State Pension

Norkie

Norkie

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Hi all, wonder if any of you can offer some help?

My wife and I retire in 2022. There may be pension changes before then but under current arrangements will we get a state pension each or a married couple’s pension?

Currently the state pension is approx. £700.00 per person, so would we expect to receive £1400.00?
 
So long as you both have paid full stamp then you can get two full single pensions,my wife joins me on pension March next year and her forecast is full pension.
 
The answer is, it depends. If you’ve both got enough NI credits to qualify for a full state pension then you’ll get the double pension rate. But there a lot of provisos and it’s not that straightforward ... for instance if you retire early and don’t pay NI up to full retirement age, if you’ve had part of NI payments contracted out by your employers, if you have private/company pension etc etc then you won’t qualify for the full state pension. You’ll also pay tax on it if your earnings exceed the tax threshold at the time.

You can go into the gov.uk website and there’s a pension calculator on there. That still only gives you a rough estimate though.
 
Norkie said:
Hi all, wonder if any of you can offer some help?

My wife and I retire in 2022. There may be pension changes before then but under current arrangements will we get a state pension each or a married couple’s pension?

Currently the state pension is approx. £700.00 per person, so would we expect to receive £1400.00?
Click to expand...
I am guessing you are not yet 65 so will be under the new state pension as opposed to the one people got when they retired aged 65, you and your wife were born in 1955? If so each of you will receive your own pension and as stated above this depends on your work history.
BAD news
If you have, I think, less than 10 years of contributions you will get nothing, I doubt that will be your situation though.
BETTER news
AIUI you will need 35 years of full contributions, so any period you were contracted-out will be deducted from those 35 years for the purpose of calculation of your Govt state pension. I am the same age as you, born in 1955, and I will also retire (officially) in 2020 I have worked since I was 16 but because of being contracted out for a while will not receive the full state pension (I think I have or will have 34 years worth of contributions). Your wife's pension will be based also on her work history, there's no such thing as married couples pension anymore, nor a widow's pension, however, if you had children she "should" have been credited with the years she received child benefit if she worked and didnt earn enough to receive credit for those years, bear in mind the earnings threshold is slightly lower than the threshold for paying NI, so she may have years that count despite not paying NI. It's quite a complicated equation for females.

If you or your wife were contracted you will receive an enhanced pension from your employer and shouldnt suffer a lower income because of being contracted out, however how you work that out I have no idea, again it's so damn complicated.
If you should die before your wife then she wont receive a widow's pension based on your contributions as was the case in the past, sadly her income will drop to whatever pension she has in her own right based on her contributions but apparently she may be eligible for UC (Universal Credit).

And finally any state pension either of you receive will be added to any other income you receive at the time, so work based pension(s), dividends (they are dealt with slightly differently at present) or any other income and taxed at the appropriate rate after personal allowances have been deducted.

You can get a statement of what pension both of you will receive from the Govt website, currently I think it's about £8000 pa for full contribution history.
 
Thank you Matt, that's very helpful. We have the full 35 years contributions so that part is catered for. I will log on to the Gov website for our pension statements.

Thanks again all ;)
 
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You can get an exact estimate from the DWP but it usually takes a few weeks.
I had 48 years worth of contributions but my pension is reduced because of contracted out years.
They are not giving me those 13 years worth back!
My wife gets hers next year (she will be nearly 66) and is a highly motivated WASPI.
When the children were young (and she was not earning a full wage) she also paid extra NI contributions so that she would get the full state pension when she was 60.
Turns out that these extra contributions were a waste of money and she has had to wait an extra 6 years for her pension.
Sorry for the rant.
 
Do you mind me asking by how much your state pension was reduced? My apologies for the personal nature of the question, please decline if you'd rather not say.
 
As mentioned above, you can use the .gov website to check your status and get a projection of whether & when (how many more years of NI contributions you need) you are due your state pension.

When I initially checked mine in mid 2016 firstly it reminded me I would reach my state pension age at 65 years & 6 months old in September 2019. Then the payment history told me I was missing a year i.e. for me I had paid NI for 46 years!!! Though I could not get a definite reason (ref NI paid already >35 years) it was most likely that I had been contracted out of SERPS.

Suffice to say the checker now tells me at 47 years NI contributions (2018/19 year not accounted for yet) I have reached the point when I now qualify for the full state pension. NB because contracting out of SERPS ceased a while back it was/is my understanding that having paid that one ''extra' year I had now 'caught up' so to speak.

PS another poster above said something about it you have any company and/or personal pension savings you won't get the full state pension. Unless I misunderstood or misread that post that is IMO wrong....as noted above the only thing that affects it is whether you contracted out of SERPS....and as in my case it is apparently possible to make up for those 'missing' full years of contributions.

PPS ref Peter's post ~ in 2016 as I recall I also asked for a written statement and that one told me nothing different to the online checker......so not sure why his experience in what looks like a similar'ish age and contribution status is different to my understanding???

Edit ~ the way they have treated women born in 1954/5 does look particularly Draconian......as I read it & a few months back interviews about there should have been a taper rule. Isn't the DWP doing something to make a recompense???
 
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go here and fill out a BR19 form, basically state pension comes down to how many years you have paid in with 35 years being the max (you cant get any more)

I am not sure about the single vs married pension thing I think its just calculated on individuals?
We did ours a few years ago and I have 3 more years to do (aged 49) and my wife has 7 (aged 47)
She will not end up with a full state pension as she is retiring at same time as me win 3 years.

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension
 
The full state pension is £164.35 per week (according to govt. website)
I receive £132.21 pw.
Pre-1997 I was contracted out between 1978/9 and 1986/87 which was used to calculate my GMP from my SERPS contracted out scheme.
So I get my basic as above, the GMP from my contracted out private pension.
I also have put money into a money purchase pension (defined contribution) and can draw this as and when I desire. This latter one does not affect my state or GMP pension (as I understand it - I am not a financial adviser) as all pensions are subject to income tax and the more I draw the more tax I pay.
Brownie and Paul are correct, you can get the forecast online now. I applied online and a few weeks later it came in the post.
Don't forget you have to apply for it online x months before you reach pension age.
I also understand that pensions are individual, i.e. it matters not if you are married, but again check this out yourself.
 
Very much appreciated Peter, to share your details is very gracious, thank you for the help.
 
The state pension is reduced by 1/35 of the maximum available for each missed years. Missed years can be re-purchased but only backwards by a few years, so if you missed a year say 15 years ago you can't back purchase it now, however you can buy extra years, not sure how many or how much but I think if you get 4 years of extra income the cost is effectively recouped so if you buy a year and live an extra 5, 10 or 15 years you will be quids in.
 
Peter123 said:
The full state pension is £164.35 per week (according to govt. website)
I receive £132.21 pw.
Pre-1997 I was contracted out between 1978/9 and 1986/87 which was used to calculate my GMP from my SERPS contracted out scheme.
So I get my basic as above, the GMP from my contracted out private pension.
I also have put money into a money purchase pension (defined contribution) and can draw this as and when I desire. This latter one does not affect my state or GMP pension (as I understand it - I am not a financial adviser) as all pensions are subject to income tax and the more I draw the more tax I pay.
Brownie and Paul are correct, you can get the forecast online now. I applied online and a few weeks later it came in the post.
Don't forget you have to apply for it online x months before you reach pension age.
I also understand that pensions are individual, i.e. it matters not if you are married, but again check this out yourself.
Click to expand...

I wonder whether the adjustment (reduction) to the current new state pension figure is as such dependent on the actual date you started the pension?
The reason I ask is that when the pension structure changed on 6th April 2016 the various info says this affects men born before the 6th April 1951..........................so perhaps the reduced amount reflects & accounts for DoB, date pension taken and the period after the SERPS closed was insufficient (in your situation) to have recovered enough to get the fullest amount???

As mentioned, it is my understanding that the Pension Forecast you see online is the same as they would confirm in a letter. Mine says I have paid enough in to qualify for the maximum (basic?) state pension but did your forecast say £132pw ?
 
There's no basic state pension anymore for anyone retiring now. You either get the maximum or not depending on how many years contribution you have made, recent estimates are that a lot of people won't get the maximum but don't know yet.
 
MatBin said:
There's no basic state pension anymore for anyone retiring now. You either get the maximum or not depending on how many years contribution you have made, recent estimates are that a lot of people won't get the maximum but don't know yet.
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Hmmm! so is the forecast, summary (or however they describe it) not a reliable "document" when it comes to pension planning??? In other words, will there be a get out clause for me and I surmise others who are factoring the Forecast figure who even though contracted out of SERPS but the forecast says max pension figure!
 
Box Brownie said:
Hmmm! so is the forecast, summary (or however they describe it) not a reliable "document" when it comes to pension planning??? In other words, will there be a get out clause for me and I surmise others who are factoring the Forecast figure who even though contracted out of SERPS but the forecast says max pension figure!
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Hope not as I'm basing my retirement plans on the forecast, but as in all things, I will believe it when I see it and will be pig sick if they use some get-out clause. AFAIK the forecast is reliable and takes into account contracted out years.
My forecast says I will have 33 years of contributions and seeing as I will have worked for 50 odd years I reckon that has my contracted out deduction taken out of my total years.
 
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I don't have my forecast to hand. I may have binned it. I kept the official letter sent out not long before retirement so I have quoted from that.
I retired Feb 2018, born 1953.

The whole thing is a minefield. I had a Section 32 buyout, in and out of SERPS then it all changed in 1997.
Then you have SIPPS, drawdown and ISA'S.
 
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Most folks who had time contracted out shouldn't lose anything, if contracted out like me because i was in a company pension that is, i was contracted out for about 30 years and i get just under £60 a month less than my wife will next year, that £60 loss is nothing against the work pension i get.
 
MatBin said:
Hope not as I'm basing my retirement plans on the forecast, but as in all things, I will believe it when I see it and will be pig sick if they use some get-out clause. AFAIK the forecast is reliable and takes into account contracted out years.
My forecast says I will have 33 years of contributions and seeing as I will have worked for 50 odd years I reckon that has my contracted out deduction taken out of my total years.
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I am currently sorting my pension out with my IFA so hope the calculations turn out right!

Peter123 said:
I don't have my forecast to hand. I may have binned it. I kept the official letter sent out not long before retirement so I have quoted from that.
I retired Feb 2018, born 1953.

The whole thing is a minefield. I had a Section 32 buyout, in and out of SERPS then it all changed in 1997.
Then you have SIPPS, drawdown and ISA'S.
Click to expand...

Re: section 32 ~ don't recall that, I so to speak signed up but as I recall I did not buy back out of the arrangement it just "expired" when the legislation changed, so no more money was transferred to my nominated pension savings plan (this was/is called a protected rights plan).

As for the various methods of creating the pension output.......yes, not so much a minefield but for sure a hurdles race. As for the choices & decision my IFA is who will be advising. But Brexit is creating such uncertainty the stockmarket (on which we will all rely) is not behaving very favourably :(
 
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I didn't buy out of S. 32 because the amount offered was far less than waiting until 65 and taking GMP.
 
Box Brownie said:
Hmmm! so is the forecast, summary (or however they describe it) not a reliable "document" when it comes to pension planning??? In other words, will there be a get out clause for me and I surmise others who are factoring the Forecast figure who even though contracted out of SERPS but the forecast says max pension figure!
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And that's where I am now. the forecast says maximum pension but I too contracted out for a number of years.

I suspect that when I put my pension request in it will not be good news! The state pension will not be the maximum. That said the pension I will receive from my employer will more than make up the difference.

It's just the uncertainty thats irritates me, no way to plan 6/8 months into the future. You need to wait until the day of reckoning!
 
Box Brownie said:
Hmmm! so is the forecast, summary (or however they describe it) not a reliable "document" when it comes to pension planning??? In other words, will there be a get out clause for me and I surmise others who are factoring the Forecast figure who even though contracted out of SERPS but the forecast says max pension figure!
Click to expand...

Having retired before the new pension system ime not sure, will any one retiring now get any diffeent pension if they where contracted out or not ? i thought the one size fits all of the new pension did away with serps adjustments.
 
mikew said:
Most folks who had time contracted out shouldn't lose anything, if contracted out like me because i was in a company pension that is, i was contracted out for about 30 years and i get just under £60 a month less than my wife will next year, that £60 loss is nothing against the work pension i get.
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Yeah but people are stupid, so they can think they've lost something even if they haven't.

My mum was whinging on the phone the other week going on about her not getting her full pension because she was contracted out, so they refuse to give her her "full pension".

I pointed out that she had her works pension, and that those contributions were in that. She just repeated "yes, but they aren't giving me my full pension, it's ridiculous"
 
Some people are.
My SERPS element (for the time I was out of it) was paid into a separate private pension which of course I can now draw.
It is complicated if you have worked under different schemes, some were contracted out, some were not.
From memory you can apply for the actual figures (for state pension) X months before retirement date. I applied online but mine came through the post.
I must also say that I got my first forecast in about 2016 (retired 2018) and inflation aside, the actual was the same as the forecast.
This WASPI situation is grossly unfair.
 
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