Is It worth Paying NI Top-up?

[LuckyLucas]

Hi All

 

I did the online NI contribution/Pension Top-up Assessment

 

It said I need to pay from 2008 to now if I want the 180 pounds a week figure it gave me - the sum from 2008-2024 is 12k pounds (probably nearer 10 as I'll be tier 3 for all that time (teaching here since then))

 

I know I will need to continue to pay until retirement age (another 13 years) if I top up.

 

My question is: If I pay from 2008 to 2038 (about 20-25k i think), I can get my 180 pounds a week equivalent when I retire while staying in Thailand or not?

 

Thanks to anyone who can shed light.

 

LL

 

I should add that ostensibly it seems that I'd get my 20-25k back after a couple of years so it seems a deal too good to be true if I want to draw a UK gov pension in Thailand

 

[lamyai3]

Well worth the investment. The cost of funding a full state pension is around a quarter of a million pounds on current annuity rates. Any NIC's paid in are recouped within around 3 years after pension age.

 

On the downside the pension is frozen if living in Thailand, and pension reforms (means testing etc) may happen in the coming years. 

[BritManToo]

Ni payment after 2016 get you 4.75/week extra. Usually payments before 2016 get you nothing.

 

But that's betting there will still be a state pension in 2038 available to expats.

[hotandsticky]

14 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

Well worth the investment. The cost of funding a full state pension is around a quarter of a million pounds on current annuity rates. Any NIC's paid in are recouped within around 3 years after pension age.

 

On the downside the pension is frozen if living in Thailand, and pension reforms (means testing etc) may happen in the coming years. 

 

 

Means testing and residency requirements are the two big risks

[chickenslegs]

51 minutes ago, LuckyLucas said:

the sum from 2008-2024 is 12k pounds (probably nearer 10 as I'll be tier 3 for all that time (teaching here since then)

If you have been working in Thailand you may be able to pay Class 2 voluntary contributions. So you will pay a lot less. It's great value. Class 2 would be around 180GBP per year, compared to around 800GBP for Class 3.

 

I think you should phone the International DWP office to get better information. Sometimes extra payments do not get you extra pension.

[lanng khao]

58 minutes ago, LuckyLucas said:

Hi All

 

I did the online NI contribution/Pension Top-up Assessment

 

It said I need to pay from 2008 to now if I want the 180 pounds a week figure it gave me - the sum from 2008-2024 is 12k pounds (probably nearer 10 as I'll be tier 3 for all that time (teaching here since then))

 

I know I will need to continue to pay until retirement age (another 13 years) if I top up.

 

My question is: If I pay from 2008 to 2038 (about 20-25k i think), I can get my 180 pounds a week equivalent when I retire while staying in Thailand or not?

 

Thanks to anyone who can shed light.

 

LL

 

I should add that ostensibly it seems that I'd get my 20-25k back after a couple of years so it seems a deal too good to be true if I want to draw a UK gov pension in Thailand

 

I wouldn't bother, there will be nothing left in the pot by the time you retire..

[ElwoodP]

You will not try to bypass the swearing filter, if you want to keep your posting rights.

Civil and polite in all posts please!

[The Cyclist]

1 hour ago, LuckyLucas said:

Thanks to anyone who can shed light.

 

Listen to @hotandsticky

 

31 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

Means testing and residency requirements are the two big risks

 

I believe this is why the State Pension was moved over to a " Benefit " in 2016 ?
 

Easier to make it ' Means Tested ' at some point in the future, I also think that ' Future ' will be sometime during this Parliament, if the UK stays on the current trajectory.

 

I haven't heard any whispers about Residency requirements, but that also makes sense.

 

I have heard whispers about the potential to offer people, not yet receiving the State Pension, a lump sum payment to waive the State Pension, when they make a claim. A figure IRO of £80k was mentioned.

 

Not saying it is all true, or will happen. But I think it is clear to most that the State Pension cannot continue, under the current model.

[sometimewoodworker]

1 hour ago, LuckyLucas said:

Hi All

 

I did the online NI contribution/Pension Top-up Assessment

 

It said I need to pay from 2008 to now if I want the 180 pounds a week figure it gave me - the sum from 2008-2024 is 12k pounds (probably nearer 10 as I'll be tier 3 for all that time (teaching here since then))

 

I know I will need to continue to pay until retirement age (another 13 years) if I top up.

 

My question is: If I pay from 2008 to 2038 (about 20-25k i think), I can get my 180 pounds a week equivalent when I retire while staying in Thailand or not?

 

Thanks to anyone who can shed light.

 

LL

 

I should add that ostensibly it seems that I'd get my 20-25k back after a couple of years so it seems a deal too good to be true if I want to draw a UK gov pension in Thailand

 

The state pension is an incredibly generous (for the amount you pay and get) investment 

usually you break even with 4 years of pension.

Quote

You can usually pay voluntary contributions for the past 6 years. The deadline is 5 April each year.

Is the general guidance  from gov.uk

However you maybe able to top up previous years that are incomplete DWP will be able to advise.

You need 35 years of contributions to get a full pension.

you haven’t mentioned how many years you currently have but from the information in your post it is only 5! Is that correct?

 

you should get a written statement from the pensions office, that will give you your exact position and the years that you can top up or pay in full. The online statement is only an approximate one and you need the written one to be sure

 

despite the naysayers you would be incredibly badly advised not to make sure you have 35 years of contributions before you retire.

 

I was able to pay incomplete and missing years, I have already got back 2½ times the amount I paid

[sometimewoodworker]

13 minutes ago, The Cyclist said:

I have heard whispers about the potential to offer people, not yet receiving the State Pension, a lump sum payment to waive the State Pension, when they make a claim. A figure IRO of £80k was mentioned.

For the majority of recipients a lump some equal to about 9 years is probably a bad deal

[hotandsticky]

20 minutes ago, The Cyclist said:

 

Listen to @hotandsticky

 

 

I think it is clear to most that the State Pension cannot continue, under the current model.

 

 

...which is ironic given that it considered one of the worse in Europe 

[The Cyclist]

7 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

For the majority of recipients a lump some equal to about 9 years is probably a bad deal

 

Is it really a bad deal if they raise the age to 70 ( being discussed ) and you are on a frozen pension ?
 

It would be a bad deal if the only Pension you had was the State Pension, and I am not convinced that their is a significant amount of Brits, full time in Thialand, living on only the State Pension.

[The Cyclist]

22 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

...which is ironic given that it considered one of the worse in Europe 

 

Cant agree with that.

 

Just like the NHS model,  I don't  think any other ( Major ) European Country follows the UK's State Pension models.

 

So difficult, if not impossible to make a direct comparison.