To be shocked if this is true . State pension and benefits …?

[Springtimesoo]

I have worked all my life apart from
4 year degree( 3 year plus prof qualification )
and
a period at home when I had 2 dc under two and we could not afford nursery fees.

have just checked my pension forcast Which says that although I have paid 35 years in full , i will not get a full pension .

it seems that to get a full pension i need to pay just over 3k .

my friend , who is by choice long term unemployed. ( long story) says that she will get a full pension as she is on benefits .

how is that fair ? Its not true is it ?

’In work’, usually part time work where they could increase their hours but a hefty top up suits them better 🤷🏼‍♀️

@ MadameMatisse It is not misleading GRB and SERPS and basic are part of the state pension I have his new tax code letter from HMRC that clearly shows the amount he is getting as STATE PENSION and I think HMRC would know

When the state pension was introduced it was calculated that most working people would either

a) never reach retirement age

or
b) die shortly after retirement

so their contributions went back into the pot.

Better health care , better living conditions, better working conditions etc scuppered that actuarial dream which is why as life expectancy has increased and evened out across most of the population the pensionable age has been increased.

If you contracted out, it will be because you paid into another pension. So check on that before worrying.

Thank you for explaining @Plumpciousness. You confirmed what I thought!

Blame the system then. If you are in a shitty NMW job, why would you work 40 hours a week when you could do 16 hours and get topped up? Unless you really love your job, I can't see anyone doing that.

I had exactly the same panic before Christmas. They have actually changed the web site to explain that because I was contracted out of surps with my company pension, I got better tax breaks on that. So the state pension I will get reflects that my own pension was improved.
Therefore it's fair for everyone. Both Labour and Tory woulda have supported this

@Littlefaeries is the April deadline for you because of your age or for everyone who was contracted out?

I think my DH was contracted out at one point so will need to let him know he needs to check his contributions

Because your paying for someone else's pension/benefits otherwise there wouldn't be enough money........ At least that's how I understand it🤔🤷

I honestly would love to know how all these workshy pisstakers get away with it? What do people think they do to get their benefits for life that stop them for ever paying in to the system? Because my (and every other person I know who's had the misfortune) experience is that it's just awful - degrading, depressing and stressful, trying to convince people you are genuine, having to reveal way more personal info than you should to colleagues/neighbours etc and constantly having to justify yourself. Why is it we don't trust our doctors? Are they idiots? Sanctions are given if you don't evidence your work search or miss appointments, or don't work the number of hours you are capable of. As I said upthread, way more get turned down for esa & pip and have to appeal - disability charities are constantly having to fight this process for very genuine cases. I'm honestly 🤷‍♀️at how anyone can think it's easy to play the system.

Hang on a sec ….thought you could only pay back for last 6 years.

Have you got the last 6 years missing /not full NI?
If you have, haven’t they made a mistake?

This is something Martin Lewis has been talking about recently.

Here’s the link:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2023/02/martin-lewis-urgent-state-pension-boost/

@silverclock222

MamaCanYouBuyMeABanana
Long term unemployed by choice and gets benefits?

It doesn't work like that.

"It really does you know. Sadly I'm too late to have it work for me - can't even get pip because I've only got cancer and a couple of autoimmune diseases."

Can you not see the irony in you benefit bashing and then feeling disappointed that you can't get pip? It's attitudes like yours that have made getting pip so difficult.

@BrightPurple because the state pension is not a pension it is a benefit.

The money you pay now is being spent on the pensions of the current retired generation. Your entitlement to a state pension is not based on how much NI you pay but how long you pay NI for. You need 35 years of contributions in order to get the full amount.

If you've been contracted out of the state pension, I believe it means that you've been paying lower national insurance contributions because you've been paying into an occupational pension scheme.

It doesn't work like that?

Maybe not in theory, but in practice it does.

I've known of a number of people who are nowhere near being some kind of evil geniuses who keep gaming the system to no end.

And of others in genuine need who are ignored or being fobbed off.

Yes, the system is broken. Thanks to Labour as much as to Tories.

You couldn't contract out of the basic statr pesnion. There was something called SERPs that was an additional state pension related to earnings.

Many people with good occupational pensions could vontract out of that and either - pay lower NI or pay the NI that would have gone to SERPs to.their occupational pensions.

You haven't missed out - you either got the money when you were earning OR it is in your occupational pension.

35 years only applies to those who started paying NI in 2016+ - it’s irrelevant for anyone else.
If you were a SAHM or earning under the LEL for a time then Child benefit would have given you NI credits.
You’ve either got time to make up the years or you can pay

www.gov.uk/contracted-out
I’m no expert but my basic understanding is as follows:
the current state pension is a new system. When you were contracted out you were contracted out of SERPS (State Earnings Related Pension Scheme) as you were in an occupational pension scheme. You would have had a reduced level of NI deductions taken from your monthly salary

You would still be getting the ‘old age pension’. Now that he state pension has a higher and lower level. I think the lower level is still the equivalent of what we used to refer to as the ‘old age pension’. You haven’t lost out but you can pay in for make up for your reduced NI contributions.

I started paying NI in 1981 and the 35 years certainly applies to me and everyone I know of my age

If you were contracted out why should you receive a higher state pension than those who paid the full NI contribution ?

The 35 years qualification is for people who have retired or will retire after 2016, not people who only started paying NI after 2016.

35 years ONLY applies after 2016.
Everyone else is under transitional rules and it could take 40 or even 50 years worth of contributions, depending on being contracted out.

My mum’s been on some sort of benefits since 1989 due to severe and enduring mental illness. She’s now got early onset dementia and is very slowly dying in a nursing home before she’s 60 . She’ll never see her pension. She never had a proper holiday . Could never afford food without worrying about it . Could never afford nice clothes . Could never keep the heating on . We never went on days out or weekends away .

But I’m glad you think that she’s had everything for cheap or free .

If state pension is £185 week how does your husband get £320 a week? Is the extra a private pension?