State pension - fiendishly complex

[AlfredJPruffock]

Interesting read that DP.

...extract follows ...

And is there any point in topping up your state pension?

There also may be no point in topping up the state pension.

If you are facing a low income retirement you may be eligible for Pension Credit.

This is an extra pension allowance created to make sure no pensioner receives less than £124.05 a week total income.

So if you are unlikely to have any source of income other than the state when you retire, there's no point spending your money now on NI top ups. To find out more, visit the Pension Service website.

[bobhope]

http://www.moneyweek.com/personal-fi...ale-14676.aspx

For sale: a £35,000 pension in return for a £421 investment. Deal ends 6 April.



Gordon is giving everyone a pension worth £35K for £421.

Hohoho. I thought you were an investment Guru?

I've read the small print. For married couples with kids AND assuming the rules don't change yet again, it's not worth it.

To be fair, on the face of it, it looks like a good deal, but underneath (at least for my situation) not.

[expat]

Hohoho. I thought you were an investment Guru?

I've read the small print. For married couples with kids AND assuming the rules don't change yet again, it's not worth it.

To be fair, on the face of it, it looks like a good deal, but underneath (at least for my situation) not.

So for a single person, worth only say £16000? Say dramatically pessimistic odds of 9 out of 10 that the rules change to eliminate it completely, so it's worth 1/10 = £1600. Cost £421. Still a good deal.

[Gordon Brown]

I absolutely promise that I will never pinch your pension pot.

God can make me blind in one eye if I do.

Cheers,

Gordo.

[BrilloPad]

I absolutely promise that I will never pinch your pension pot.

God can make me blind in one eye if I do.

Cheers,

Gordo.

I hope he decides to blind your good eye.......

[Cyberman]

The state pension is currently about 360 quid a month for a single person and you need 30 qualifying years after 2010 whereas prior to that it was based pro-rata on a full qualifying period of 44 years for a man and 39 for a woman.

I checked my entitlement on the government website a month ago and will fully qualify at 65 as I already have paid 30 years NI contributions....just.

I received a letter 5 years ago asking me if I wanted to make up missed years and had to make a decision and pay it by this year. As I already have paid 30 years I would have to be pretty stupid to pay the extra. Those that do not think they will pay 30 years should really consider making up the payments as the state pension is tremendous value in comparison to other pension schemes and would cost many tens of thousands of pounds of contributions if it was a private pension. It's a no-brainer !!

[stingman123]

I absolutely promise that I will never pinch your pension pot.

God can make me blind in one eye if I do.

Cheers,

Gordo.

I Hope he decides to blind your snake eye