UK State Pensions
Have you worked in the UK for 3 consecutive years?
UK State Pensions everything you need to know. As part of any overall Financial Planning process, it is very important to know your rights and entitlements. This can apply to pension rights in Ireland, as well as overseas.
Many Irish people have worked in the UK. The UK State Pensions Service will allow you to buy back years, though voluntary contributions.
We all know that there is a growing concern over pensions, and income in retirement. Therefore it is important to claim any pension benefits that are available to us. This is a slightly complicated process, but well worth the effort. The first port of call is to use their query service : https://secure.dwp.gov.uk/ipc/personal-details
This will allow you to do some research into the National Insurance contributions already made. Once you have completed that, you can start the application process here : https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-security-abroad-ni38
As a rule of thumb, you can go back 6 years and make contributions retrospectively, which gets you back to 2016. However, up until April this year, they are allowing anyone with 3 consecutive years to buy back missing years from 2006 to 2016.
THIS OPTION IS CLOSING IN APRIL 2023, and from that point on you can only apply for the last 6 years. Claiming back these years can be a very efficient way to improve your pension and retirement income.
So, how much does it cost??
This depends partly on which class of NI you qualify for, Class 2 or Class 3.
Class 2 costs £163.80 per year you buy. Class 3 costs £824.20 per year. Class 2 is for those living and working outside the UK now. Class 3 is for those living, but not working, outside the UK.
Men born after 1951 and women born after 1953, get £185 per week if they have 35 years of contributions.
Retirement age, when these payments start, is similar to Ireland.
You can find out how much you are entitled to here by starting the process in this
link https://www.gov.uk/check-benefits-financial-support
You will need your National Insurance Number and Gateway ID. If you have forgotten it, you can follow the “forgotten ID” link.
What does it get you?
Each year you buy gets you an additional £275 per year of pension (assuming a minimum of 10 years contributions as mentioned above). Therefore the investment pays for itself in 3 years for class 3, or 7 months for class 2.
You can then continue to make contributions to get you up to the 35 years service if you like, but for those that qualify for the 2006-2016 buy back, you need to start applying soon!
Hope you found this helpful, and best of luck!
Dave