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 ?

Its a tiny amount of people who this applies too.... focus on tax avoidance and loopholes that exist for people with money, they are huge, from CGT to little or no tax on investments, using a tax wrapper.

Do you really want to see pensioners begging, homeless or dying on the streets?

I was contracted out and i get that pension and the state pension, its not instead off.

I was contracted out but it says I'm on track to receive a full state pension as long as I pay another 5 years in the next 17 years before I retire as I currently have 33 years. Also says that I can't increase my pension by paying any extra.

So it seems strange that I can get a full state pension from 38 years contributions, but others have paid over 40 years and apparently cannot.

I hope what my Gov Gateway account is not misleading in some way. I do have a public sector pension as well but I don't know if this makes any difference

@Moonicorn I agree

There's a lot of misinformation on this thread.

If you were a SAHM for a number of years, that will be added to your pension years.

I had those years PLUS many years of employment. I was told many years before retirement age that I had my 35 years and would get the full pension.

But something did change as the OP has discovered because my pension was going to be something like £1K pa less than the full rate.

I found out yesterday (from an IFA) that the private pension I have paid into which I expected to be able to start claiming at 55, I now cannot start claiming until I am 57

There is now a rule that it cannot be more than 10 years earlier than your current state pension eligible age

Has screwed up my retirement planning somewhat...

Do you really want to see pensioners begging, homeless or dying on the streets

No but I think that I should get a full state pension as I have worked, in addition to my employer pension. Instead I'll be no better off in retirement than someone on benefits, probably worse off as they'll get housing allowance council tax reduction and god knows what else plus a full state pension.

I will get £0

I have no we’re near the amount of years I need to get it and I won’t even qualify for benefits/pension credits

I paid into a private pension but that was before they stopped companies using the pension pot to prop up failing companies or from managing directors buying yachts they could dive off of when things got too hairy.

So £0 from that

So I am working until I drop.

I was worrying that if I went abroad to live I would miss out on my pension and if I ever needed it I might regret going but as I don’t qualify for anything I have no reason to stay

Here's the Government page explaining it:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pension-fact-sheets/contracting-out-and-why-we-may-have-included-a-contracted-out-pension-equivalent-cope-amount-when-you-used-the-online-service

"that her adult son is depressed and needs to support him as his carer.."

That would only make any difference if he gets PIP.

If you were contracted out of the Second State Pension then that money would have gone somewhere - you may have a personal pension from back then - go check.

So it seems strange that I can get a full state pension from 38 years contributions, but others have paid over 40 years and apparently cannot.

It can depend on the level of NI contributions. I had over 35 years and thought I was fine, and had been told I was, which is why for a few years I only paid the minimum NI class due as self employed person.

I have no idea why, but it happened and I had to top up my contributions. It was worth it because £600 got me another £1K pa of pension.

So you either paid a lower rate of NI or if you paid the full rate some of it went to the pension scheme you were in. What you get on that pension will probably be more than you have lost on your state pension, obviously that depends on the private pension. Since 2016 people can't contract out so they don't get the benefit to their private pension.

I have 39 qualifying years and I won’t get a full pension either, according to my forecast. That may be due to being contracted out of SERPS.
If I EVER manage to get through to the future pensions service I will be able to find out if it can be increased by paying extra years. I am not sure I would pay though, as things might change again and I would be better off investing the money.
Someone who has been receiving benefits ALL of their life would not qualify for a pension. There have to be at least 10 paid years of contributions in order to get the minimum pension.

To those who say people on Benefits should get a reduced pension, why should they? It wouldn’t work, they’d need to claim a top up benefit so it would defeat the object.

I don’t get a full pension, I’m short by four years and I can’t top it up, too late. I retired before 2016 so don’t qualify for the New State pension, Im on the old rate. DH retired in 2016 so he gets the new rate plus his contracted out pension and some private ones.

In theory, the pension your NI credits went to invested them for you and they believed that would buy you more income later in life than you would get from the state pension for the same amount.

So, in theory, you get more.

In reality it depended very much on the scheme, the guarantees in that scheme, what they offered, when you could draw it, reductions etc.

And contracting out became inadvisable quite a few years ago now as those scheme rules changed and benefits reduced. The cost of the state pension is generally pretty good value. Though what you pay in today is not a savings fund (unlike occupational pensions currently and unlike the way other countries do it) but is paying the pensions currently in payment.

My record says I have 1 year missing &:

2007 to 2008 Year is not full 2007 to 2008 details
We are checking this year to see if it counts towards your pension. We’ll update your record when this is finished, you do not need to do anything.

But it's been saying that for weeks, & time is marching on...

@Plumpciousness Read the info on the previous screen, not in the COPE section - this clearly states the COPE estimate doesn't affect the forecast.

Mine says forecast is £185.15 and this cannot be improved. Underneath that, it has a clear section on how much I have accrued until 5 Apr 2022 (£143.60) and then how many more years I need to make contributions before 5 Apr 2039 (8) and what my forecast will be if I do that (£185.15, the max).

The ability to back pay closes on 5th April for matters relating to the 22-23 financial year. I'm not 67 until Jan 2040, any gaps on my record don't need to be plugged until 5 Apr 2039. So unless retirement is imminent, that deadline doesn't really matter - also you can backdate up to 6 years of gaps as long as it's all completed in the financial year end before you reach retirement age.

Sadly, yes it does work like that for some people. Totally agree with you OP but it's an unpopular view on MN.
Surprised the thread hasn't been shut down yet! That's usually what happens when anything like this gets discussed.

LGPS isn't opted out.

The pension changed, the "new" state pension is higher than the one it replaced so you don't get less than you would have on the old scheme, it is just that people who qualify for the "new" pension will get more than you.

Although I retired after 2016 I get the "old" pension because it works out better for me as I had a long period of work without a private pension so I get S2P on top of the old pension which takes me above the "new" pension.

I hope that makes sense, i.e. you get the better of the old or new pension. Don't know when that transition ends.

It is true. I’m 68 and so is my friend. She had 12 years off work while her child was young and has only worked part time since.

I’ve worked full time since age 17 apart from 4 years travelling/working abroad and I retired 2.5 years early. I’ve paid full contributions for over 40 years but I receive around £100 a month less than my friend.

No it’s not bloody fair.

For those who don’t know where their contracted pensions are, The Government website: www.gov.U.K. has a link to trace contracted out pension schemes.

That is incorrect. That law is proposed but not yet in place.

No pensions are contracted out, it ended in 2016. The LGPS was contracted out until 2016.

How old are you OP?