Thanks to regular updates from money man Martin Lewis, it's common knowledge that a person typically needs around 30 years' worth of National Insurance (NI) contributions to receive a full basic state pension upon retirement.
To receive the full new state pension, people are usually required to have an extra five years on top of this - so it's certainly worth checking to see if you have any gaps in payments into National Insurance as you approach retirement, as it could reduce how much you receive.
One woman recently told Martin on his BBC Sounds podcast that she was amazed to discover that she hasn't paid enough in National Insurance to receive the full state pension, with the financial guru warning others to not fall into the same circumstance.
