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Topic: State pensions - an accident that will happen (but slowly)!
Posted by: Joe Conneely
Date/Time: 23/11/15 17:07:00

I recently helped my 62 year old brother apply for a state pension statement from the DWP (as covered in the attached article link
(https://www.lovemoney.com/news/49788/state-pension-statement-changes-dwp-april-2016?source=10000277&utm_source=newsletter).

He has now learned the hard way that while he has made over 40 years NI contributions while employed across his working life, his final state pension is projected to be 70% of whatever the standard state pension will be when he retires! This loss is partially offset because for many years he was "contracted out" and made contributions to various employer pension schemes, though the projected pensions from all of those schemes varies given he had several employments and inevitably, variable company pension fund performance.

Other recent articles I have read quote the DWP as projecting that it will be many years before everyone receives the full state pension, figures upward of 60% declining slowly to 35% being impacted (the attached article only uses people who have actually requested a DWP statement). The lucky ones will be those with compensating private pension arrangements to offset the loss (as in my brother's case) but if you will reach 65 years after April 2016 and are likely to have less than 35 years NI contributions final record (before April 2016 the requirement was 30 years), you may want to urgently consider your options while still working/saving? As the article states the Government seems to accept it has not done a brilliant job of communicating the impact of these changes on future retirees!!

The link to getting a Pension Statement from the DWP is below if needed: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-for-a-state-pension-statement


Entire Thread
TopicDate PostedPosted By
State pensions - an accident that will happen (but slowly)!23/11/15 17:07:00 Joe Conneely
   Re:State pensions - an accident that will happen (but slowly)!23/11/15 17:26:00 Claire Moran
      Re:Re:State pensions - an accident that will happen (but slowly)!23/11/15 17:29:00 Keith Iddon
   Re:State pensions - an accident that will happen (but slowly)!24/11/15 09:04:00 Andrew Craig

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