How many National insurance contributions do you need?

i am not buying pre-2016 years, I am buying future ones to make up my pension to the full one when I eventually get it.

This might be helpful to anyone who, like me, gave up work before their state pension date in order to look after grandchildren while their parents work. You can claim Class 3 NI credits that help towards your state pension entitlement.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-insurance-credits-for-adults-who-care-for-a-child-under-12-fact-sheet/specified-adult-childcare-credits-fact-sheet

We needed 39 years as women and 44 years for men for a full pension. those of us who retired prior to the recent new rules are on the old rate which is a good deal less than the new rate. It doesn’t look like we will get parity.

You should only buy back years from 2016, that’s when the New Pension came in. People found that buying back additional years prior to the 2016 change did not mean any increase to their pension amount. I believe they will not let you buy those years now.

Best advice is obtain a pension forecast which will show you exactly what years you have of full contribution, any years you have been contracted out to give you an accurate picture of the years you can buy back up to your retirement year.

I also wrote to them to get them to confirm which years I could buy and the amount that was payable for each year.

My understanding is that it is 35 full qualifying years. I have a lot more than that, but some were contracted out, and I am buying those years back.

You can decide whether it's worth it to you by looking on the website at your personalised forecast (and do check your NI contributions record, as a lot of them are apparently wrong).

In my case, I would have been down by about £20 a week on a full state pension, but if I continue to buy the years back at a cost of about £900 a year, by the time I get my delayed State Pension I will get that £20 a week back. It's a gamble on how long you think you will live, and who knows if the pension age will move again, but I think it is worth it for me.

I agree Synchroswimmer that it is very galling to have to do this after paying in and paying tax for over 40 years, but what can you do? I sometimes wonder whether I did the right thing by working.

Also, note that Full Qualifying Years doesn't just apply to whether you are contracted out. The years run from April to March, so if you started working, or went back after maternity leave etc in, say, September (as many people in education would do) you lose that whole year, and if you leave work in February, you lose that year too.

Be careful not to make assumptions - check your own record, rather than make calculations based on what you think you have paid.

I thought it was 35. Surely 39 is enough.

As well as the online information, I also recommend writing to them, so you get a formal personalised answer in black and white to keep on file.

Despite 44 years full contributions in my case, some of mine was contracted out.

I got a detailed letter individual to my circumstances and following their calculations I have purchased 3 extra years.

(It’s still quietly galling to have to use a lump sum of savings, which were taxed at source, to buy extra years after working 44 years.....but I decided it will hopefully make economic sense.

The extra 6 year wait (due to the delay in pension age) - is also a significant period of time, when taken in context of the duration of our working lives...

It is a complicated system. You do lose out of you were contracted out but this is offset by any company pension scheme you may be in receipt of.

Gelisajams I do sympathise with any WASPI women who have lost out by having to work longer until they can receive state pension but those of us who were able to retire at 60 have been disadvantaged as well. For example the system of awarding National Insurance credits if you were caring for children and not working only started in 1975 and I was caring for my two children from 1966 until 1975 so I was never able to make up the lost 9 years of NI contributions. We also get a lower rate of pension than those retiring under the new system.

Thank you everyone. It’s certainly complicated and the explanation from HMRC didn’t help. The forecast says he has 39 full years but will get more if he pays more NI contributions. It’s something to do with the merging of the old and new systems. You need years of contributions after 2016
apparently to get the greatest entitlement but still not the full amount because of being contracted out.
I have lost out being a ‘waspi’ as well. I could get paranoid but I’ll see what money saving expert says. I didn’t think of Martin Lewis!

try this
www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

Tell me about it, I just tried to access mine and I've now been given yet another user i.d. H ow many i.d's does one person need. This is after I've given them my full Name, date of birth and national insurance no. along with previous Government gateway access code. so now they have 3 government gateway numbers for me. I then got a message to say they'll contact me in 2 days although didn't say how.

Very true FlexibleFriend it's now 35 years (up from 33), and it's yet another bl***y goalpost shift for some of us.

(sorry) by claiming Carer's Allowance. You may not be entitled to receive extra money - but your NI credits will add up.

If you are a carer, you also get credited with NI contributions. Therefore, it's worthwhile to make it official.

I think it's gov.gateway.co

There's a government web site you can go on, sorry I can't remember what it is exactly but if you put in your NI number you can see if you've paid in enough, and if not, how much more is required.

My understanding and I got a pension forecast last year is that you need 35 full qualifying years. I have the full 35 well 39 actually but will get a reduced pension due to being contracted out. That's fine because I get two private pensions.
The bit I didn't understand was they tried to get me to pay for extra years but when I pushed them to tell what I would receive they waffled on and I didn't get it. I did get a few extra's added on but it amounted to pence per month so was of little interest.
Go online and request a pension forecast.

As I understand it if you were in receipt of child benefit then you were credited NI contributions. Again as I understand it, a total of 42 years, including those credits.

Martin Lewis' Money Saving Expert had useful information on this when I was looking a couple of years ago and I ended up making up a couple of years of contributions to give me some extra pension.

It is more complicated for some but surely 39 years of full NI contributions is plenty.

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