Page 16 | To be shocked if this is true . State pension and benefits …?

Springtimesoo · 2023-03-01T15:22:34+00:00

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 ?

ancientgran · 01/03/2023 22:50

Mossstitch · 01/03/2023 18:10

I don't think it's so much not understanding but more that we weren't told, or it was not clearly communicated to us, which is much the same as the complaint of the waspi women (of which I am one). Now many might say it was our responsibility as adults to check it out but you would need some understanding to ask the questions. I consider myself to be reasonably intelligent, have a professional degree but when enrolled in the NHS pension scheme I definitely was not given any information about being contracted out of state pension. I only discovered that 13 years later when I decided to take my pension early🤷

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I think it is highly likely that when you started work you got a contract and information about the pension. If you didn't I can't understand why you wouldn't ask, what if your pension contributions were going to provide you with a penny a week on retirement, would you have joined?

I worked in local government for some years and I knew all about the pension scheme, how it was calculated, how much I would pay for it and that it was contracted out. I then found out what contracted out meant as I don't pay out money for something I don't understand.

Schnooze · 01/03/2023 22:51

IClaudine · 01/03/2023 22:46

The cope figure is not deducted from whatever your eventual state pension entitlement is. However most people who were contracted out will need more than 35 years of contributions to get the full £185. I think I need to pay 40, for example.

My cope figure is £19 something. Dh’s a lot more. So if mine is £19 and I’ve currently got 35 years. How many years will I need do you think? I’m trying to work out if I need to buy back a few years.

IClaudine · 01/03/2023 22:56

Schnooze · 01/03/2023 22:51

My cope figure is £19 something. Dh’s a lot more. So if mine is £19 and I’ve currently got 35 years. How many years will I need do you think? I’m trying to work out if I need to buy back a few years.

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What you need to do is get a pension forecast from HMRC. That will tell you exactly how much state pension you have built up so far and how many more years you need (and are able) to contribute to get the maximum amount.

www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

Schnooze · 01/03/2023 22:56

ancientgran · 01/03/2023 22:50

I think it is highly likely that when you started work you got a contract and information about the pension. If you didn't I can't understand why you wouldn't ask, what if your pension contributions were going to provide you with a penny a week on retirement, would you have joined?

I worked in local government for some years and I knew all about the pension scheme, how it was calculated, how much I would pay for it and that it was contracted out. I then found out what contracted out meant as I don't pay out money for something I don't understand.

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I was 21 at the time, newly graduated and pensions really weren’t on my radar. I just did what was recommended. I should imagine that a lot of people have been caught out purely by not realising, rather than through a lack of intelligence. It’s really not obvious when you check the forecast which i did several years ago.

Triflenot · 01/03/2023 22:57

SpudleyLass

Do you get NI credits for caring for your disabled child?

redspottedmug · 01/03/2023 22:58

Schnooze - the COPE figure is NOT deducted from your state pension. It is the government's estimate of what you can expect to get from your workplace pension as a result of being contracted out.

IClaudine · 01/03/2023 22:58

IClaudine · 01/03/2023 22:56

What you need to do is get a pension forecast from HMRC. That will tell you exactly how much state pension you have built up so far and how many more years you need (and are able) to contribute to get the maximum amount.

www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

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Sorry it is not HMRC but DWP.

Schnooze · 01/03/2023 22:59

IClaudine · 01/03/2023 22:56

What you need to do is get a pension forecast from HMRC. That will tell you exactly how much state pension you have built up so far and how many more years you need (and are able) to contribute to get the maximum amount.

www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

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I’ve done that, that’s where I got the £19 from when I scrolled down to the contracted out section.
Its really not clear. It didn’t tell me how many years above the 35 I need.

PoliticallylLost · 01/03/2023 23:00

Schnooze · 01/03/2023 22:56

I was 21 at the time, newly graduated and pensions really weren’t on my radar. I just did what was recommended. I should imagine that a lot of people have been caught out purely by not realising, rather than through a lack of intelligence. It’s really not obvious when you check the forecast which i did several years ago.

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You have not been “caught out” by being contracted out ( unless your occupational pension has gone tits up).

Schnooze · 01/03/2023 23:02

redspottedmug · 01/03/2023 22:58

Schnooze - the COPE figure is NOT deducted from your state pension. It is the government's estimate of what you can expect to get from your workplace pension as a result of being contracted out.

But you get a reduced state pension because of it as the op says, so in effect it is deducted surely.

IClaudine · 01/03/2023 23:03

Schnooze · 01/03/2023 22:59

I’ve done that, that’s where I got the £19 from when I scrolled down to the contracted out section.
Its really not clear. It didn’t tell me how many years above the 35 I need.

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Mine says quite clearly how many more years I need to contribute, if yours does not mention that then maybe you have enough already to get full ampunt?

As pp said, the cope is paid as part of tour workplace pension. So say your workplace pension is £100 per week, that will include the cope.

IClaudine · 01/03/2023 23:04

Bloody typos, sorry.

PoliticallylLost · 01/03/2023 23:04

Schnooze · 01/03/2023 23:02

But you get a reduced state pension because of it as the op says, so in effect it is deducted surely.

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No you don’t. You just don’t get the additional element. You get the basic state pension

Triflenot · 01/03/2023 23:06

Are you looking at the Gov.UK website?
It should say very clearly what you need to do.

Schnooze · 01/03/2023 23:08

PoliticallylLost · 01/03/2023 23:00

You have not been “caught out” by being contracted out ( unless your occupational pension has gone tits up).

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No I appreciate in real terms you are in the same position, but when you believe that your private pension is addition to a full state pension, it feels like you have been caught out.
Between us I’ve just discovered today we will be £300 per month worse off than we expected - I do appreciate that it was just invested a different way. It’s just we won’t have as much income in retirement as we originally thought, unless it appears we continue working and get more than the 35 years. Doable in my case as my cope figure is much much lower than dh’s. I don’t think he will have the time to make up his shortfall.

PoliticallylLost · 01/03/2023 23:12

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IClaudine · 01/03/2023 23:12

How much state pension did you think you were going to get Schnooze? You will get the full £185 if you pay enough contributions. How old are you? Are you still working?

Schnooze · 01/03/2023 23:24

I thought I’d get the £185 for my 35 years full contribution but my cope figure is £19 so I’ll need more years. I’m 56 and am hoping to retire at 60. I’ll probably manage to get enough years ,especially if I buy back a year or two I’ve missed recently.
Dh otoh, has a cope figure of £51 per week and hasn’t missed any years since 2006 so he can’t buy any back and won’t be able to make up that in the next 4 years. As he’ll have 39 years max.

may include a deduction according to this from the gov website.

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

PoliticallylLost · 01/03/2023 23:27

Checking my details. I have 34 qualifying years, but I was contracted out for at least 13 years. I will get the full state pension of £185.15 if I contribute one more year before SPA. So I think those women who currently are not on track to qualify for full pension are probably short of qualifying years and perhaps closer to SPA than I am, rather than the impact of being contracted out. The govt gateway isn’t working right now (probably because of all the mumsnetters trying to check their qualifying years) so I can’t double check but I took a screenshot and I am definitely on track for £185

Schnooze · 01/03/2023 23:32

Politicallycorrect.

Thats what I thought when I’ve checked previously. It says I have 35 years and am on track for the £185. It’s only today that I’ve learned you need to scroll down to the contracted out section to find your cope figure. This will apparently impact what you get, unless you earn more than the 35 years. In effect a deduction as my last screenshot shows.

Unless I’m wrong which I’m still hoping I am.

PoliticallylLost · 01/03/2023 23:33

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Schnooze · 01/03/2023 23:33

Sorry politicallyllost

redspottedmug · 01/03/2023 23:34

I've always been in LGPS, so contracted out pre-2016. I've got 37 full years and have qualified for £185 at SPA. I think the Child Benefit has counted for the years I didn't work when the DC were little.

IClaudine · 01/03/2023 23:37

Schnooze · 01/03/2023 23:24

I thought I’d get the £185 for my 35 years full contribution but my cope figure is £19 so I’ll need more years. I’m 56 and am hoping to retire at 60. I’ll probably manage to get enough years ,especially if I buy back a year or two I’ve missed recently.
Dh otoh, has a cope figure of £51 per week and hasn’t missed any years since 2006 so he can’t buy any back and won’t be able to make up that in the next 4 years. As he’ll have 39 years max.

may include a deduction according to this from the gov website.

Yes, your starting amount at the date of the changeover in 2016 would have had a deduction because you contracted out. But nothing is deducted from what ever you final state pension amount is.

As I said, your forecast should say what your current entitlement is and how many more years you need to contribute to get the full amount. I am a little bit older than you, was contracted out from age 21and have got to pay roughly another three years NI to get the full £185.

redspottedmug · 01/03/2023 23:37

Sorry, forgot to add that I have a significant COPE figure, but that is part of my LGPS pension. It's not a deduction. from the £185.

The website IS a confusing though.

Schnooze, do you want to post a screenshot of your forecast?