State pension contributions, have you paid enough?

I am loathed to admit it but Lorraine reads the Mail on Sunday, please don’t tell anyone. However there was an article last Sunday that caught her eye and caused us to make some enquiries.

The article was about the increased requirement in contributions to be eligible for a full state pension.  This was previously 30 years (see https://www.gov.uk/state-pension/eligibility) which we both are OK for, but it’s now being increased in 2016 to 35 years.  I am sure this is old news for many as it was part of 2013 changes but it had completely slipped through my net.

As I’ve been self employed since 2003 this could well affect me, and Lorraine has also taken employment breaks so we both need to check.

Here are the details https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/making-the-state-pension-simpler-and-fairer/supporting-pages/introducing-a-simple-single-tier-state-pension

We have both requested a pensions update from HMRC so we can see exactly where we stand. You can do this online but it’s a bit of a faff to find so here’s the direct link https://online.hmrc.gov.uk/shortforms/form/NIStatement?dept-name=&sub-dept-name=&location=40&origin=https://www.hmrc.gov.uk

I am sure most of you have this cracked but if not it’s worth investigating as the state pension is already low so anything that makes it lower is not ideal.

Good luck,

Alan