I have worked full time from 1974 to 2012, I have worked part time for the past six years, the prison service only opted out of serps in the last few years so how come I’m penalised?The whole time she was in receipt of family allowance (or whatever its called now) she was credited with full NI contributions towards pension. Only 35 years of contributions need to get a full pension (subject to not being in company schemes etc)
And yet I was told that as I had a years stamps missing ( long boring story ) my.. MY pension will be affected
That first bit really doesn't sound right - my understanding is that a proportional amount is paid based on contributions. Or are you saying you have NI arrears - I can understand why this would be a 'knock out' factor.I was told I will not get a state pension at all, why ? because my NI contributions are not up to date by just over a year yet I was either employed or claiming benefit (for short periods) since the age of 16, eg well over 35 years
And now while unemployed through illness I get a big fat £16 per week, makes me wonder why I slogged my guts out all those years & made myself ill in the first place
I was told I will not get a state pension at all, why ? because my NI contributions are not up to date by just over a year yet I was either employed or claiming benefit (for short periods) since the age of 16, eg well over 35 years
And now while unemployed through illness I get a big fat £16 per week, makes me wonder why I slogged my guts out all those years & made myself ill in the first place
I have worked since I was 16 & am now 61, my forecast is £15 per week short of the max due to the prison service opting out of serps or something like that.
Bev gave up work when our eldest child was born & only went back when our youngest was 13, she then had a couple of years unemployed & about six years ago went back to work part time, her forecast is maximum pension. How does that work?
That first bit really doesn't sound right - my understanding is that a proportional amount is paid based on contributions. Or are you saying you have NI arrears - I can understand why this would be a 'knock out' factor.
I suspect there is a difference between 'shortfall' and 'arrears'. 'Arrears' implies that NI should have been paid from declared income but wasn't?I know it doesn't sound right mate, been having the argument with them for 3 years + now but cant make any sense of it, they started out saying my contributions were 5 years in arrears & now have decided its a little over a year I am still trying to get them to tell me where this supposed arrears came from as my NI has always been paid as far as I am aware
And yes you are right if there were arrears then I should get a reduced rate but when I point this out I get stonewalled
I suspect there is a difference between 'shortfall' and 'arrears'. 'Arrears' implies that NI should have been paid from declared income but wasn't?
I wasn’t given a choice.Serps, when it came out was intended to top up the state pension. Those in final salary schemes such as teachers, police and prison officers opted out of Serps and paid a reduced level of NI as a result. You can't have your cake and eat it, Derek.
I wasn’t given a choice.
Ahhh 47In fairness a lot of people were screwed by the way this was introduced.
In the same way I was screwed by changing the age you could draw a pension from 50 to 55 - I missed it by ten weeks, again with comparatively little notice.
I know it is easy to say and less easy to do, but we really need to find ways of ensuring that people do not rely on the State pension in coming generations.
You missed my earlier post, I’d paid over 35 years NI contributions before we opted out of serps.You could have come out of your FS pension scheme if you felt SERPS was so good. You are much better off with your FS scheme so just do the years and pay an AVC if you want to make up arrears. You didn't pay the full NI so stop whinging!
You missed my earlier post, I’d paid over 35 years NI contributions before we opted out of serps.
I paid 49.5 years of NI before I retired. PS I lie because I spent a lot of years outside the UK.So what is the relevance. You paid a lower level of NI contribs while you were contracted out. You now want the rest of us to fund your under payments? Stop feckin whinging and pay AVCs if you want to make up any shortfall!
AVCs - got to be done if you can afford them, even if only in the final years before retirement. Tax treatment is massively beneficial, and some employers will top up as well to reflect the NI payments that they do not have to make. Others look the other way and just pocket the benefit....So what is the relevance. You paid a lower level of NI contribs while you were contracted out. You now want the rest of us to fund your under payments? Stop feckin whinging and pay AVCs if you want to make up any shortfall!
How have I paid a lower level of NI?So what is the relevance. You paid a lower level of NI contribs while you were contracted out. You now want the rest of us to fund your under payments? Stop feckin whinging and pay AVCs if you want to make up any shortfall!