Pension muddle

[Joolly2]

I gave up full time teaching in 1978 to start a family and at the time you were able to draw out money you had paid into? teachers pension or national insurance/gov. pension. Can anyone remember which it would have been? I am in such a muddle trying to sort out my future pension.

There is a right with very small pension sums and always has been to draw out the whole pension i think at some stages. So are you saying you drew it all out so have no teacher pension left just your basic state pension for the years you made NI contributions?

LotusLight - When I was thinking about retiring I was told that I had 23 years service. I did actually work 4 more years before starting a family. So that would have been 27 years in total. I thought that the missing service was because I chose to withdraw my pension? I am now thinking about my state pension which I will receive next year. Will my state pension contributions also be 4 years down? I receive my pension in March next year so do not qualify for the new higher rate that starts in April.

I am not sure. I know that under the new system you will need 35 years of NI (I will have more) and that 10 of them can be at home caring for children which is counted but I do not know if that applies to those under the old system. I think it does. But that is just for the state pension, nothing to do with teacher's pension.

My mother got a teacher's pension (very small) when she reached state pension age from her teaching a long while before.

It sounds like you need to contact the teacher pension agency to ask them what you get for your 27 years of service.

What is "missing"? Are the teacher pension agency saying you have 24 not 27 years of service? If so can you prove you were teaching in the whole 27 years and contributing to the pension scheme in that period?

I don't think you would have got the higher rate even if you weren't due state pension til April as teachers pensions are 'contracted out' and this is reflected in the state pension that will be paid. Even if you withdrew your pension contributions when you started your family you would still have paid NI contributions. I think in the 1970's some people chose to pay smaller 'married women's' NI contributions and if you did that then it may affect the amount of state pension you get. You can go on the government website to ask for a record of your NI contributions and a state pension forecast.

Thank you both for your help. I am unfortunately getting more and more confused. I have never paid the married women's lower contribution, always the full amount. I have also been told that I will be credited for some years as I had child allowance. I do remember years ago I had a forecast which split the pension (state pension) into two parts - the basic and the additional contributions. I know nothing about 'contracted out', and was not aware that I might be. I get into such a panic thinking about money that my brain just shuts down. I obviously was not a maths teacher.

On "contracted out" I contracted out for a few years from the state pension i.e. my national insurance contributions when I was an employee went into a separate pension. So when I recently obtained my forecast for state pension it is less than those who did not. However I also have the contracted out pension with what was another provider - was scottish E originally. If I add the two together it's about what state pension is so contracting out does not seem to have done me any harm.

I suspect the teachers' pension scheme perhaps "contracted out" so some of your contributions went into that not the state pension and that might mean a lower state pension but higher teacher pension. i am not sure though as I don't have a teacher pension.

yes, up to 10 y ears staying at home with a child (something I never had) can count towards NI contributions.

I'm not an expert but if youve been working or receiving child benefit since the 1970s you should have a full NI record and get the full state pension. You will not lose out massively just by getting your pension a month before the new pension scheme comes into effect. The teacher's pension scheme is 'contracted out', teachers have paid lower NI contributions and this will be reflected in deductions from the 'starting amount' of the new state pension amount. It's all very complicated but it's very misleading when the new higher state pension is talked about as a lot of people, not just teachers, will grt money deducted from it because theiy have been in 'contracted out' work pension schemes. This will not affect you as you get your pension on the old scheme, but it might make you feel better that you are not missing out as much as you thought. On top of this you will get your teaching pension which is completely separate to the state pension and you should be able to get a forecast for this from the teachers pension scheme.

I got my state retirement forecast I applied for recently - I am a bit younger than this poster so in the new not old regime. I also get an annual statement from the provider I went to when I contracted out of SERPSs and I don't think UI've lost out. I think if I add what the pension will pay to my state pension it is pretty much what it would have been except I also get a small lump sum at age 67 or 65.

google BR19 and fill that in to find out what the state pension situation is.