A man has revealed how he was able to boost his state pension by a huge £28,000 - thanks to advice from money saving expert Martin Lewis. On the Martin Lewis Money Show on ITV, a man called Brian wrote in to thank the financial guru for his tip on National Insurance contribution top ups.
Brian said he had topped up his National Insurance contributions recently after hearing about Martin's campaign. He said he had paid £4,070 overall which would give him an extra £1,400 of state pension per year at today's pension rate.
Brian wrote to Martin saying: "Thank you so much. Without you I would never have thought of checking."
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Responding to the message, Martin noted that the pension rate also goes up with inflation. He also highlighted that the average life expectancy after people get their state pension is 20 years, reports the Mirror.
He said: "So 20 times by £1,400 is £28,000. They have paid £4,000 and the likely return on this is around £28,000 - and it's inflation proofed."
Over the last few months, Martin has warned people between the ages of 45 and 70 to check their National Insurance records. This is because a major deadline was fast approaching.
Anyone between these ages is currently able to buy missing National Insurance contributions going back to 2006. Martin reiterated how important this was because people need 35 years on their National Insurance record to claim the full new state pension.
If people have fewer years than this, their state pension will be smaller - and you need 10 years to get anything at all. The deadline for being able to buy for those years was to come to an end this April 5.
But the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) phone lines became jammed as too many people were trying to contact them. This forced the Government to extend the deadline from April until July 31, 2023.
In its announcement this week, the Government said that it had "listened to public concerns and had acted on them". This means people have more time to buy missing years if they have them between 2006 and 2016.
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