National Insurance - raising the threshold.

[LizzieMacQueen]

If the Conservatives fulfil their promise to raise the NI threshold then thousands like me, earning around the £10k mark, will no longer pay NI but, does that mean we'll now have gaps in our contribution history meaning we'll not get a full state pension?

Seems to adversely affect women in part time posts who can no longer get the NI credit from child benefit (ie once youngest is age 12).

Does anyone know if this point has been addressed. I'd rather pay the NI!

So the AIBU is, AIBU to not welcome this 'tax cut'?

(BTW I've written to my MP but not had a response yet).

I cannot believe that this is something they haven't factored in, that you are better off not working and just claiming benefits in order to pay your stamp .

I know. I'm not sure about the benefits thing but I know quite a few in the same boat as me. Part time and youngest kids now over 12. I'm pretty sure my employer cannot take me on for more hours so I'd be looking at applying for new jobs at age 51.

You can always pay NI voluntarily. I earn under the current threshold and have paid voluntarily for years

I cannot believe that this is something they haven't factored in

I can absolutely believe this is something they haven't factored in.

@LizzieMacQueen you don't need another job or extra hours. You can voluntarily just pay a top up

I had not heard about this idea.

Are they planning to reduce the number of those eligible for a state pension by stealth?

And yes you can top up but how many people will be able to justify that expenditure?
I make that much, more or less and I rarely have spare money.

I can absolutely believe this is something they haven't factored in

Exactly, all they're doing at the moment is throwing around the pie in the sky pledges to get people to vote for them.

Whoever gets elected will quietly drop them or tweak them out of any resemblance to what people believed the initial pledge to mean. It's rare that any of the headline grabbing promises are implemented in full or any time soon.

Can you? Is that the £153* class 2?

I think I was told it was about £750 to plug earlier years' gaps so wasn't keen on that.

• That might be about what I pay in class 1 atm.

To be honest by the time many of us get to state pension age we'll be dead anyway if the age gets raised any higher so better to have the money now.

Quick info on paying voluntary contributions.

Argh. My asterisks failed. Forgot that asterisks bold text on MN.

Thanks all. I won't get my knickers in a twist just yet and I'll look into what voluntary contribution I'd need to make.

Didn't Teresa May also make some NI pledge that had to be reversed?

This was a while ago so don't know if it's still possible, but when I worked part-time and didn't earn enough to pay tax, you could claim the credits at the job centre. Involved a lot of forms, but didn't pay anything

@MidnightCircus Thanks. Will check that out.

So voluntary contributions are £780 a year!!! That's a long way off the savings I'd get by raising the threshold.

Done some more checking and it looks like as long as I earn £118 a week, credits are protected. Lower Earning Limit. LEL.

That's good because I don't qualify for any working tax credits.

I'm over the threshold but it occurred to me the same thing, I need another 15 years contributions due to gaps living overseas. They will need to think of a solution other than class 2 otherwise they will be condemning the low paid to poverty in retirement

I don’t pay NI as ,y salary is below the threadhold, I make voluntary contributions though