Voluntary National Insurance Contributions

Norkie

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Hi all, I wonder if anyone can point me in the right direction please?

I'm 65 in December this year, I took early retirement from work and I am not working.

Do I need to pay voluntary NI contributions? To ensure I get the full state pension?
 
A good starting point is to "check your state pension" on the .gov website. There you can see your "contribution history" and shows you your eligibility for the full pension and options if not fully paid up!

HTH

Edit though the paid has changed a tad this I think is the one I used
www.gov.uk

Check your State Pension age

Work out your State Pension age and Pension Credit qualifying age
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk
 
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You can get an estimate from the government.
Apply here
www.gov.uk

Check your State Pension forecast

Find out how much State Pension you could get (your forecast), when you could get it and how you could increase it
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

you need 35 years qualifying NI contributions (I had 48 - I gave the state 13 years for free).

How much you get is also dependent on whether or not you have been contracted out of SERPS during your working life.

Edit - BB beat me to it.
 
Many thanks indeed guys, much appreciated.
 
whilst the "gateway"is good, it can be a bit misleading. According to the gateway I still need to make contributions. (although I do have the required number of years and will get (at present) the full state pension. So I have also got a written forecast (I think I used a BR19 form) that confirmed I do not need to make any more contributions.

I retired at 55 (just) so had 12 years before before I get my state pension.

On the other hand we thought the wife would be OK, but we need to make another 5 years contributions for her to get a full state pension. We have yet to decide if it is worth paying it or just take a lower state pension (From memory I think it would take over 6 years to "get back" the differance.)
 
Hi and thanks munch. I've printed off the forecast form and I'll post that soonest. As for the 'cost' of making voluntary contributions, it is a sum to be calculated for sure. Is it worth the £700.0 odd for the 'purchase' of a year and get an increase of £5.00 a month??
 
Whether it's worth it depends on how long you think you'll live. £700 for £60/pa means you need to live for 12 years to make it cost-effective. On the other hand, even if it weren't cost-effective in the long term, would the extra £5/month make a difference in the short term regardless? Only you can answer these questions (and your god if you have a faith)
 
we did the BR-19 a few years ago as i want to retire in 3 years, will be 54 and the wife also but she will only be 51 iw ill be fully paid up just but wifey will be 5 years short, we said we will also make same decision.
 
Well I've been Googling!

To purchase a NI year will cost £15:30 per week, £795:60.

The extra pension will be £4:80 per week, £249:60.

The return would be just over 3 years, and of course you will get the £249:60 for life.

And of course BB and Peter quiet rightly pointed out the 'contracted out' clause.
 
My wife made up my contributions just before I retired (about eight years ago). I think it was a good investment.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
My wife made up my contributions just before I retired (about eight years ago). I think it was a good investment.
Click to expand...
Indeed, if you only needed to purchase a couple or three or four that's well worth it (y)
 
munch said:
whilst the "gateway"is good, it can be a bit misleading. According to the gateway I still need to make contributions. (although I do have the required number of years and will get (at present) the full state pension. So I have also got a written forecast (I think I used a BR19 form) that confirmed I do not need to make any more contributions.

I retired at 55 (just) so had 12 years before before I get my state pension.

On the other hand we thought the wife would be OK, but we need to make another 5 years contributions for her to get a full state pension. We have yet to decide if it is worth paying it or just take a lower state pension (From memory I think it would take over 6 years to "get back" the differance.)
Click to expand...

I retired two months shy of 55 and had also paid the requisite 35 years. The gateway told me I needed to make more contributions too, no idea why.
Think I will ask for a written confirmation, still got 4 years before I get it anyway.
My wife has just retired at 60, she checked and has paid in full. Enough with the years she worked and those she didn't were covered by the child benefit payments.
 
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I think it's a good move to send in a BR19 (y)
Currently you may wait a while, but hey ho.
 
FWIW

In my case:-
I had the letter years ago telling me my state retirement age was 65 & six months = late 2019.

I was made redundant in 2016 and checked my status & NI payment history. That told me that even after 47 years I was a year short! This I think was due to being contracted out......plus a period out of work in 1991 due to an earlier redundancy :(

I worked out for my own sanity I needed a job and ended up with one that paid barely above minimum wage......but would get me to "full contributions".

I gave up working in June 2018, so more than a year before I could draw my state pension.

We all make personal decisions and mine was to work to pay sufficient NI for a full state pension...........as well that some more earnings coming in for other needs.
 
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