. Great stuff, I'm hoping to retire at 60 or part time elsewhere at most. I'd urge anyone thinking about this to check their own. You can see the amount contributed and number of weeks credited if applicable. Well worth it.

[dparr59]

After leaving Royal mail after 25 years ( 1981- 2006 ) I found out that I was contracted out and did not pay a full state pension stamp.
So I asked about filling the gaps I have and was told not
To buy any years before 2016 as my state pension amount will not increase ( Yes qualifying years will increase but state pension amount will not )

Only buy years after 2016 not before 2016 or including 2016.
Any gaps purchased after 2016 cost around £700 a year and your pension then will increase about £5 a week.

My sister assumed that because she had over 40 years and worked for the local council that she would get a full state pension .But because she had a council pension she too had been contacted out and will not get the full state pension.

Please ask for a state pension forecast if your over 60 or know anyone over 60.
As you / them may have been contacted out and will end up with a smaller state pension then you/ they think.

If you look after Grandchildren you can claim a state pension credit via the government website again you need to claim for years after 2016 not before.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... its-ca9176

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailyr ... 051283.amp

[RobertT]

Good advice!

But I would say get yourself a state pension forecast as soon as possible, so you know well in advance what you're likely to get and then look into ways to improve it, if need be. No need to wait until you're over 60!
I got my first forecast when I was mid 40's.

Many people think that because they've been contracted out of the state second pension(S2P) and therefore might get less then the full state pension, that they've been short changed in some way. But that is not correct!

The whole point of contracting out was that your workplace pension would give you at least as much as you would have got from being contracted in.

In practice there was no ability to be contracted into S2P and be in the RM DB scheme aswell. Therefore had you been accruing more S2P while in RM employment, you potentially wouldn't have had any RM pension.

*Contracting out ended for all members of the RMPP in 2016. Members of the RMDCP have never been contracted out.

[freespeech]

We are paying full contributions now but there was a period when RM ( like other large companies)opted out for a number of years eg if you have worked for RM for 35 years you won’t get a state pension of 35 years.See the info from vmax4.

Not sure what a SP "of 35 years" is but I'm due max SP of £179.60 per week. https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-yo ... on/account

[freespeech]

Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE)
Your COPE estimate is£69.70 a week.

This will not affect your State Pension forecast. The COPE amount is paid as part of your other pension schemes, not by the government.

[RobertT]

Contracting out ended in 2016. So anyone who started work after then will only need 35 qualifying years to get the full state pension.

Anyone with some of their work history before 2016 will be 'transitional' and will have any contracted out periods of work factored into their state pension entitlement. Therefore more than 35 years may be required to get the full amount, depending on the individual.

The COPE amount on your state pension forecast is really just for information purposes, it is not taken away from your state pension(a common misconception)! As has been said, it's actually included in your workplace pension provision.

[Jack1960]

One of my grandchildren is a maths teacher, she says that algebraic functions are easier to understand than our royall mail pension.
I will have paid 44 years when I go next year at 66 so will that be enough?

[RobertT]

One of my grandchildren is a maths teacher, she says that algebraic functions are easier to understand than our royall mail pension.
I will have paid 44 years when I go next year at 66 so will that be enough?

RM pensions are stupidly complicated, but we have statements each year that tell us how much we're likely to get. All you need to do is add up a few numbers!

There are also videos on the RMSPS and RMPP websites that tell you have to understand things!

Whether 44 years will be enough to get the full state pension will depend on you own individual contributions. The best way to find out is to get yourself a forecast – it'll be individual to you.

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

[vmaxv4]

After looking into this sometime ago & getting colleagues of a similar age & also having the FULL pension holiday (13 yrs) I think!.
I asked them to enquire on the Gov site for their illustration.
Bearing in mind that they are now 62 last December & I’m 62 in March.
We all have the exact same date of our FULL pension entitlements on 5th April 2026 age 66..That’s if I/We stay that long
So by my calculations that I maybe one of the last (unless your birthday is 3 weeks after mine) people to fall into this COPE thingy.

[RobertT]

Any one who has been contracted out at some point before 2016 will be affected by those reduced NIC's to one degree or another. The good thing is that since 2016, those who were previously contracted out, have been earning more state pension entitlement to make up for those years.

Important things to remember:

1. COPE does NOT reduce your state pension. It's an amount that's included in your RM pension and any other contracted out pensions you may have!
2. If the state pension system hadn't changed in 2016, the max you would have got would be more akin to the basic state pension, which is currently £137 per week. Plus any S2P you may have earned along the way.
3. The 2016 changes have enabled you to build up more state pension entitlement than you would have got if things hadn't changed, potentially up to the current 'full rate' of £179.
4. A qualifying year is actually determined by how much you earn in that year. It's currently only £6,240. A full time postie would only need to work for a few months to earn that.

[NWpostie]

I've checked my state pension forecast, I have 2 years of contributions left to get the full amount, after that I'm overpaying for 4 more years until I take my NRA60 and retire.

*Any overpayment won't increase your pension any further it will be redistributed back into the general fund.

[RobertT]

NICs are compulsory as long as you earn above a minimum amount and are below state pension age. The only way to opt out is to earn less or retire.

I'm in a position where if I carry on working until SPA, I could potentially pay NICs for 12 years and get no more state pension.

[heapsy]

One of the reasons to pay AVCs and reduce your NI payments eh Bob?

[RobertT]

One of the reasons to pay AVCs and reduce your NI payments eh Bob?

Yep!
And to retire much earlier.