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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to not know about state pension?

162 replies

1FineDane · 05/09/2019 19:09

Say you moved to the UK aged 50 and you hit retirement age. Are you then entitled to full state pension or is it proportional to what you've paid into the pot/pro rata per year spent paying in?

OP posts:
Original poster
1FineDane · 06/09/2019 10:40

To answer some questions, I don't know if I'm paying NI contributions at the moment as I'm not working due to illness, so am in receipt of UC.

I'm not 50. This was a hypothetical question.

As for those getting apoplectic with rage at my audacity to ask the question, some of the responses demonstrate A. It's not a simple answer B. I'm not the only one who doesn't 'know'/can't google. HTH.

OP posts:
AutumnFabreeze · 06/09/2019 10:45

fedup, you are right. I stand corrected. I was volunteering (so getting nothing) and am now about to get paid but not doing many hours. I may not pay NI but think I will get the credit for it. I need to look into this more.

Carthage · 06/09/2019 10:47

You can't just move to the UK and get it.

Quite right too. Why should you benefit from a government scheme that you haven't contributed to? You may also have been able to pay NIC while working abroad, but presumably chose not to. Did you not pay into the pension system of the country you were working in?

While I wouldn't want to see anyone destitute, which is what the benefit system is designed to address, I don't think we can afford to pay out pensions to anyone regardless who happens to move back here just because they happened to be born here.

GrimalkinsCrone · 06/09/2019 10:48

I don’t think it’s asking the question that’s irritating, it’s your lack of good manners that’s putting people’s backs up.

InterestingView · 06/09/2019 10:48

How odd to start a thread about something that's not your situation and has no impact on your life. Use your time off sick to do something more important. Perhaps an educational online course rather than mumsnet 😂 your attitude is disgraceful

fedup21 · 06/09/2019 10:49

www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/state-pensions/#how

Has anyone read this and knows anything about being ‘contracted out’?

Those in the the NHS, police, teaching etc are more likely to have been contracted out if the state pension without knowing and so will have reduced NI contributions??

Original poster
1FineDane · 06/09/2019 10:50

What a delight you are OP. I'm sure people will take the trouble to answer your next query

Thankfully, there are helpful posters out there, not just the unhelpful 'just google it' tribe... I can do without their 'taking the trouble to answer'.

OP posts:
Original poster
1FineDane · 06/09/2019 10:52

I know that I will get some pension of some description from my country of origin based on NI contributions there.

I'm trying to figure out how it works here.

OP posts:
Original poster
1FineDane · 06/09/2019 10:55

I've lived here for 5 years, but for the first two years of that, I was being supported solely by my then boyfriend. I wasn't in receipt of any benefits, neither was I working. I think I'm probably going to be fairly skint come pension age! It's a little way off, but still a concern I suppose.

OP posts:
BarrenFieldofFucks · 06/09/2019 10:57

It was your question about the 'elusory government website' that made peopleHmm I suspect.

AutumnFabreeze · 06/09/2019 11:01

Your entitlement to the state pension as of today (you have 3 NI years max, which I doubt) is zero.

allthegoodusernameshavegone · 06/09/2019 11:01

Op you can always start up a private pension and your employers will have a pension set up for employees.

AccioCats · 06/09/2019 11:02

Tbh Anyone relying solely on the state pension is probably in for a shock. I agree with the pp who said look at the state pension as a base on which you build an occupational / private pension or other investments. State pension is just basic. As it should be really

fedup21 · 06/09/2019 11:09

Tbh Anyone relying solely on the state pension is probably in for a shock

I agree, but feel like there will be a lot of people (mainly women) who are stuffed with their private pensions because they have been part time/not working due to bringing up kids. If their STATE pension is also affected by them being part time due to bringing up kids as well-what happens to them?!

Ok if you are married to and stay married to a wealthy husband with a full pension pot, but if not...?

AutumnFabreeze · 06/09/2019 11:17

That is a good point PP. So many women do not know about this. Our mums and GPs probably got a full or near full pension even if they didn't do a lot of paid work. Many of my friends haven't signed up for CB credits. They are sleep walking into this. Their partners may not reach 68 (it will move higher) and be on their own with a single, rubbish pension. They may not be able to claim against their partners state pension. When divorce happens the man usually tries to protect their pension fiercely.

We need to make sure we are getting NI credits if not working and are SAHPs. We need to look to see if it is worth buying back any years and if we are able, pay the yearly NI when we miss out. If we can do that. None of us want to sell our homes and live off the proceeds really do we. We want to maintain our assets to pass onto our kids.

AccioCats · 06/09/2019 11:33

Fedup- it’s the main reason i dropped to part time hours for as short a time as I felt feasible - ie: while my kids were pre school age. I returned to full time when my youngest was 4. Obviously even that’s meant my work pension has taken a hit but not by too much. I think it’s unrealistic for anyone to imagine they can have huge amounts of years either not working or just working part time. I agree though it doesn’t always stop people- I’ve said on other threads I have a lot of female teaching colleagues my age (50s) who have never returned to full time work since having kids! I think that’s very short sighted.
Btw even having a husband with a good pension pot and remaining happily married doesn’t guarantee security because if he predeceases you, you only get a proportion of the pension, it won’t just all get handed to you!
I think pensions are a massive issue and I believe everyone - women and men- should make their own provision as well as paying into the state one

familycourtq · 06/09/2019 11:36

Has anyone read this and knows anything about being ‘contracted out’

Yes I have. I contracted out in 1986 (yes I am that old). It was a bribe from the Thatcher government to get people to opt out of SERPS (AKA the state second pension) SERPS was a state version of defined benefit pension in which you got more pension the more you had earned.

I like millions of others paid reduced NI for years. Because Mrs Thatcher wanted to give her mates government money my contributions have gone into a private pension.

As it happens SERPS has been scrapped anyway. I don't think I have lost out - I'll be getting at least as much as I'd have got from SERPS (probably). One thing time passing has shown me is that the government will always fuck about with whatever pension arrangements you try to make - repeatedly.

fedup21 · 06/09/2019 11:39

@1FineDane
Right, that makes sense.

So if this had happened to me-I would know about it? The article I linked to seemed to suggest that people would be surprised that it affected them. I qualified in 1998 and none of that rings any sort of bells with me.

Need to locate my passport out of the safe and I will be checking my state pension prediction later.

Knittedfairies · 06/09/2019 11:53

I reached state pension age in May. Having checked my entitlement at the end of last year I realised that I needed one more year of contributions to reach the qualifying number for a full pension. I started the process to buy that year in January but it took ages to sort out. Most of my contributions came from receiving a carer's allowance. (FYI You cannot get carer's allowance in addition to a state pension; it's one or the other because they're considered to be 'overlapping benefits' which really stinks).

Long story short: If you need to speak to someone regarding your pension, the wheels in the DWP/ Pension Service grind exceeding slow, so don't leave it too late to contact them. And be prepared to listen to a lot of Vivaldi...

81Byerley · 06/09/2019 11:56

www.gov.uk/browse/working/state-pension

arethereanyleftatall · 06/09/2019 12:36

I'm agog at the ops posts. Op - you have zero manners. So many posters gave their own time to respond to you, a complete stranger, and you have shown not a hint of a thank you.

NoSquirrels · 06/09/2019 13:19

OP, if you posted a proper breakdown of your own personal situation - country of origin, age, working history, how long you have been in the UK, how long you have been on benefits, etc etc, then MN could give you good advice.

Alternatively Google could also probably give you good advice too, or advise you where to get it.

Google - and MN - is only as 'clever' as the information you give it in the first place and whether you ask the right questions.

If you are concerned about what you will be entitled to in retirement, start again by listing all the info and someone will be able to help you get some answers.

I do think you've come across rather rudely, tbh.

Original poster
1FineDane · 06/09/2019 13:21

Ok, well apparently from that latest link, if I contribute until aged 68, I'll then receive £141.14 a week

£613.71 a month, £7,364.48 a year

Not as bad as I thought I suppose, once rent doesn't come out of that too.

OP posts:
AccioCats · 06/09/2019 13:23

I wouldn’t be happy trying to exist on that but each to their own

Original poster
1FineDane · 06/09/2019 13:25

To be frank, I don't care if I come across as rude. I asked a question and got a slew of RUDE comments telling me to just fucking google it.

If someone is rude to me, you can rest assured I ain't gonna thank them for their 'contribution'.

People have posted helpful advice and actually I think this thread has been informative for a number of other people besides my good self.

If I hadn't posted the question, I wouldn't know the answer would I. Why people see something on the internet that annoys them and can't just keep their idiotic unhelpful snide comments to themselves baffles me to be honest. JUST. KEEP. SCROLLING. F.F.S.

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