{"id":3031,"date":"2023-03-13T16:34:41","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T16:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fpgonline.co.uk\/?p=3031"},"modified":"2023-09-19T09:44:28","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T09:44:28","slug":"golden-opportunity-to-boost-your-state-pension-extended","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fpgonline.co.uk\/index.php\/golden-opportunity-to-boost-your-state-pension-extended\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden Opportunity To Boost Your State Pension Extended"},"content":{"rendered":"

A \u201cgolden opportunity\u201d for workers to boost their state pensions has been extended, after it was reported that chaos on civil servant phone lines risked thousands missing out. People without a full National Insurance (NI) record are not entitled to the full state pension \u2013 currently \u00a3185.15 a week \u2013 but can pay voluntary contributions to rectify this. Normally workers can only plug gaps in their NI history dating back six years.<\/p>\n

An article written by Telegraph Money\u2019s Lauren Almeida explains that; \u201cA change to the state pension in 2016 created a longer, one-off concession, which allows workers to make catch-up payments for the tax years from 2006-07 to 2015-16. This window was meant to close at the end of the tax year on April 5. But the deadline has now been extended by 16 weeks to July 31, after Government helplines were overwhelmed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Victoria Atkins, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said: \u201cWe\u2019ve listened to concerned members of the public and have acted. We recognise how important state pensions are for retired individuals, which is why we are giving people more time to fill any gaps in their NI record to help bolster their entitlement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sir Steve Webb, a former pensions minister, now of consultancy LCP, said: \u201cThis is great news for people thinking of topping up their state pension. For most people, paying voluntary NI contributions to deal with a shortfall in their state pension makes excellent financial sense. But it is also important to make sure that extra contributions are right in your individual case as sometimes additional contributions may not boost your pension. People need time to talk through their options with DWP and then make the correct payment to HMRC and this extension to the deadline should give them time to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

You should be aware that the standard cost to make up a year of missing NI contributions is \u00a3824.20, although the self-employed pay just \u00a3163.80. All voluntary NIC payments will be accepted at the existing 2022-23 rates until the new July deadline. Thousands of taxpayers with incomplete years in their tax record could be better off in retirement if they made voluntary payments, according to HM Revenue and Customs.<\/p>\n

The first step is to check state pension forecasts at:\u00a0https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/check-state-pension.<\/a><\/p>\n