Retirement age and NI

[Greyandwhitecat]

If the state retirement age rises as it no doubt will at some point, is the number of NI contributions needed for a full state pension likely to rise too, or will I have more time to get my 35 years?

Following, I have another two years to contribute, but I believe I won't get anything for having a child now as the youngest is 12. I'm retired so I need to keep tabs on it as I'll need to pay myself for the extra two years. And if they move the goalposts as you suggest I hope we will get some sort of reminder!

The years of NI contributions has actually dropped then gone back up.

From my personal recollection in the 1980s for the basic state pension it was 9/10ths of 44 years for women and 49 years for men. So 39 and 44 years respectively, but for men aged 60+ they automatically got credits to harmonise with women’s pension so it was effectively 39 years.

In 2010, for the basic state pension it was reduced to 30 years for everyone.

In 2016 the new state pension was introduced increasing the criteria to 35 years. There is a transition calculation for those who were contracted out prior to 2016.

Since 2014 the government is required to regularly review state pension age. Reviews in 2017 and 2023 looked at whether the proposed timelines for increasing in pension age are still appropriate. I would expect any review into the number of years NI required to be part of these reviews. No one can predict if the eligibility criteria will change in future years.

Sorry that’s a long winded way of saying no one knows.

Thanks @Premiumbondbaby. Guess there’s no point trying to predict what will happen then

@DiscoBeat I rely on the Martin Lewis podcast to keep abreast of changes or I honestly wouldn’t have a clue!

I'm getting increasingly worried about all this. For once I wish we were more like the French!

As I of those women that has missed out due to pension age going from 60 to 67 you would hope they won’t increase retirement age for women any time soon.

@Mindymomo any change in state pension age will impact both sexes equally.

Raising the state pension age for women from 60 to 65 was to remove the sex discrimination of men having to wait 5 years extra. This was an obvious change that had to occur with the 1976 Sex Discrimination Act. The 1995 Pension Act included this change with the first women impacted 25 years later when they reached age 60 in 2010. I always considered this to be a fair change given the length of notice.

The 2011 decision to speed up the transition was unfair as it gave far less notice and so had a much greater impact.

Unlikely but please be aware the number of years required for a full SP varies if you were working before 2016 and / or if you have been contracted out at any time (usually because you have a DB pension).
You have to log on and get a individual forecast of how many more years contributions are needed for a full SP.

@Chewbecca its not unlikely, a lot of people are impacted by the change in 2016. Most public sector jobs were contracted out and may need more than 35 years NI contributions for a full pension.

Unlikely is in answer to:
is the number of NI contributions needed for a full state pension likely to rise too

@Chewbecca sorry misread your response.