Martin Lewis shared "one of the most substantial life-changing pieces of finance" advice on his money show this evening.
The Martin Lewis Show was back on screens this evening and was the first of two specials this month.
Tonight's episode, which the Money Saving Expert said was a "must watch for 45 to 70-year-olds", covered pensions and Martin shared how this could be worth "big money" and you could add tens of thousands of pounds to your state pension.
Martin first told viewers what the state pension was, how you get it and what "missing National Insurance years" was.
You need around 35 years of National Insurance Contributions (NICs) to get the new full state pension although Matin says for "some it can be 30 years and others 40".
If you don't have a full year this is classed as having a "gap".
He then explained what missing National Insurance years meant for people and how they will not get their full pension because of it - but there is an opportunity to make up certain missing years through voluntary National Insurance contributions.
The Money Saving Expert then revealed that the deadline for paying voluntary contributions has just been extended - it was supposed to come to an end next month, but now, people can take advantage of the scheme until April 2025.
He said: "You need to check if you're missing national insurance record to see if you have missing years.
"If you're missing national insurance years, then you need to check your state pension forecast and whether you can improve your forecast.
"If you have a shortfall, you need to ask whether it is worth buying years - if you're aged 45 to 70, it's actually more for people aged 50 but ive lowered it a little, you should consider whether you need to add on years."
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To check if there are any gaps in your NI record, you can use the Gov.uk state pension forecast calculator.
After this, the first step is to call the Future Pension Centre - Martin says this will give you one-to-one advice on whether it will be worth it and whether you should be buying NI contributions.
You may also be eligible for credits - which can top up your national insurance records.
You can contact the free Future Pension Centre on 0800 731 0175 and if you're already at state pension age, contact the free Pension Service helpline on 0800 731 0469.
Martin asked younger viewers to "hold off" from calling the future pensions line so that people closer to state pension age could get through to the service.
This is because the helpline has been "rammed" due to increased demand for the service which the Money Saving Expert said was down to his public campaign.
Although, the Pensions Minister Laura Trott told Martin that this issue was being looked into.
He added: "You can either in some cases get some National Insurance years for free, or you will pay up to £800-ish for a National Insurance year.
"For some people, it could be a lot cheaper than that and for each year you buy if you don't have the full state pension, it will add £250 a year to your pension.
"'So you pay £800, it adds to £250 a year, the break even point is three years."
Martin shared how these top ups could possibly add several thousand onto your overall state pension.
To prove this point, the Martin Lewis Money Show shared a handful of success stories over the course of the show.
One success story managed to add £14,000 to their state pension pot and another added £26,000.
The biggest success story added a whopping £95,000.
Martin told viewers that figures such as this were relatively common and he was "getting hundreds and thousands of messages like this".
