Welfare reforms

[Kinell]

The state pension is £221.20 per week, £884.80 per month. You have to pay in for 35 years to get too.

Not neccessarily. Depends if you were contributing before the rules changed in, I think, year 2000. Depending on your level of contribution prior to this change you may have to keep going for more than 35 years or you may qualify with less. As a self-proclaimed pension expert, "Fred" should know this.

 

[Not_Fred_Honest]

The state pension is £221.20 per week, £884.80 per month. You have to pay in for 35 years to get too.

Not neccessarily. Depends if you were contributing before the rules changed in, I think, year 2000. Depending on your level of contribution prior to this change you may have to keep going for more than 35 years or you may qualify with less. As a self-proclaimed pension expert, "Fred" should know this.

Your eligibility for the state pension is partly based on how many years’ worth of National Insurance contributions you’ve paid or have been credited.

These are known as ‘qualifying years.’ You need at least 10 qualifying years to receive any state pension, and 35 years to receive the maximum amount.

How much is the state pension? - Which?

In 2024-25, the new state pension is £221.20 a week - but not everyone gets that amount. Find out what determines how much you'll get.

www.which.co.uk

If you took it before 2016, its paid at a max rate of £190 per week. After 2016 its £221.20.

 

[Kinell]

Sorry, still not quite right. How have I qualified for a full state pension after 32 years of contributions? Because the rules were changed. I am not talking about old and new amounts, I'm talking about qualifying years. Don't read Which or the like - they only report the status quo as of the present day. Read THIS (especially section 3): gov.uk/government/publications/your-new-state-pension-explained/your-state-pension-explained

This is the Government's very own dedicated website. I'd love to see "Fred" tell them they are wrong.

 

[LadyOnArooftop]

If you've been on benefits all your life you will qualify for the full state pension because the state will have made the necessary 35 years N.I contributions for you. Picture a man, he has never claimed benefits, he's lived 'off grid' all his life doing odd cash in hand jobs. He will not qualify for the full state pension. I think you need at least 10 years N.I credits to even qualify for pension credit. What happens to him when he reaches pension age, will he just have to work till he drops? (not asking for myself )

 

[Kinell]

If he's been living hand-to-mouth then yes I'd imagine he probably will have to work till he drops. You do need a minimum of 10 qualifying years through either the old 'rules' or the new to get a paltry something out of a state pension. However he could have easily pensioned himself via the 'under-the mattress' economy. He could even potentially get more this way. However he'd still have to swap his banknotes every once in a while before they become illegal tender. And what happens when they kick in digial currency and cash will be obsolete? Bottom line is, they are really doing everything they can to make under-the-radar living as impossible as possible.

 

[Not_Fred_Honest]

Sorry, still not quite right. How have I qualified for a full state pension after 32 years of contributions? Because the rules were changed. I am not talking about old and new amounts, I'm talking about qualifying years. Don't read Which or the like - they only report the status quo as of the present day. Read THIS (especially section 3): gov.uk/government/publications/your-new-state-pension-explained/your-state-pension-explained

This is the Government's very own dedicated website. I'd love to see "Fred" tell them they are wrong.

I was going to reply to this last week... but I was on a another ban

A few years ago, it was only 30 years. I was talking to someone else about this came up then.

 

[Kinell]

Yes, that's been my thinking - it's calculated pro-rata between old and new. For my own personal circumstances, under the old rules I had 19 years out of 30 = 63%. 63% of 35 years under new rules = 22 years, so 35 - 22 = 13 years remaining + the 19 completed = 32 years after which I was told I'd fully paid in.

However, quite a few people "contracted out" under the old rules and so found themselves having to pay in for more than 35 years when the rules changed. Not sure how they make this calculation this as I never contracted out myself.

 

[Not_Fred_Honest]

You mite have some SERPS as well. A few employer opt into SERPS as standard. I have 5 years of SERPS from my apprenticeships days.

The whole system seems to chop and change at the whim of whatever government running the state pension at the time.

 

[Kinell]

Don't think I personally had any SERPS as this ended in 2002 to be replaced with the State Second Pension (S2P) until 2016. As far as I understand it, the S2P rules were different and although you could contract out it wasn't encouraged in the same way as with SERPS. My head now hurts trying to unravel all this, but the New State Pension is much simpler so I welcome that change in the system at least.

 

[Not_Fred_Honest]

Its still a bit of a mind ****.

A few people didn't wait until state retirement age, they claim JSA for the last few years before with a private pension. Under JSA rules they didn't count the first £50 income each month. With the move to UC now they do.