National Insurance Contribution Shortfall

[AhhhhThatsBass]

Can anyway help with the following:
I had a year a few years back where I was at home with my DC. Didn't claim child benefit as husband earns over the £60k threshold. However I didn't realise that I should still have claimed as CB actually pays your NI contributions. (They don't make this clear but that's another thread).
I now have a shortfall in contributions for 1 tax year and when I logged into my account on the HMRC website I have this message:

Pay a voluntary contribution of £733.20 by 5 April 2023. This shortfall may increase after 5 April 2019.

My question is, why would it increase by 2019 and also, would my state pension really be much lower if I don't bother paying it? Is there any way of being able to tell?

Pay it. HMRC have already warned you that it may increase to pay the missing contributions. Of course it will affect your state pension. When you are elderly do you want to worry about money ? Now you are earning, pay it

You can check your state pension forecast online to see how many years contributions you need to make. It might be worth having a look first to see if you need to pay this missing year. As the PP said, you don't want to be worrying over your pension when you are retired.

You need 35 years of contributions for a full State pension. If you will have these by the time you reach 68 (or later assuming govt keeps extending retirement age) then there is no point making up a lost year. Also, I would enquire about whether you can amend your status retrospectively for the year you didn't claim CB.

The trouble is they never stop changing the goalposts. When I started work you needed 44 years contributions for your state pension(when most people started work at 16). Some years ago this was cut dramatically for some reason to 30 years. I had a small shortfall so paid it. When the new universal pension came in it went back up to 35 years so I now have a 5 year shortfall if I want a full state pension. I had already given up work when this rule change came in so if I want the full amount I will have to fund the missing years from savings.
I am also in the group of women who expected to retire on a state pension at 60, which was then changed to 65 and then again to 66 but that's for another thread!

Agreed fussy. That is why I would be reluctant to pay ££s to make up a lost year unless I were very close to State pension retirement age.

The Telegraph had an article which might help you to decide:
www.telegraph.co.uk/pensions-retirement/financial-planning/state-pension-top-up-pay-741-now-get-extra-5925-retire/