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Pensions and retirement planning
Help if you have little or no pension
By planning ahead you can make sure you have enough pension when you retire. If you do end up with little or no pension you may be able to get Pension Credit, and may be entitled to a non-contributory State Pension if you are over 80.
Will you get any State Pension?
You qualify for the State Pension by building up enough ‘qualifying years’. A qualifying year is a tax year in which you have sufficient earnings upon which you have paid,or are treated as having paid, or are credited with National Insurance contributions.
Before 6 April 2010, men will normally need to have 44 qualifying years to be entitled to the full basic State Pension at 65. Women who reach the age of 60 before 6 April 2010 will normally need 39 qualifying years to get the full basic State Pension.
Between 2010 and 2020, the State Pension age will become 65 for both men and women. Men and women who reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2010 will only need 30 qualifying years to get a full basic State Pension. State Pension age will also rise from 65 to 68 for both men and women between 2024 and 2046.
Before 6 April 2010, if you don't have enough qualifying years, you may be entitled to a smaller State Pension. If you have 25 per cent or more qualifying years, you'll get a weekly basic State Pension between the minimum (£23.81 in 2009-2010) and the maximum (£95.25).
Changes to qualifying years
Men and women who reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2010 will only need 30 qualifying years to get a full State Pension. If you have less than 30 qualifying years you will get a proportion of the full State Pension. For example, if you have seven qualifying years, you will get a State Pension that is 7/30 of the full State Pension.
If you're within four months of State Pension age, you should have received an invitation to claim through the post. If you haven't, get in touch with The Pension Service straight away.
You can call The Pension Service on 0845 60 60 265, textphone 0845 60 60 285. Lines are open 8.00 am to 8.00 pm, Monday to Friday.
Topping up your State Pension
If you have tax years which don’t count as qualifying years you may be able to boost your basic State Pension by paying voluntary National Insurance contributions for those years. You can usually pay voluntary National Insurance contributions for the last six years. Some people may be able to pay for more years. A State Pension forecast can tell you if paying voluntary National Insurance contributions will improve your State Pension.
If you’ve missed paying National Insurance contributions because you were caring for a child or sick or disabled person you should have been automatically credited with contributions for those years.
Buying additional National Insurance contributions
If you reach State Pension age between 6 April 2008 and 5 April 2015 and already have 20 qualifying years you may be able to pay voluntary Class 3 National Insurance contributions for up to six additional years. These six years date from 6 April 1975 and cover years that do not currently count towards the basic State Pension.
Buying voluntary National Insurance contributions for tax years 1996-97 to 2001-02
If you reached State Pension age between 6 April 1998 and 23 October 2004 you may be able to pay voluntary contributions for the years 1996-97 to 2001-02 under special terms. You need to make the voluntary contributions before 6 April 2010.
Married women cannot pay voluntary contributions if they had a married woman’s reduced rate election for the whole of the tax year in question.
If you're a married woman, you may qualify for a basic State Pension based on your husband's National Insurance contributions. You can find out more by downloading the leaflet 'Pensions for women'.
Pension Credit
If you're aged 60 or over, you may qualify for Pension Credit.
Pension Credit is an income-related benefit for people aged 60 or over living in Great Britain that provides, or contributes to, a guaranteed level of income of £130 per week for a single person (£198.45 for a couple). These amounts may be more for people who have caring responsibilities, are severely disabled or have certain housing costs.
People aged 65 and over can also be rewarded for some of their savings and income they have for their retirement.
From 6 April 2010 the age that you can get Pension Credit will gradually increase from 60, in line with changes to State Pension age.
State Pension if you're aged 80 or over
If you don't have enough qualifying years to get the basic State Pension you may get a 'non-contributory' State Pension if you're aged 80 or over. This is set at about 60 per cent of the full basic State Pension.
You can claim if:
- you're aged 80 or over
- you don't get basic State Pension, or your basic State Pension is less than £57.05 a week (in 2009-2010)
- you live in England, Scotland or Wales, and have done so for 10 years or more in any continuous period of 20 years after your 60th birthday
You'll receive:
- £57.05 a week if you don't get basic State Pension
- if you're on a reduced basic State Pension – you'll get the difference between this reduced amount and £57.05
Other retirement benefits
There are other retirement benefits to which you may be entitled. Some are available to all people over certain ages and some only to those who need them.
