Pension question: working after retirement age

[PrincessOlga]

My expected retirement age is 67, but I imagine it could be raised before I reach that age. I wanted to ask: if you reach retirement age and you have not quite reached "35 years of contributions", are you allowed to keep on working UNTIL you get 35 years?

In my case, I think this would be worth my while. I just wanted to ask if this is allowed, in principle, before I start to weigh it up?

You can defer State Pension. You can also buy missing years. Contact the Future Pension Centre. https://www.gov.uk/future-pension-centre

Check your pension forecast online to see how many years you need as it could be more or less than 35 years.

Op, definitely consider 'buying' any years you are short. It is good value and is an option that may be removed in the future.

Our uni has abolished the retirement age for all staff other than teaching staff. Teaching staff is 69 now, was 67. When I first started working in academic libraries it was not uncommon for longer serving members of admin staff to have completed the max in the uni pension scheme, 40 years. Had I not gone part time some years ago, I could have achieved this in my pension scheme by my mid 60s

You can work for as long as you wish, as long as your employer lets you. My Waitrose food delivery driver is 75! Lots and lots of people continue to work, at least part-time past the official retirement age. If you need the extra years for full pension entitlement, it's worth it.

The other way to get NI is to not work and claim benefits, but you may not be entitled.

I believe that people over State Pension Age don't currently pay NI, so if your only reason for working beyond that age is to increase your NI record to maximise your state pension, that wouldn't work. (Of course this may change in the coming Budget, or in future budgets... who knows...)

As others have said, the best thing to do would be to log onto the Government Gateway, look at your projected pension and see if there are any years where you don't have a full NI record. You may be able to pay in a small amount to bring those years up to full, without having to work extra years. There is info on the website explaining how to do that.

Also, don't assume you need 35 years - for some it's more and for some it's less, depending on age and whether you were contracted out in the past. So always make your decisions based on your individual information on the Govt Gateway.

First thing how old are you OP and second thing had you started to pay NI contributions before 2016. If so it is not as clear cut as 35 years you may need more or less depending on whether you ever contracted out. Start by going on to the government gateway to find out how many years you have and it will.tell you how many more you need.