People finding themselves with a pension shortfall are being urged to look at two options to top it up.
The new State Pension rises by just 3.1 per cent on April 6, increasing it by £5.55 to £185.15 a week, assuming you get the full amount.
In real terms, that is a cut of £7.45 a week, or £388 a year, with inflation set to hit 7.25 percent, reports the Express.
Those who retired before April 6, 2016, on the old State Pension will get a maximum £141.85, just £4.25 more.
To get the maximum entitlement, 35 years of qualifying National Insurance contributions are needed for the new State Pension, or 30 years for the old one.
One option is to make Class 3 voluntary NI contributions, says Becky O’Connor, head of pensions and savings at Interactive Investor.
She says: “This is still well worth looking into as the return on investment can be astonishing.”
Class 3 voluntary NI contributions can plug the State Pension shortfall for those who were employed but had low earnings.
They can also make up any shortfall for people who were unemployed but did not claim benefits, and the self-employed who did not pay contributions because they only made small profits.
Those living or working outside the UK could also bolster their State Pension in the same way.
Voluntary Class 3 payments cost £15.40 a week, which adds up to £800.80 a year.
O’Connor says. “Each additional qualifying year that you generate will add 1/35th of state pension, which on the new State Pension is around £5.29 a week from April 6, or £275.08 a year.”
That gives you £825.24 over the first three years, which means you have effectively got your money back. "Over the course of the typical 20-year retirement, you could get £5,501.60 in total extra State Pension. That’s an incredible return of 587 per cent.”
However, this depends on how long you live after drawing your State Pension. Those who die relatively early will get a smaller return, which means those in poor health should think twice before buying extra pension.
Another option to top up is to claim NI credits to cover any period when you were unable to work and claimed benefits such as Working Tax Credits, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit, or were raising a family or acting as a carer.
Andrew Tully, technical director at Canada Life, said these should have been given automatically, but he added: “If unsure, check, as they can be backdated.”
In some cases, people have to actively claim NI credits, including those on Carer’s Allowance who cared for between 20 and 35 hours a week.
There are also limits on the amount of extra State Pension you can buy.
O’Connor says: “You can usually only make voluntary NI payments for gaps in the previous six years.”
Visit Government portal Gov.uk to check your NI record, see if you are eligible to make voluntary contributions, and how much it will cost. Or contact the Future Pension Centre on 0800 731 0175.
Be warned, buying extra years could backfire if you lose other state benefits as a result. If on a low income in retirement, check your eligibility for Pension Credit instead, which increases a single pensioner’s income to £177.10 a week or £270.30 a week for couples.
You don't have to pay anything to get Pension Credit, yet a million of the poorest pensioners fail to claim it.
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