To ask how many NI years of contribution you’ve missed?

[HedgeRin]

Conversation here between women- our theory is most women have missed a lot for various reasons. We don’t know anyone who actually made the full amount.

Im the lowest missed. So far three (all years of mixed studying and work, end of school, end of degree, end of masters). Overall I’ll go on to miss more in the future after the children turn 16 I reckon.

Friend one has 6 years earning under the limit.

My mum has missed 7 for various reasons

Friend two, self employed doesn’t want to check, but reckons it isn’t positive

So you'll have presumably been in a job where you were paying into a pension and had part of your NI deduction added to your employer pension contribution. So your state pension is reduced a bit but the NI that would have increased your state pension has gone towards funding a separate private pension - which has hopefully performed better and is more flexible than the old SERPS scheme.

Just three years when I was at Uni. If I was a man I’d have those missing too though?

Just about to pay my last two months' class 3 contributions then I'm fully paid up. But I started monitoring and planning years ago.

Just be careful to check that you will in fact be able to top up later this year if that’s what you’re planning. The usual rule is that you can only go back 6 years to top up missing years, but until 5th April this year you can top up missing years all the way back to 2006. After that the 6 year rule applies. So if your missing years are pre 2017 you have to top them up in the next month or you’ll lose the right to do that.

If you make 6 years of full contributions, and assuming none of your years were 'contracted out', then (under current rules) you qualify for full state pension when you get to pension age, whatever that is when you get there.

Correct. I did four years at Uni so four year gap. DH has a five year gap for a three year course but was unemployed before and after uni. I got a job a couple of months before him then, so he might have contributed too little that year.

I'd so love to be given the job of changing the gov.uk website to explain this all properly.

I meant (depending when you went) that even if you didn't pay NI (due to low pay), you might have been paid more than the threshold for NI and therefore received credit for those years. It's also possible to get the credits via child benefit, if you had kids during university.
Both unlikely but possible.

No need for that. If @WingingIt101 is working and expects to work and pay NI for 18 years out of the next 33 then there's no need to even consider making extra payments.

I'm 43 and have got all 28 years with 0 missed. I was expecting some missing as I was self employed for 7 years.

It's not at all hard to understand. They actually tell you how many years you personally have and need to get the full amount..

I've got 28 years of full payments but still have another 9 to do!

I'm fully paid up, let uni at 21 but worked during A levels and whilst at uni. Took just work provided mat leave and as full pay, paid NI. Even through >10 years of self employment I've paid NI.

Anyone who's a carer can get NI covered I think. Moneysavingexpert has the best advice imo.

Noone should miss out on pension because they are a care giver....

I retired early and am two years short of 35 full years. I’ll buy them closer to my retirement age. There’s no advantage in paying too far in advance.

I think you only have until the end of March this year.

I've just gone in to look and can't access my contributions, nor see anywhere to pay for the last lot... have you lot broken it?!

It's obviously explained well enough that you and I can understand it.

Speaking as someone who's always been called on by my entire circle of friends and family to explain things they don't understand I can assure you that very few people understand the information about state pensions on the gov.uk website.

If you doubt that then this thread proves it.

It depends when the missing years are from. I assume if the OP has retired early then payments can be made to cover very recent years.

Also the 33 to go means 33 years to state pension age, you don’t need to contribute 33 more years. If you have 17 complete then you need another 18 years to get you to 35 full years, which on current rules gives you the maximum state pension.

I think you only have until the end of March this year.

That seems to be a common misconception. The March deadline only applies to contributions missed between April 2006 and April 2016.

”You have until 5 April 2023 to pay voluntary contributions to make up for gaps between tax years April 2006 and April 2016 if you're eligible. After 5 April 2023 you'll only be able to pay for voluntary contributions for the past 6 years.”

www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/deadlines#:~:text=You%20have%20until%205%20April%202023%20to%20pay%20voluntary%20contributions,for%20the%20past%206%20years.

Ignore the gobbledygook. It is a failed link to the gov website.

The correct link…

Voluntary National Insurance

None. Plenty of years to go yet though.

That’s why I said ‘if you’re planning to top up’. I agree it might not be worth her bothering seeing as she has 33 years to contribute the 17 more she needs to reach the 35 years needed for a full state pension. However, she might might be planning to move abroad for a few years, study and not work for a few years etc, in which case it might be worth topping up now just in case, especially the year where she only needs to pay £15 to make it a full qualifying year, as even if she ultimately doesn’t need that year it’s only a small amount extra paid out.

4 years when I was FT at uni

Whatever. It is hard to get everything over in a quick reply I suppose. But your reply did suggest that she needed to do something, rather than she probably didn't.

It's no problem though and the exchange has probably outlined some of the logic steps for anyone who was a bit unsure.