Paid 10 Years UK Pension

[Neeranam]

Just doubled my pension!

 

Now, I'll get over £100 a week, and if I pay for the next 10 years, I'll get the full pension.

 

These days, when working abroad, you only have to pay class 2 contributions, which was only about 65,000 baht for the whole 10 years. 

A few years ago, when I asked,  only class 3 could be paid.

 

6 years at uni wasn't wasted as they paid my NI contributions.

[Kayahammer]

Who did you contact about this, and how can I pay my arrears?

 

Thanks in advance

[crazykopite]

Will there be a pension in 10 years by then you wo t be able to claim it until you turn 70 years of age !

[Farangdanny]

What is your nationality ?

[jamiejoel]

For the UK you go to the National Insurance site for the government. You you will sign in and then you can check your N. I contributions to make up your pension. I beleive you can back pay about 8 years.. It shows you when you have to pay by.. sadly it looks like the cheaper pension contribution will stop this year. Previously you could pay about 175 pounds for a full year's pension, and but they have told me this is stopping and now we will have to pay the full rate. I hope they hold off doing it...  but it will cost maybe 500-600 pounds a year for full NI. You have to decide whether paying the extra years is worth it. If for example if they quote a pension for you of 120 but by paying 10 years you will get 125 you will need to balance the extra amount per week against what you pay. 

Another option is to put money into Ltf and RMF in Thailand. You reduce your tax to near zero and can get about 10% interest from it. After 7 years or 55 years of take it out tax free. You can 

Hope this helps.. 

Edited March 23, 2018 by jamiejoel

[topt]

55 minutes ago, jamiejoel said:

For the UK you go to the National Insurance site for the government. You you will sign in and then you can check your N. I contributions to make up your pension. I beleive you can back pay about 8 years.. It shows you when you have to pay by.. sadly it looks like the cheaper pension contribution will stop this year. Previously you could pay about 175 pounds for a full year's pension, and but they have told me this is stopping and now we will have to pay the full rate. I hope they hold off doing it...  but it will cost maybe 500-600 pounds a year for full NI. You have to decide whether paying the extra years is worth it. If for example if they quote a pension for you of 120 but by paying 10 years you will get 125 you will need to balance the extra amount per week against what you pay. 

Another option is to put money into Ltf and RMF in Thailand. You reduce your tax to near zero and can get about 10% interest from it. After 7 years or 55 years of take it out tax free. You can 

Hope this helps.. 

Suggest UK people read up on paying extra NICs if they are not aware of this. Depends also on whether your contribution would contribute to the new flat rate pension or the old system as to whether it is worth paying extra contributions and especially for back years. 

 

See hear for some warnings -  

And a lot of other info follows on in the thread especially from partington -

It is a lot more expensive than the OP mentions if you cannot prove you have been working abroad........... 

[mickyboy]

i think your find now that anyone born after the 5 april 1951 will get £149 a week basic pension

[HHTel]

4 hours ago, Farangdanny said:

What is your nationality ?

The title 'double my UK pension' and getting money in pounds is a bit of a clue!!

[nongsangcity]

4 hours ago, jamiejoel said:

For the UK you go to the National Insurance site for the government. You you will sign in and then you can check your N. I contributions to make up your pension. I beleive you can back pay about 8 years.. It shows you when you have to pay by.. sadly it looks like the cheaper pension contribution will stop this year. Previously you could pay about 175 pounds for a full year's pension, and but they have told me this is stopping and now we will have to pay the full rate. I hope they hold off doing it...  but it will cost maybe 500-600 pounds a year for full NI. You have to decide whether paying the extra years is worth it. If for example if they quote a pension for you of 120 but by paying 10 years you will get 125 you will need to balance the extra amount per week against what you pay. 

Another option is to put money into Ltf and RMF in Thailand. You reduce your tax to near zero and can get about 10% interest from it. After 7 years or 55 years of take it out tax free. You can 

Hope this helps.. 

you can pay back 6 years ...class 2 for 2018/19 only gone up a few pence got my letter from the N I this week

[shunter]

2 hours ago, mickyboy said:

I think your find now that anyone born after the 5 april 1951 will get £149 a week basic pension

A dream here as U K citizens living here in Thailand  have their pensions frozen.

[sometimewoodworker]

3 hours ago, mickyboy said:

i think your find now that anyone born after the 5 april 1951 will get £149 a week basic pension

No they don't it is currently £159.55.

[sometimewoodworker]

4 hours ago, nongsangcity said:

you can pay back 6 years ...class 2 for 2018/19 only gone up a few pence got my letter from the N I this week

The 6 year rule is the usual limit.

 

At the moment that has been modified for some or all people and they are letting some go a lot further back than that for some people so they can get the full 35 years needed. I was given the opportunity to go back to make up qualifying years by more than 10 years

[evadgib]

This thread has only been going since 2012...

 

[jacko45k]

15 hours ago, crazykopite said:

Will there be a pension in 10 years by then you wo t be able to claim it until you turn 70 years of age !

In ten years it will be 2028 and according to the website...

The Government is planning further increases, which will raise the State Pension age from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028.

So I read 67.

Edited March 23, 2018 by jacko45k

[Farang99]

I came to Thailand before I was 65, so had not yet qualified for the state pension. When I did qualify I had a letter from DWP telling me I was several years short of the full payment (which I knew) but I could make up those years at no additional cost because the value of the pension had increased. So I did and got a nice boost to the pension. Which has since been erased by the sliding £

[nongsangcity]

On 24/3/2561 at 12:30 AM, sometimewoodworker said:

The 6 year rule is the usual limit.

 

At the moment that has been modified for some or all people and they are letting some go a lot further back than that for some people so they can get the full 35 years needed. I was given the opportunity to go back to make up qualifying years by more than 10 years

thats very good news

[Expattaff1308]

On 3/23/2018 at 5:30 PM, mickyboy said:

i think your find now that anyone born after the 5 april 1951 will get £149 a week basic pension

Unless you opted out of Serps 2 (usually if you have a company pension then you opted out)then your pension is reduced

[rickudon]

On 3/28/2018 at 1:50 PM, Expattaff1308 said:

Unless you opted out of Serps 2 (usually if you have a company pension then you opted out)then your pension is reduced

And, not everyone will get the basic pension UNLESS you have your 35 years of contributions and or credits. You need a minimum of 10 years to get anything, and pro rata after that up to the 35 years. I have 35 years, but was contracted out for most of it, so get about 30 GBP a week deducted. Which, surprise surprise, is about exactly what i would have got under the old scheme .....

[Expattaff1308]

6 hours ago, rickudon said:

And, not everyone will get the basic pension UNLESS you have your 35 years of contributions and or credits. You need a minimum of 10 years to get anything, and pro rata after that up to the 35 years. I have 35 years, but was contracted out for most of it, so get about 30 GBP a week deducted. Which, surprise surprise, is about exactly what i would have got under the old scheme .....

Spot on...I had over 40 yrs but had opted out the majority of these years costing a deduction of 38 quid a week from the state pension, received my paperwork last month and will receive a staggering £126.67 a week. Not a great deal for 40 years contributions and never unemployed at any time since leaving school.

Seems the UK policy continues...Sod the Workers & Pay the Shirkers!!

[partington]

2 hours ago, Expattaff1308 said:

Spot on...I had over 40 yrs but had opted out the majority of these years costing a deduction of 38 quid a week from the state pension, received my paperwork last month and will receive a staggering £126.67 a week. Not a great deal for 40 years contributions and never unemployed at any time since leaving school.

Seems the UK policy continues...Sod the Workers & Pay the Shirkers!!

This is a  completely wrong interpretation. You have not had anything deducted from the basic State Pension, since the basic State Pension is 122.70 for people retiring in 2016 or before.

 

Before 2016 the basic State pension was supplemented by a secondary scheme called SERPs which you could either choose to pay into or opt out of. So your total pension could be made up of the Basic amount PLUS the SERPS amount, if you had not opted out of SERPS.

 

If you opted out of SERPS then it means you paid less NI , and instead put this money into another pension scheme which is paying you this supplementary amount instead.  So now your pension is made up of the Basic State pension  PLUS the amount the scheme you paid into instead of SERPs is giving you.

 

If you are lucky this is more than the £38 that you would have got had you decided to stay in SERPS, if you are unlucky it is less. But nothing has been taken away from you.

[Expattaff1308]

10 hours ago, partington said:

This is a  completely wrong interpretation. You have not had anything deducted from the basic State Pension, since the basic State Pension is 122.70 for people retiring in 2016 or before.

 

Before 2016 the basic State pension was supplemented by a secondary scheme called SERPs which you could either choose to pay into or opt out of. So your total pension could be made up of the Basic amount PLUS the SERPS amount, if you had not opted out of SERPS.

 

If you opted out of SERPS then it means you paid less NI , and instead put this money into another pension scheme which is paying you this supplementary amount instead.  So now your pension is made up of the Basic State pension  PLUS the amount the scheme you paid into instead of SERPs is giving you.

 

If you are lucky this is more than the £38 that you would have got had you decided to stay in SERPS, if you are unlucky it is less. But nothing has been taken away from you.

You are correct in bits, you may recall

 

10 hours ago, partington said:

This is a  completely wrong interpretation. You have not had anything deducted from the basic State Pension, since the basic State Pension is 122.70 for people retiring in 2016 or before.

 

Before 2016 the basic State pension was supplemented by a secondary scheme called SERPs which you could either choose to pay into or opt out of. So your total pension could be made up of the Basic amount PLUS the SERPS amount, if you had not opted out of SERPS.

 

If you opted out of SERPS then it means you paid less NI , and instead put this money into another pension scheme which is paying you this supplementary amount instead.  So now your pension is made up of the Basic State pension  PLUS the amount the scheme you paid into instead of SERPs is giving you.

 

If you are lucky this is more than the £38 that you would have got had you decided to stay in SERPS, if you are unlucky it is less. But nothing has been taken away from you.

you are correct in bits but as you maybe aware that anyone born after the 5 april 1951 will get £149 a week basic pension or made upto that amount, when introduced everyone assumed that would be the across the board state pension. When I like others opted out we were then reliably informed that it would have no impact on the state pension...it did!

The interpretation I described was almost verbatim from the person I spoke to at the DWP.

Whichever way you want to look at it I would get less than someone who was unemployed or hadnt made the full years of contributions for the most of his working life because his pension would be made up with pension credits...as I said its the workers who lose out not the shirkers!!!

Edited March 31, 2018 by Expattaff1308

[rickudon]

Correct Taffia. As someone who would reach 65 under the new scheme, and having heard the comment that the new pension would be revenue neutral to the government, something smelt. It took me 3 years to find out HOW the new scheme would be funded, but this was deliberately ignored in most government information. I expect many STILL do not realise that they may not get the full amount. 

 

So, how was the new pension paid for (compared to before).

ONE, all those who retired on just the basic State pension and nothing else were entitled to DHS benefits of some sort. The new pension level meant that these benefits would not need to be paid anymore - money saved from DHS budget (and administering that had a high overhead, compared to State pension).

SECOND, upped the number of years required to 35 from 30, so some people would have to buy extra years or get less.

THIRD, no more married pensions (hits us expats particularly).

FOURTH, if you were contracted out from the full NI benefits because you were in a company scheme, each year was now only worth 6/7 (?) of a year instead of a whole year like before - so those in company schemes, who didn't need those DHS top ups, didn't need the bigger State pension so wouldn't get any more either. Wouldn't be surprised if the new scheme is actually cheaper for the government.

 

No such thing as a free lunch (or pension).

[partington]

8 hours ago, Expattaff1308 said:

you are correct in bits but as you maybe aware that anyone born after the 5 april 1951 will get £149 a week basic pension or made upto that amount, when introduced everyone assumed that would be the across the board state pension.

It was clearly stated at the time that transitional arrangements would apply to people who had not reached retirement age in 2016, and so had made contributions under the old system as well as the new, and that they would not necessarily get the full new flat rate amount.

 

People who assumed they would get the  full new single basic pension even though they had made contributions under the old system were mistaken, and although I agree the Pensions Service do not write clearly this was set out before the system changed on their website.

 

 It does state unambiguously that you may get more or less than the new flat rate full amount, and that only if your contributions all occurred after 5th April 2016 would your final pension be calculated entirely under the new flat rate rules.

 

Unfortunately most people did not read this or do any research.

 

This is what was described for people who had or would make NI contributions partly under the old and partly under the new system:

 

4 Calculating the amount 

If you have NI contributions/credits from before 6 April 2016, your pre- 2016 record is used to calculate a ‘starting amount’. You may get more or less than the full weekly amount, depending on your NI record.

Your starting amount is the higher of the amount:

• °  you would have received based on your own NI contributions under old State Pension rules (including basic and additional pension elements)

• °  you would have got if the new State Pension was in place at the start of your working life. 

 

 

If you do not have NI contributions/credits from before 6 April 2016

Your State Pension is calculated entirely under new State Pension rules. 

[mickyboy]

im 67 and been retired since 65  got my new state pension through worked all my working life but paid self employed stamps for 35 years my pension now is basic £125.95p aditional state pension £10.89p graduated retirement pension benefit £5.40p which = £142.24 a week so paid in for 50 years thats the thanks you get if your broke and hardly paid in you get another £15 a week top up it dont pay to work some times or lets say pay into the govenment treasurey

[Neeranam]

On 23/03/2018 at 6:08 PM, Farangdanny said:

What is your nationality ?

British

[Neeranam]

I don't understand how it works, but I worked for only 6 years in the UK, but total paid was 13. After 20 years in Thailand decided to pay the contributions. Sometimes it pays to procrastinate. 65,000 baht for the last 10 years, class 2.

I've applied for Thai citizenship so will also get a Thai pension, which will only be around 5000 baht a month.

[LongTimeLurker]

On 3/23/2018 at 8:27 AM, Neeranam said:

These days, when working abroad, you only have to pay class 2 contributions,

 

On 3/23/2018 at 8:27 AM, Neeranam said:

A few years ago, when I asked,  only class 3 could be paid

I thought Class 2 was only for self employed, not if you are working abroad.

 

I have always had to pay Class 3 but haven't paid for maybe 4 years now.

 

I also thought you could only back pay 5 years?

[LongTimeLurker]

On 3/31/2018 at 1:59 PM, rickudon said:

upped the number of years required to 35 from 30

Don't forget that they dropped the number of years from 44 initially

[LongTimeLurker]

This page gives the criteria for Class 2 or Class 3 contributions

 

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions

 

[DavisH]

Lucky if you are from the UK; you can make contributions and later get your pension. Not so lucky if you are Australian though..there is no system like that for us.