Voluntary NI payments from student days

[BothOfUs]

Would it be worth it to make voluntary national insurance payments from uni days (when I only worked in the holidays, so didn't make a "full" contribution, or not at all during PhD)? Last chance to pay them this year and looking at a potential divorce ahead, so wanting to make the future as secure as possible. Would making up another 6 years of full payments be worth it?

How old are you now ?

40ish.

How many qualifying years have you got at the moment? If you continue working to say 60, will you have 30 years contributions?

Yes, I will.

It's too late.
Look up your national insurance record. I think it's 7 or 11 years or something then after that you can't make it up.

However seeing as noone tells you this at university or upon graduating and we find it out 20 years later, it's not much good!
Really pissed me off when I found out. And apparently everyone else knew. Jeez guys thanks for telling me.

It's not too late for the period that covers my PhD, but I'd need to pay it before next April (when they are reducing it to 6 years to top up). It'd be a sizable chunk of money and not sure if it is worth it?

Right I need to work this out. I read an article a while ago which concluded it wasn’t worth it but I anted to check it again. It was by someone like Steven Webb or Martin Lewis.

im mid 40s and for various reasons low on qualifying years - but would get them all if I work to 60. But I don’t want to feel compelled to work to 60. I think that There is. Point at which it’s a bit of a punt?

I'm also missing contributions from my student years (many years ago). I remember getting a letter about it at the time, and decided not to bother as I expect to get 30 years of contributions in well before retirement age.

I've been looking at this recently - this is the MoneySavingExpert guide which might be what you're thinking of, @Edinburghmusing

I also posted on the MSE forum for some very useful advice. This is for my DH, who is too ill to work, so him returning to the workforce is not realistic. He can still buy a part year from when our ds turned 12, and the most recent tax year is always cheaper than earlier ones, so I am going to buy both of those.

However, it would appear to be a massive pain in the arse to buy previous years. You are very strongly advised to contact the Future Pensions Centre first, and I'm hoping that at the end of that consultation they might explain how on earth you get the reference number from HMRC to be able to make the payments, as the only publicly available information suggests you phone a very general helpline, and thus presumably queue and queue and queue trying to get through.

This is what I'll be doing in January, so wish me luck!

Oh thanks @tribpot

It's 35 years' contributions you need, I think, not 30. Because I remember thinking I had 8 left at the end of last tax year.

I'm 46, so didn't bother topping up my missing 3 years (and they were only open to me to top up until April just gone, or two were, one had already gone past that).

@BothOfUs and @fnfnf - you need 35 years of NI contributions to get the full State pension now and I believe that you can only backdate for six years.

I lived overseas for 24 years but I did pay voluntary ‘stamps’ for all of those years and have now 35 years of NI payments to get the full State pension when I’m 67. I did stop working and was a stay at home mum for 3 tax years (in England) and received NI credits towards my pension because I was having Child Benefits in my name (it was called “Home Responsibilities Protection”

Yes, 35 years not 30.

You need 35 years contributions but you can get them in other ways from most situations where you aren't working - caring for a child under 12, caring for a disabled relative, being on UC or ESA. I've got 25 years of full contributions and most of that time I've not been in f/t work. Most people with a PhD would surely expect to be working for at least 35 years after that - it would only take you up to the age of about 60. Even if you don't want to work f/t until 60, you could drop to very part time hours as you only need to earn about £123pw (amount increases every year) to get your NI stamp paid.

Start by getting the basic pensions check www.gov.uk/check-state-pension This will inform you whether you have sufficient time to achieve 35 years of full credit. Note: If you were ever contracted out you may need more than 35 years and the check will advise accordingly.

Have a look at the cost for each year, if you earned anything in a particular year you may find that year is cheaper to top up. Note: You don’t have to buy all the years you missed, you can pick and choose.

As pp said then talk to the Future Pensions Team.