To ask how many National Insurance credits you have?

[CatteryCatz]

I’ve just turned 29 and I have 7 National Insurance credits (full years).

I thought it seemed quite bad, but I worked part time at uni, but didn’t meet the threshold for credits for those years. All of my years are full since then.

It’s a shame that National Insurance credits aren’t given when at uni/college.

I’m 38 and have 20 years.

I’m 55 and need one more year before I qualify for the full state pension. I didn’t qualify during the 4 years I was at uni (despite having a part time job in term time and working full time+ in multiple jobs every single holiday - Christmas, Easter, summer, the lot!). I also lived (and worked) in Hong Kong for 3 years so didn’t qualify for 2 of those years (must have paid enough NI in the year I first moved at it was part way through the financial year).

31 years with 3 not full (total 34 years) I’m 50 and have reached the full amount but iba will be paying for a minimum of 17 years more if nothing changes before then.

You may well still have been contracted out. Your state pension forecast will tell you how much you are due to receive and whether you can improve the forecast or not. It should show how much you have built up so far and what your maximum will be along with how many years you need to contribute to achieve this.

For Rainbow

Not sure what your point is. I have clearly stated several times now that the 35 years needed is only a guarantee for everyone starting their record from 2016. I have also stated several times that by coincidence there will be SOME people who started paying before 2016 who will need exactly 35 years. There will be others who need as few as 29 and others still who will need as many as 49. Not sure what you think posting your own personal forecast will so to change those facts. Your own personal forecast has absolutely no bearing on any other individual's circumstances.

I’m 50 & have full years so far. DH made me check after the Martin Lewis special about it a few months ago!

i was contracted out and need 42 years to get a full state pension. I will have to either pay to make up a year which is likely to be missing by retirement age, or claim the credit by looking after grandchildren (assuming daughter doesn’t need the credit herself).

Full credit, and still paying NI as working full time, 59 and have worked full time since 18. Tried to persuade my brother to pay his missing years as he's a builder so self employed and a little lapse in his personal finances.....fallen on deaf ears....

I have 32 full years. I worked whist I was at uni but not enough to fill a year so I paid them up voluntarily once I was working full time. One of my years was only short £8 so it wasn’t expensive.

They have removed credits for the years you’re at sixth form. I got credits for the years I was in sixth form and neither of my DC have those credits, which I think is shit, particularly since it’s mandatory to be in education or training or whatever until you’re 18. Just a bit more pocket picking by the government.

I have 26 years of contributions, my Government Gateway account says I need 5 more years to get the full pension. I started contributing pre-2016.

It doesn’t mean too much as i’ll need to keep working another 20 years at least!

29 years contributions and 14 years off state pension age. I'll not be working full time beyond 60.

42 years and I have another 10 years til I get the state pension. Credited from when I was 15 (1983) though don't know why.

Re contracting out, my understanding was that your account was 'adjusted' to tell you how many more years you needed to reach the magic number, 35.

So DH was fully paid up with over 30 years in 2015, we moved abroad until 2019, and on our return he needed 6 more years to reach 35.

The system may have been updated to show different figures since but, at that point, it did revolve around the magic 35.

Thank you @rainbowunicorn (I’m actually usually fairly intelligent but pensions seem a mystery so that’s super helpful!). Turns out I need another 6 years which is 33. That should be doable as I’m going to be getting child benefit for that period and, in theory, working.

You learn a new thing every day. I need 33 years… but like you said, I will be working into the grave anyway but maybe I’ll be able to go part time or take a less stress job.

20 something. In my forties and worked holidays at university so often met the threshold. Although at the time it was very annoying because I still wasn't earning much annually, but especially when paid weekly it was easy to hit the threshold. Some years I didn't pay much, but they count. Kind of nice to tick them off, but also I assume I'll be working so long I'll easily make the required years. Let's just hope there's a state pension at the end of it.

I’m 58 and my Government Gateway informed me a couple of years ago that I had max NI credits and couldn't pay in anymore. It did used to be 30 qualifying years.

I am 45 and I have 30 full years. Mine states

"You cannot improve your forecast any further, unless you choose to put off claiming."

You’re almost certainly still better off putting extra into your workplace pension, regardless of whether the employer matches it or not. If you’re still young, growth on the funds should beat most alternative investments you could make with the additional money.

Do they offer you the opportunity to salary sacrifice your contributions? If they do, it’s likely to be worth opting in (caveat: I’m not a tax advisor, but it’s what we were advised at work).

YABU. You pay NI so you can have a pension. Pensions are a contribution based system. If you don’t think you will end end with sufficient years of contributions you can buy some.

37 full years credit,Aged 54

Assuming he's declared his s/e earnings properly, then he'd have paid NIC contributions as part of his self assessment tax return (unless his profits were really low, i.e. an unsustainable level of profits). However, if he's fiddled his taxes and done lots of undeclared cash in hand jobs, then he doesn't deserve state benefits!