| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:new Single Tier State Pension fiasco | |
| Posted by: | John Connelly | |
| Date/Time: | 21/02/15 19:36:00 |
| Remember that state pension entitlement is determined by NI payments made in the past. Within the last 40 years members of occupational pensions did not pay graduated pension contributions (which used to top up the state pension for those not in occupational schemes). Later, members of occupational schemes were deemed to have "contracted out" and they therefore paid a lower NI rate than those not in pension schemes. When personal pension schemes were introduced the "contracting out" principle also applied. Remember that all pension contributions outside of the state scheme also obtain tax relief, even on income on which no tax has been paid. The complications are even greater in the case of older women who opted in the past to pay the lower "married woman's" National Insurance rate. Without a detailed record of of employment, NI contributions, occupational or personal pension contributions, periods of unemployment where you "sign on" etc. it will prove very difficult to challenge Government's assessment of your pension entitlement. |