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

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.

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!

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

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

BlushingSheep

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

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

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”.

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?

!

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When I was working, many years ago now, I only ever paid what was termed "housewives stamp". People told me that when I retired I wouldn`t be able to claim a state pension, but, stupidly, it didn`t bother me at the time. I left work at age 49, and when I got to 60, I didn`t put in a pension claim, remembering what I`d been told years before. When I was 73, my husband died, and I contacted the DWP to stop his pension payments. The lady asked about my pension, and I told her I wasn`t entitled to one, and why. She asked me to hold, and when she came back she said I`d been entitled to a pension from when my husband started to draw his, which was 7 years previously, so was entitled to either extra pension payments, or back pay. When I asked how much back pay, I thought I might not live long enough to get it back in weekly bits, so I took the lump sum and had some necessary jobs done on my house, e.g., new roof and guttering, new kitchen, and central heating, which I would never have been able to afford otherwise, especially as my husband didn`t leave any more than was needed to pay for his funeral.

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@Doodledog

Thank you. Yes, the mortgage should be paid off and/or settled by the insurance linked to it. I am probably panicking about nothing when it comes to the house.

I'm expecting a mid five-figure sum, not sure if that counts are large but it feels like a lot to me. There are a lot of things on the list to spend it on, all of which are because we're fairly poor on a month to month basis.
That said, some of it can certainly be used to catch me up to at the present day, as far as I'm allowed to by HMRC (the last 6 years I think) so it'll really depend when probate is dome with it all as to how soon I can do anything about it.

This feels a like a wake-up call really.

Germanshepherdsmum

So why have you gone through life in this way, and been on a zero hours contract for 13 years evidently paying no NI in all that time? As Maw has pointed out, you could do unskilled work in for instance a supermarket. I find it hard to believe you have just drifted through life on very low or no pay, and now at 52 suddenly realise you’re not going to get much of a pension. You’re not totally unskilled though - you can obviously use the internet and you seem able to string sentences together fairly well.

If you find it hard to believe, it would appear you haven't had much experience of or empathy for other people's lives.

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.

welbeck

can't your husband help pay the £54 a month.
your narrative sounds strange.

Possibly. I'll need to look into it.

It does.

can't your husband help pay the £54 a month.
your narrative sounds strange.

MawtheMerrier

I’m afraid you are going to have to take control of your working life and fortunately you have time to do that.
There is so much work available out there - not just in London and the SE that I cannot understand why you want to stay with a zero hours contract which pays so poorly. Retail and hospitality are literally crying out for staff.
To be blunt, while NI contributions do not directly pay each persons pension, if you don’t pay in, why should you expect to “take out” when it comes to retirement.
Why should you lose your home? If it is really too much for you on your own -if that day comes- you could downsize if necessary so panicking now will achieve nothing.
Get a job which pays better than what you have described- you can then buy back the “lost years” if you wish, or build up a financial cushion.
You do not say how much older than you your husband is and I assume he has life insurance so you need not be destitute should he predecease you.
So instead of running round in ever decreasing circles, I suggest you do something about it, get a full pension forecast, look at what work is available near you and take control of your life.

I know. I realise I have to get a grip. I'm feeling like that about many aspects of my life now. My parents recently having passed away has sort of pushed me into realising that I need to actually be an adult. As I've just replied to Germanshepherdsmum, I've had anxiety disorders and other MH issues and they have been stopping me from beliving in myself, and applying for better, or permanent, work. Not to mention other aspects of my life. Looking after myself has not been something that I've ever really done and now the birds are coming home to roost.
My husband is 10 years older than me. So not retiring yet, but starting to think about it.

Germanshepherdsmum

So why have you gone through life in this way, and been on a zero hours contract for 13 years evidently paying no NI in all that time? As Maw has pointed out, you could do unskilled work in for instance a supermarket. I find it hard to believe you have just drifted through life on very low or no pay, and now at 52 suddenly realise you’re not going to get much of a pension. You’re not totally unskilled though - you can obviously use the internet and you seem able to string sentences together fairly well.

I'm starting to feel that I'm having to defend my life here, but I'll give it a go nonetheless.

I moved to the town I live in, approx 13 years ago, and never really got settled in work. I started initially doing temp work, and then my current job came up. As mentioned above, I suffer from anxiety - a few MH issues actually, which means I have low self esteem and a lack of confidence in my own abilities and because of this have never really felt capable of doing 'better' jobs that the ones I've done in the past, low skilled/temp/ad hoc type work. From an income into the household type of thing, my income has been extra, however it's never really dawned on me that because of this, I've not been investing in myself - until, recently with my parents passing away (still grieving that) and my husband starting to think about retirement, it's made me realise, in a sudden 'wake up call' type way that I've not been paying attention to myself (which, frankly, applies to most aspects of my life - I've never really felt worth it) and so now I'm panicking about it.

This situation is why I despair when I hear the government selling the idea of cutting the point at which people pay NI as a good thing for the low paid - it really isn't. It benefits employers, who don't need to make as many contributions, but it moves workers out of the system that pays for things like sick and maternity pay, and for pensions.

OP, if your husband pre-deceases you and leaves you the house, I assume that it would be paid for, either because the mortgage has ended, or because a life insurance policy would pay it off?

If that is the case you are unlikely to be destitute, as there would be no rent or mortgage to pay, and if the house is too big to manage the bills, you could sell up. If the house is not paid for and is not covered by a life insurance policy, perhaps your husband would consider taking one out, and maybe paying in enough to leave you with some money of your own?

I understand that you probably won't want to sell up, and that it doesn't usually raise as much money as at first glance because of solicitors/stamp duty/estate agents/removals etc, but it would be an option.

As has been said, you can pay the NI shortfall in instalments, and you have a long time to do this. It is well worth doing - I was contracted out for a while and had a shortfall which I am currently paying back, and can see my projected pension increase before my eyes.

Are you expecting a large sum from the inheritance? If so, you would be well advised to get an IFA who specialises in pensions to look at the whole situation and advise you what to do. You could take out a private pension to top up the state one, or invest the money in other ways.

From the sound of things you have more options than most - you are relatively young, have expectations of money of your own ands a house that will become yours if you are widowed. There is no real need to feel anxious, but this would be a good time to sort out your finances to stall any problems in the future.

So why have you gone through life in this way, and been on a zero hours contract for 13 years evidently paying no NI in all that time? As Maw has pointed out, you could do unskilled work in for instance a supermarket. I find it hard to believe you have just drifted through life on very low or no pay, and now at 52 suddenly realise you’re not going to get much of a pension. You’re not totally unskilled though - you can obviously use the internet and you seem able to string sentences together fairly well.

I’m afraid you are going to have to take control of your working life and fortunately you have time to do that.
There is so much work available out there - not just in London and the SE that I cannot understand why you want to stay with a zero hours contract which pays so poorly. Retail and hospitality are literally crying out for staff.
To be blunt, while NI contributions do not directly pay each persons pension, if you don’t pay in, why should you expect to “take out” when it comes to retirement.
Why should you lose your home? If it is really too much for you on your own -if that day comes- you could downsize if necessary so panicking now will achieve nothing.
Get a job which pays better than what you have described- you can then buy back the “lost years” if you wish, or build up a financial cushion.
You do not say how much older than you your husband is and I assume he has life insurance so you need not be destitute should he predecease you.
So instead of running round in ever decreasing circles, I suggest you do something about it, get a full pension forecast, look at what work is available near you and take control of your life.

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BlushingSheep

MawtheMerrier

I have been at my current job for about 13 years

Not quite the same as temping then?

Aldi had signs out yesterday saying they were hiring, starting rate £10. something ph., no particular skills required.
A six hour shift, 5 days a week would presumably equate to £300.
Are you saying your present job of 13 years pays less than that?

I didn't say that my current job was 'temping', I said that the jobs I've tending to have all my were life were low paid/temping.
My current job is an 'ad-hoc', zero hours 'as and when' job. Basically, I only get paid when I work, and that's when they need me. Even when I do work, I don;t earn enough in the month to qualify for NI contributions

Are there some weeks when you earn £123? If there are, you qualify for what's known as the Lower Earnings Limit for those weeks. You could make voluntary contributions for the remaining weeks. Sorry, don't want to be too nosey about your situation.

I don't think you're being pathetic. You've recognised there's an issue and you're trying to do something about it. If you like your work and your employers are decent people, could you maybe have a discussion with them and ask if there's extra work you could do to make up your hours?

If that doesn't work, I'm afraid you really do need to look for work which pays at least £123 a week on a regular basis. However much you like the work, you and your future are important.