How To Top Up Your State Pension

How To Top Up Your State PensionWritten on February 10, 2025 by Kirk Rice LLP

Financial Services Questions

The Question:

Myself and my husband are both 62. I will soon receive my State Pension and my husband will get his at 65. A friend mentioned, we can pay extra National Insurance to increase our State Pension. Is this correct, if so how?

Kirk Rice LLP answers:

This is a great way to build pension provision for retirement. You need a minimum of 10 qualifying years of national insurance to receive any state pension at all, and at least 35 years to receive the full state pension. You can pay voluntary contributions (also known as Class 3) to receive extra years.

You can see your State Pension forecast online at www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record or call the National Insurance helpline on 0300 200 3500 to view your National Insurance record. You can normally pay for voluntary contributions for the last 6 years; however, the government has an incentive giving the option for people to go back as far as 2006 to fill any gaps in their record! Be quick, the deadline for going back to 2006 is 5^th April 2025.

NI is effectively another tax, so why would you want to make a voluntary contribution? Well, it is essentially the best annuity on the market. A full year of voluntary contributions costs £907.40 in the 2024/25 tax year – but it adds £328.64 per year onto your state pension… you’ll make your money back in just under three years!

Your state pension is an incredibly valuable guaranteed source of income in retirement, it is protected by the ‘triple lock’ which ensures that the real purchasing power of your money doesn’t deteriorate, and it does not get impacted by market fluctuations. At Kirk Rice when planning for retirement and running our cash flow models, checking the state pension entitlement is one of the first stages.

If you would like more advice regarding this or any other financial services, get in touch at info@kirkrice.co.uk

Would you like to learn more? Read about our retirement and pension planning services.

A Pension is a long term investment and the fund value may fluctuate and can go down. Your eventual income may depend upon the size of the fund at retirement, future interest rates and tax legislation.

Please note: This article is correct as at the publication date. The answers are given for general guidance only and specific advice should be taken before acting on any of the suggestions made. The information is based on current tax legislation which may change in future. Information is based on our current understanding of taxation legislation and regulations. Any levels and bases of relief from taxation are subject to change. The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax planning.

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