NI top ups- any advice/thoughts?

[soulrunner]

I’ve been living outside the uk for 11 years and we will probably stay 4 more and then move back to the UK. During that time I’ve been working FT but not paying NI as not required. I’ve got another 24 years to state retirement age so roughly 20 years left when I get back to UK.

I checked my NI/pension status today and I need another 19 years of NI contributions to qualify for full state pension ( paid 17 years to date). I can sort 6 of those by paying 6x£780 of back contributions now and then pay each year for another four, so when I move back to uk I’d only need another 9.

On the face of it this seems sensible because if I don’t, when I get back I’ll have to contribute in 19 of 20 possible years. I probably would be working but obviously there are no guarantees. However, if I do work those 20 years I’ll pay more than I theoretically have to ( ie I didn’t need to pay the ‘back years’).

Has anyone thought this through before? Am I missing something in terms of what I need to consider?

Longevity runs in the family in case that’s relevant :-)

I've been outside of the UK for four years and am paying voluntary NIC @ less than 200 GBP per year. I think of it terms of what I need provision for if/when I return to the UK, rather in terms of working longer than retirement age and therefore 'overpaying'. For me, it's a sum of money that's worth spending, to get an helpful outcome if or when the time comes.

Not really answering your question, I know!

That's helpful- thanks. I think I'll give them a call next week. I was all set to cough up and then there was a paragraph about "talk to your financial advisor to see if this is in your interests" so then I thought I might be missing some big consideration.

I recall it took quite a lot of back and forth (telephone and post) to get it set up, and I missed the first year, but now get the reminder each April/May.

How can you check your NI/pension status?

You can check here www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record

Thank you @chatwoo
That was very helpful