The starting point is to obtain your state pension forecast via the Government Gateway. Follow this link to login to the Government Gateway (make sure you have your login details to hand) and follow the steps https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension.
This is potentially a great opportunity for everyone age 40 to around 73 to consider. Until 5 April 2025, you can pay additional National Insurance to ‘buy back years’ going back to April 2006. After April 2025, you can only go back 6 years so this is important to act now. This opportunity was due to end in April 2023 but as so many people contacted HMRC and overwhelmed the system, the date has now been extended to April 2025.
The full ‘new’ state pension is currently £221.20 a week but how much you receive depends on how many qualifying full National Insurance (NI) years you have. You collect these via working and paying NI, but you can also get them if you are claiming benefits or caring for others. Generally, you need 35 years full NI to receive the maximum state pension, but some people may need more.
Depending on what you discover, you may be able to enhance your state pension and depending on how long you live and draw this for, it may run into the thousands over your lifetime. Please note: If your projection shows you are entitled to the full state pension, do not buy missing years as you cannot receive more than the full state pension.
Although everyone has differing circumstances, we are encouraging all our clients in this age range (40 to 73) to follow the Government link and in conjunction with advice from Seabrook Clark, potentially to ‘top up’ any gaps in their NI record. Of course, ‘topping up’ is not right for everyone, depending on affordability, health and other personal circumstances.
If you would like advice in this regard, based upon your individual circumstances, please do not hesitate to get in touch via telephone at 01392 875500 or email at info@SeabrookClark.co.uk.