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

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MawtheMerrier

^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^

So not “homeless and destitute” as you feared?

!

growstuff

Maw I feel that you're being harsh. The OP has begun to take control and has asked for advice. It would appear that she's already acted on some of it by checking her current situation, which is a start. She now has decisions to make. Quite honestly, she'd be foolish to act without question based on some anonymous comments on the internet.

I don’t mean to sound harsh, but realistic.
OP is young enough and in good enough health - unlike many - to do something about it and many helpful suggestions have been given.
Wringing one’s hands and worrying about 15 years hence is not, as my mum would have said, going to get the baby bathed. There is no certainty that OP’s DH will predecease her, nobody knows what the future will bring, but I do know we only get one shot at this life and if we don’t make the best of it, we can’t be surprised by the outcome. It would be a different matter if OP was coming up to retirement age, or unable to work through ill health.
Another ‘Bon mot’ from my schooldays is “Fail to,prepare, prepare to fail”.

BlushingSheep

You don't have to explain yourself to other people here.

Just ignore, and take on board those who are helpful.

Giving this a go, just to illustrate what I'm looking at here.

Is that a screenshot of an online form you’ve completed?

BlushingSheep What you could do is sign on as unemployed. You won't actually receive Universal Credit because you'll have to declare your earnings and your household income is almost certainly too high. You'll have to go through a few hoops too. The huge advantage is that you'll be credited with NI contributions, which will count towards your pension (but not other benefits).

It might be useful to get yourself an appointment with Citizens' Advice, who can go through all your options with you.

Good on you for recognising there's a problem and starting to do something about it!

BlushingSheep

Giving this a go, just to illustrate what I'm looking at here.

That's what I would have expected.

To be honest, if money is tight, I wouldn't worry too much about the years you've missed. Try to ensure that from now on, you're earning above the threshold with regular work. You don't have to work full-time or even in a high paid job.

MawtheMerrier

growstuff

Maw I feel that you're being harsh. The OP has begun to take control and has asked for advice. It would appear that she's already acted on some of it by checking her current situation, which is a start. She now has decisions to make. Quite honestly, she'd be foolish to act without question based on some anonymous comments on the internet.

I don’t mean to sound harsh, but realistic.
OP is young enough and in good enough health - unlike many - to do something about it and many helpful suggestions have been given.
Wringing one’s hands and worrying about 15 years hence is not, as my mum would have said, going to get the baby bathed. There is no certainty that OP’s DH will predecease her, nobody knows what the future will bring, but I do know we only get one shot at this life and if we don’t make the best of it, we can’t be surprised by the outcome. It would be a different matter if OP was coming up to retirement age, or unable to work through ill health.
Another ‘Bon mot’ from my schooldays is “Fail to,prepare, prepare to fail”.

She's not wringing her hands. She's asking for help from people who might know more about the system than she does.

Germanshepherdsmum

Is that a screenshot of an online form you’ve completed?

It's the page from the pensions section of the Gov.uk website. It's telling me the amount of pension it focasts I'd be getting if nothing changes, based on contributions so far.
I'm not sure I've actually worded that very well, hope it makes sense.

From that screenshot it is clear that you are not going to get the full pension, even if you do pay back the years, so it is important that you do so now, in order to maximise the amount you can get.

With a mid-five-figure sum coming in, you have further options too; but pensions are complicated, so you really need specialist advice. It is almost always better to invest in a pension, because of the tax relief, but I don't know if this applies when you are not a taxpayer - that's the sort of thing an IFA could tell you.

@Doodledog
It's feeling like I should make up any shortfall, if I can, and bring myself up to date once this money comes in.
Also, I need to think seriously about my current situation and income and investigate other, more consistent, work. I don't want to, but I need to.
Ironically, I'll have to wait until the money comes in before I can afford to consult any sort of IFA. Citizen's Advice might be a good starting point, as I believe you mentioned.
I found it all too easy to be blasé about the whole thing as it was so far off, not something I should even have to worry about. Suddenly it's all got a bit serious.

growstuff

BlushingSheep What you could do is sign on as unemployed. You won't actually receive Universal Credit because you'll have to declare your earnings and your household income is almost certainly too high. You'll have to go through a few hoops too. The huge advantage is that you'll be credited with NI contributions, which will count towards your pension (but not other benefits).

It might be useful to get yourself an appointment with Citizens' Advice, who can go through all your options with you.

Good on you for recognising there's a problem and starting to do something about it!

One is credited with NI contributions just by signing on, whilst not receiving UC and choosing to continue to work under a zero hours contract which pay one below the NI threshold rather than take a job which pays above the threshold? Words fail me. I presume you think that’s equitable growstuff. I don’t.

NI is ‘supposed to’ cover healthcare as well as pensions OP, though of course it doesn’t cover the cost. I assume you’ve not had to use the NHS in all these years of not paying in, doing a job because you like the people and admitting that’s what you want to carry on doing. Not to mention not paying any tax.

Germanshepherdsmum

NI is ‘supposed to’ cover healthcare as well as pensions OP, though of course it doesn’t cover the cost. I assume you’ve not had to use the NHS in all these years of not paying in, doing a job because you like the people and admitting that’s what you want to carry on doing. Not to mention not paying any tax.

When I made a similar point to a different poster the other day, you accused me of being nasty.

Germanshepherdsmum

growstuff

BlushingSheep What you could do is sign on as unemployed. You won't actually receive Universal Credit because you'll have to declare your earnings and your household income is almost certainly too high. You'll have to go through a few hoops too. The huge advantage is that you'll be credited with NI contributions, which will count towards your pension (but not other benefits).

It might be useful to get yourself an appointment with Citizens' Advice, who can go through all your options with you.

Good on you for recognising there's a problem and starting to do something about it!

One is credited with NI contributions just by signing on, whilst not receiving UC and choosing to continue to work under a zero hours contract which pay one below the NI threshold rather than take a job which pays above the threshold? Words fail me. I presume you think that’s equitable growstuff. I don’t.

I didn't make any judgement, but that's how the system works.

PS. Did you get out of bed the wrong side this morning?

BlushingSheep one option is to telephone the NI contributions department I have always found them very helpful and willing to provide the best advice

I believe, Doodledog, that the poster in question had a well paid husband who paid quite enough to cover both. OP’s household income appears to be low.

Same side as usual growstuff. I simply wouldn’t point anyone in the direction of that easy option, especially someone who wants to continue a zero hours job rather than earn enough to pay tax and NI.

Teacheranne

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.

It isn’t true that we all have to pay in for 35 years. It depends on when you first started paying NI contributions. It’s different for all of us.

Germanshepherdsmum

I believe, Doodledog, that the poster in question had a well paid husband who paid quite enough to cover both. OP’s household income appears to be low.

So moral imperatives are dependent on income? Not in my world they aren’t.

Maria59

BlushingSheep one option is to telephone the NI contributions department I have always found them very helpful and willing to provide the best advice

Thank you. That's not an option I'd thought about but it makes perfect sense.

I feel really uncomfortable about some intrusive and judgemental questioning of the OP’s life and work history on this thread. Fortunately most people have responded with genuinely helpful advice.

You will not get advice about your options in a broader sense from those people, just about options for NI contributions.

GSM, I don’t find this far fetched.
I know it is not the same scenario, but I certainly did not consider long-term implications of being a stay at home mum or of paying married women’s stamp.
It was not until I was back in teaching and my school brought in an IFA to give us a talk and individual advice that I became aware of the reality of my situation. It sounds as though the OP ‘s employer has not offered that support. She has woken up and taken the initiative now.