Does anyone know anything about the new state pension changes?

Unlike some government agencies I always found the DWP staff very helpful on the phone. I'd advise giving them a ring and talking it through with them.

Maries I think the rules have changed and you now need only 30 years' contributions.
https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions

This website also says you only need 30 years.
www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/women-and-pensions/women-and-the-state-pension
Hope that helps.
You can email or write to the DWP for a State Pension forecast, to put your mind at rest.

I was told I needed 35 years the last time I called them - about six months ago - sorry.I sometimes wonder if they know themselves. My birthday it seems falls two weeks too late to get the 30 years settlement.

According to them , if I keepworking until I am 67 I will have the contributions. But I suspect I wont even keepmy present job until I an 66 ( redundancies very year for the last 5 years , I have been lucky so far. Likely I will be asked to go at 60- that seems to be the "age") .I have no other pesnion.

My husband will retire in 2015 ( February) and will be under the old rules. But he has SERPS anyway.

Under the oldrules I cannot pay in additionalNI for the 1980's. I am unlikely to have any shortfall between now and my 66th birthday as I will sign on if I get sacked. Something they wonderful DWP told me I couldnt do in the 1980's as I was co habitting. Funny how times change isnt it?

maries I've just read an article in yesterday's Telegraph money section.
It also says 'currently, pensioners need 30 years of NI contributions to get the full basic state pension'
It also says
1. You have to reach State Pension age before 2016 to use the top-up scheme.
2. The details are yet to be confirmed.
3. It can be used to top up SERPS or SP2 so your DH might benefit even if you can't.
4.from 2016 new pensioners will receive a flat rate State pension worth £148 in today's prices, so that will apply to you, presumably.
Please note this does not constitute financial advice

In other words, I will get £95 a week - thats what I have been forecast on my NI contributions. I wont get the new flat rate, just a proportion basedon my NI.

As I said, I have a shortfall in NI from the 1980's and so cannot pay it back.

I was one of those who the rules allow to fall through the middle. I was not earning enough to pay HI in the 1980's but on several occassions during that time I was told I didnt need to make the shortfall ( you get five years to pay up) because firstly, I was told it wasnot necessary and then,I was married and so it wasnt necessary and then they changed the rules and moved all the goal posts and it is too late to make it up now.

I am the piggy in the middle of the two systems and nothing then is changing for me. to enable me to move with the changing goal posts.
I suspect there may be more like me though.
Thanks anyway.

You've lost me Maries.
You say you are nearly 59 and will get your State Pension when you're 66, ie in 2020.
You will have had 32 years of conributions, so why shouldn't you be eligible for the new flat-rate pension, if it comes in in 2016?
BTW the forecast is based on your contributions to date, not the contributions you will have made by the time you reach State Pension age.

I have to have 35 years of contributions - that is the new rules. I was born after April 5th and its 35 years not 30 years.

I am elegible for the new flatrate pension but I will not have made the necessary number of years contributions, so my pension will be reduced and so I will get £94 . Thats the shortfall.

That of course all assumes I can continue to work until I am 66.

Alos, I wont be allowed to retire on my 66th birthday - it will be 66 and a bit for me. Its rising incrementally apparently. That is according to the nice lady who I spoke to at the DWP six months ago.

From the Gov.UK website:

"Those with less than 35 qualifying years but more than the minimum qualifying period will receive a proportionally smaller single-tier amount."

£94 does seem to be a substantial reduction from £146, though, as you'll have paid in for 32 years if you work that long.

A trip to the CAB might be in order. How people are supposed to make sensible plans for their retirement when the rules keep changing and are so hard to work out I do not know!

Exactly, Mishap. So many of us who thought we could retire at 60 have been caught in the pensions trap and had 6 (in my case) years added to our working life.

I fail to see how the sums add up. I would be very happy to step aside from my job in 13 months time when I'm 60 if I could access my pension. By then I'll have 40 years contributions including my 7 years "home responsibility" contributions, as they were called.

Surely if the job were then filled by a person supporting a family and currently receiving much more than the state pension in benefits, this would be a good move all round? Am I missing something?

Couldn't agree more Maggie!
I too have had 6 years added on, which means I've got another 12 years to go, not 6.
My problem is going to be whether I can continue in my present job for that long, or even if I will be allowed to!
Got a sneaky suspicion that I may be required to 'go' at 60 anyway (work in a school), so what am I supposed to do then?
The job-market isn't really geared-up for finding positions for (nearly) pensioners, and many places wouldn't entertain the idea anyway, knowing that you are just marking time until you can collect your pension.
It does worry me at times, particularly as there is only me, so not like I can sit back and relax(?) while a partner soldiers on.
The only saving grace, I suppose, is that, as I am employed by the local County Council, I also have a pension running with them, which costs me an arm and a leg each month, but will help to soften the blow when the time comes....I hope!

Gratefulgran I thought the law had been changed to make age discrimination illegal. So you can't be let go just because of your age. I'm due to retire in 2016 just before my 63rd birthday. I may have to work longer simply because managing on less money won't be easy. The more I try to find out the less I know. It's a minefield of confusion.

Sounds good Cari - the information out there is certainly very confusing.

I used the government website to get a personal pension statement.
You need to register and they send you a code through the post. You then log on and all the details are there.

Having been born on 29th April 1953, I had always planned to retire when I reached 60. Under the old rules, I could've done this but now I have to work until I'm 63 and 2 months. The problem is, I still don't know the amount of state pension I will actually receive as I'm sure I fall between the 'goal posts'. Can anyone advise? Thanks.

Actually Kiora I don't really know. I am a TA in special needs education. I think the 'recommended' age is 65, but most seem to retire around 60 purely because of the physical demands of the job.
But, if they are happy to keep me on, I will be happy to stay, although my body may say otherwise
Our reading support lady recently 'retired' at the grand old age of 86, but she was a volunteer, so different situation altogether.
I would certainly be interested to find out more, and think I may ask a few questions at school, see what the options are.
And, obviously, as a single lady, the longer I can keep going, the better for me financially.
Sounds like a good idea Cari, would be very helpful to a lot of us I think.

I am leaving my job in a supermarket soon as I can no longer physically do the very early starts they need me to do (5am). I intend to sign on for jobseekers allowance for 6 months which I believe is approx. £72 a week. I have paid 33 years National Insurance contributions, originally hoped to get my state pension at 60, which then changed to 63 and is now 65+. I am so fed up with missing out - not just the pension but also the bus pass etc. I am 60 by the way.

Would love to hear more from an expert Gransnet.

I know how you feel. Be very careful because I'm not sure about the rules about job seekers if you leave a job voluntarily there may be a longer waiting period than if you were sacked or made redundant. I'm sure one of the gransnetters will be able to advise you. I'm 60 and the last information I got from the DWP was that I could retire at 63 in march 2016 so I would check that out. Can you reduce your hours or change your shifts. I am currently signed off sick for the first time in my life. I'm sure that work, babysitting duties, looking after elderly relatives along with housework has taken its toll. All of this would have been manageable not so long ago but now exhausts me. My sister was born in may 54 and now has to work till 65 or 66 I can't remember but I do know she's furious and I don't blame her.

Thanks Kiora I will check out the rules but know someone in similar circumstances who left her job voluntarily through stress and was able to sign on straightaway. Sometimes the rules are hard to understand. My actual birthday is 23 December 1953 so still have 1 week in my fifties!! When I last checked on the gov. website my retirement date was February 2019 so quite a difference for us two - can understand how your sister is furious.

Please sort out your expert soon Gransnet - sounds like we need some help!

I hope I can post some useful info here just in case people are NOT aware of this but a FACT that the Government have NOT mentioned and ARE KEEPING QUIET ABOUT is that anyone who is in receipt of a Private Pension or is due to receive a Private Pension at the time he or she is due to receive or qualify for the New State Pension at the ENHANCED RATE of 140 pounds per week will automatically DISQUALIFY THEMSELVES from receiving it. For example if you have been frugal and paid into a Company Pension for a number of years or otherwise saved into a Private Pension You can check with your respective MPs if you wish BUT I guarantee that YOU will NOT get an honest or direct response from them, (people I know who have made enquiries have ALL received rude responses or NO responses.

That wouldn't surprise me. Makes you just think oh bu--er it why bother