Scared about lack of pension contributions. Is there anything I can do?

The first thing you need to do is create a Government Gateway account and find out what your pension situation is.

If you have children and were receiving Child Benefit, you will be credited for the years you were receiving it. You will also receive credits, if you were registered as unemployed, even if you didn't receive any benefits.

You have 16 years to pay National Insurance Contributions before you're eligible for state pension, so it's worth trying to get jobs which pay enough and/or to make up for any gaps you have in your pension contributions.

Citizens' Advice might be able to help you.

Begin by creating an account with Gov.uk and then you can easily look at your pension status/NI contributions year by year.

First check of these look correct to you - sometimes they are wrong.
Then look at what they say are missing years
If you had children you will be able to get credits for certain years

There is a very good Facebook page where you can look at replies to similar questions and could get a lot of help too.

Then there is the option to purchase your missing years.

Roughly, I calculated for each extra year I purchase, I get an additional £4 after tax per week (£5 before tax)

There is more to it than this, but these are some basics to get you started.

If your husband was a smoker or has medical conditions it may be worth him seeking advice of an IFA or similar with regard to his occup pensions - there may be possibility of an enhanced rate / opting for a higher widows rate in some circumstances.

Thanks for your answers, both.

No children, so no child benefit.
When I was unemployed, I did 'sign on', so hopefully there will be some contributions there.
I will set up an account on the Gov site and see what it says, although I'm not going to lie, I feel anxious doing it as then things become real.
The husband has no medical conditions and has never smoked.
I have mentioned my fears to him and he tells me that 'everything will be fine', well I'm worried as he's older than me and no, everything may not be fine...

Well, the first thing to do is create the account.

That part will be fine, and then you can see if it's worth worrying about.

Tackle it head on, bit by bit, like a project, and then you'll feel more in control.

I meant to say, you could always ask on here again once you know the state of play.

There are some very astute people on here who can steer you in the right direction.

Please go on to you house deeds as Tenanrs in common not joint tenants.

Totally agree about going on to Govt. Gateway to get an estimate. I'm not going into detail here as rules have changed at different times, but it is quite likely that you have a good many years' contributions.
You can buy up to a certain number of years' contributions, and they will give you those details. I have a relative who 'retired' early after working abroad, and was able to pay for extra years.
I also recommend the moneysavingexpert site for general information.
Good luck!

I think you can buy years. I know I did. I have forgotten what they are called, but I definitley did!

Go to this site. www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions It will answer many of your questions. From the look of it your pension situation is better than you fear.

If you are not working or signed on, arrange to pay voluntary contributions. It will be another 15 years before you reach retirement age and, whether you buy back missing years or just make voluntary monthly payments for the rest of your working life, you will be able to increase your pension significantly.

As Growstuff has pointed out, you have 16 years to sort this out and get your ducks in a row. But without wishing to intrude, is there a reason why this has only come home to you in your 50’s?
Perhaps you have recently married, but why is your name not on the deeds already?
Better late than never, but the main thing is to have the facts at your fingertips rather than worry “in the dark”

I think you can buy years. I know I did. I have forgotten what they are called, but I definitley did!

BlushingSheep

Could you not contact them & ask if you can pay what you have missed, maybe a lot maybe not ... saying that, about your husbands pension, check as I get my husbands, but not what he actually had when he retired

If you can manage to "buy in" the extra contribution years, then my advice is to DO IT! People I know who did this (I had enough paid-in years & didn't need to) have found it to have been well worthwhile, financially. You can research all this on the Gov.UK. website. Look in their menu for: "voluntary national insurance.

Most occupational pensions pay a proportion to a surviving spouse or named person on the death of the main beneficiary, so definitely check out the situation there. Women no longer get a share of their husband's state pension, as there is no longer a couple's pension but we all claim in our own right. This means that you are right to start to ensure that your contributions are up to date.

The good news is that you can backdate them for 6 years, and at 52 you have another 15 years before you can claim, so if you buy back the 6 years and pay in until you retire you will have 22 years plus whatever you have already.

Unfortunately, the system of means-testing means that depending on your circumstances, paying up might mean that you make yourself ineligible for pension credit (or whatever replaces it), which opens the door to numerous other benefits such as rent payments and council tax exemption. As I never tire of saying, means-testing (often disguised as 'targeting') works against those of modest means who try to save or otherwise secure their financial future. It is very difficult to predict what is the best course of action if you might find yourself on the boundary of such a benefit. As you can only buy back for 6 years, you don't have the option of waiting to see what position you are in when your pension becomes due.

I agree that you should take advice, but whatever happens you should be able to improve the situation you describe now. Good luck.

Thanks so much for all your advice everyone.

I have a feeling, but have yet to check, that I won't have enough income in future years to make enough voluntary payments as I earn very little currently and even then it's not regular.

I checked on the gov. website as suggested earlier in the thread, and it says I have:
17 years of full contributions
15 years to contribute before 5 April 2036
19 years when you did not contribute enough.

It tells me that, as of today, I would be getting £89 a week. If I continue to contribute then it goes up, obviously.

It tells me that I can make up the shortfall and bring myself up to date, typically about £650 a year, give or take. That's a lot!

MawtheMerrier

As Growstuff has pointed out, you have 16 years to sort this out and get your ducks in a row. But without wishing to intrude, is there a reason why this has only come home to you in your 50’s?
Perhaps you have recently married, but why is your name not on the deeds already?
Better late than never, but the main thing is to have the facts at your fingertips rather than worry “in the dark”

Both are excellent questions.

Really, in both cases, it's just me being lame and not thinking about the future enough.

In the case of the pension, it's really because the husband, who is older, is starting to think about his own retirement and it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't really given it much of a thought. I've never earned enough to be 'putting money by' or indeed to pay into a pension. I suppose I just thought it would just magically happen! I have lost both my parents very recently (Dad was 3 months ago) and I suppose that's made me realise I should really be thinking about my dotage.
As for the deeds, the house was my husband's when I moved in, and I'm not on the mortgage so I'd been assuming that was it. I'm in the will, so it would come to me. I've only very recently discovered that you don't have to be on the mortgage to be on the deeds.

I don't think I've been very good at adulting in my life, due to a few reasons, including MH, but mostly down to me being a bit pathetic.

£650 a year? Are you sure? With 32 years of contributions, you would receive approximately £650 13 times a year (ie every 4 weeks).

growstuff

£650 a year? Are you sure? With 32 years of contributions, you would receive approximately £650 13 times a year (ie every 4 weeks).

No, I mean that's how much it would cost me to bring myself up to date, back payments I would have to make. It'll cost me thousands.

You need 35 years contributions to get the new state pension. You have 17 years already and can still work for another 15 years so could have 32 years by the time you retire/are eligible. That means you need to pay additional contributions for three years.

I think when I got details of my years, it listed the years I had not paid enough and gave the amounts I needed to pay which were not the same as it depended on how much I’d actually worked during the year. My short years were because I went part time from age 57 to 60 when I retired early, I am now almost 66 so will be getting my pension next month. I did not pay any extra contributions as I already had the 35 years needed.

Didn't you pay into the Teachers Pension Scheme teacheranne? You won't get full pension for the years you contributed. I have a total of 47 years of contributions. I bought extra years because I didn't have 35 years when I hadn't been contributing to occupational pensions.

BlushingSheep

growstuff

£650 a year? Are you sure? With 32 years of contributions, you would receive approximately £650 13 times a year (ie every 4 weeks).

No, I mean that's how much it would cost me to bring myself up to date, back payments I would have to make. It'll cost me thousands.

You could set yourself up as self-employed and pay voluntary Class 2 contributions, which are £3.15 a week. It doesn't matter if you don't reach the threshold to pay the contributions because they'd be voluntary.

Meanwhile, you need to try and find a job which pays a minimum of £123 a week regularly.

growstuff

Didn't you pay into the Teachers Pension Scheme teacheranne? You won't get full pension for the years you contributed. I have a total of 47 years of contributions. I bought extra years because I didn't have 35 years when I hadn't been contributing to occupational pensions.

Yes I was a teacher and knew my NI contributions were less so bought extra years in my Teachers Pension when I began to earn a senior teachers salary. I only became a teacher when I was 40 ( I retrained ) so had full contributions from an earlier job and got my 35 years in. My SP is lower still but my Teachers Pension is enhanced!