Unable to understand why I don’t get a full pension....

Also ... my birthday is on 1 April and I'm not allowed to make voluntary contributions for the five days until 5 April (end of the tax year). Therefore, my final (almost) year won't count. I had a long conversation with the Pensions Service about it.

sf101

Doodledog a qualifying year depends on the amount of NI paid in a tax year not that you have to work all that year. I retired at the end of July 2 years ago and that was enough to make it a qualifying year.

I don't think it works on the basis of how much you have paid, but on how many contributions you make.

I retired early, and my pension is due when I am 66. I work for a couple of months each year, and pay quite a lot of NI in those months, but they do not count towards a qualifying year, and I still need to pay a full year's voluntary contributions if I want to get a full pension when the time comes.

It is not at all straightforward, but the YouGove website shows exactly how many qualifying years we have, as well as how much NI was paid in each year we have worked.

sf101

Doodledog a qualifying year depends on the amount of NI paid in a tax year not that you have to work all that year. I retired at the end of July 2 years ago and that was enough to make it a qualifying year.

No, it doesn't.

I know that for a fact because I had 51 weeks of contributions one year. Although I had paid loads for those weeks, the year wouldn't have counted towards my pension, which is why I made a voluntary contribution to the plug the hole.

I agree with you Doodledog that it's highly unfair.

Some people have even paid over the minimum number of years (sometimes voluntarily) and receive no extra.

Doodledog a qualifying year depends on the amount of NI paid in a tax year not that you have to work all that year. I retired at the end of July 2 years ago and that was enough to make it a qualifying year.

It is very complicated and the major change in 2016 has made it even more confusing.
I took early retirement (still waiting for my State pension as only 64) and although I have 47 qualifying years, because I have not paid NI for a full 5 years after 2016 I will not get the full 'new' state pension. I am only short by 1 year so still a good pension plus my private one, and so it should be as they have stolen 6 years of it from me!!

Genty

Youll usually need at least 10 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to get any State Pension. You'll need 35 qualifying years to get the full new State Pension. You'll get a proportion of the new State Pension if you have between 10 and 35 qualifying years.

It's not as simple as that, although you are right about needing 'qualifying years'. The problem is that the tax year runs April to April, so if you start a job in, say, July, or leave in December it won't count as a qualifying year unless you go straight into another job without missing a payment. Women leaving work to have babies often fall foul of this one, as do people on term-time only contracts, who are usually women fitting around their school age children.

This is not made clear when people are working and in a position to do something about it. Most of us just go to work and accept what goes into the bank or is on our payslip. The implications should be more well known.

Annoyingly, those who do know the system can end up much better off than those who pay in for years. A friend of mine has not worked since her first child was born, and he is now 30. She got her NI paid whilst her children were younger (for well over 20 years, as she has three and the NI was paid until the youngest reaches the upper age limit). When they reached the cut-off age she started paying voluntary contributions, which are a small fraction of the payments made by those in work, so she has a full contributions record without ever working.

When she retires, she will have a full pension, unlike many people who have worked for decades but then found that some of their years don't count, or that they were contracted out by their employer.

What really annoys me is that it is people who can afford not to work who do well out of this. People who can't afford not to work end up having to subsidise those who can, as their contributions are used to plug the gaps by those who don't contribute. It's very unfair.

Just jumping in to remind any grandparents looking after grandchildren whilst a parent works can top up their NI gaps by claiming contributions for childcare.
It’s because the parent is paying NI through their job not the child benefit so it can be transferred
I’ve got 2 extra years contributed this way . No minimum number hours required just one form to fill in
I too have a projected shortfall as I was opted out due to being in a teachers pension scheme ( which does t pay much as much of my career was part time)
I’m 64 and get mine at 66 but am still 4 years short! Will hopefully be able to claim 2 more childcare years.
They can also be backdated.

[MOnica] The new state pension scheme is actually much more transparent.

Genty

Youll usually need at least 10 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to get any State Pension. You'll need 35 qualifying years to get the full new State Pension. You'll get a proportion of the new State Pension if you have between 10 and 35 qualifying years.

It depends which scheme you're on. The OP has 47 qualifying years.

Sarnia The people whom Martin Lewis refers to are actually a very small group. Without knowing all the OP's details, it sounds to me as though she's on the old pension scheme, but was expecting to receive the same amount as the people on the new scheme. You're right though. It's worth looking at Lewis' website. I did (because I'm always on the lookout for a way to increase my pension) but, unfortunately, I realised it wasn't going to help me.

The Pensions service is overly complicated and even when you manage to get through to speak to someone, it depends on how experienced that someone is because some of them are confused by the system. Martin Lewis from Money Supermarket mentioned on his recent programme that there are a lot of people, mostly ladies, who do not receive their full pension for various reasons. Steps are now being taken to rectify this and people can apply to the Pension Service to have their pension reviewed. Have a look at his website. It may be helpful.

My pension from when I worked in local government is deducted from my state pension! Also, it is paid every 4 weeks and not calendar monthly so that you will have 13 state pension payments per year.

So much wisdom on here I don’t think I’m going to bother phoning the state Pension helpline even when I can get through to it!! Thank you all again ?

Youll usually need at least 10 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to get any State Pension. You'll need 35 qualifying years to get the full new State Pension. You'll get a proportion of the new State Pension if you have between 10 and 35 qualifying years.

Shinamae The information given about pensions is very misleading. The weekly rate for someone on standard basic pension is often quoted, but the number of people who actually get exactly that amount is very small indeed. In fact no two pensions are the same and the fact that someone else is getting £700 every 4 weeks is no guide to how much you will get. Some people will get much more and many much less.

Over the years there have been so many extra contribution schemesschemes that have been added on and taken off, the only way to be really clear about how your pension is calculated is to look at the Annual Statement you receive, usually in the first quarter of the year, just before the April annual increase.

To give you an example, my state pension contains the following items

Basic State Pension: well below average because I did not work enough years
Graduated Retirement Benefit, an added payment, a bit like SERPS, paid on above average incomes between 1961 -75
Pre 1997 SERPS income based extra contributions required from 1978 less
Contracted -Out deduction because my employer took on responsibility for this part of my state pension. Stopped in 2012, for payments since that date
Post 1997 State Pension this pre 97, post 97 business is because I took early retirement and from 1997 made voluntary contributions only, which are quite low and only earn basic pension. However, I did go back to work for a year, and that earned me the extra Post 1997 pension.

If you consider how complex the make-up of my State Pension is and realise that most people's pensions contain most of these (and other) items you should now realise just how varied the amount of pension people receive is so variable. So even though your friend's pension is £700, does not mean yours should be the same.

Learnt something!!!!

And thanks to you too crazyH like most things it takes me time nowadays, though I've got there in the end

Artaylar, I think you've got use the square brackets (do t know what they're called )
-

thanks so much too Kate1949, wow you have to be quick on here to avoid crossed posts

thanks so much Marydoll, managed to work it out....wheeeee....

Crossed posts Marydoll

You need to use square brackets Artaylar

Wrong brackets Artaylar

[ ]