The New State Pension-frequently asked questions

The state pension you receive will depend on the years of National Insurance (NI) contributions and/or received NI credits you have paid.

The full new pension is £221.20 per week if you have a combination of 35 years of NI contributions and NI credits.

The equivalent annual amount is £11,541.90, but surprisingly, this doesn’t equal 52 weekly payments of £221.20.

That’s because the annual amount is calculated by dividing the weekly amount of £221.20 by 7 to get a daily amount (£31.60) and multiplying this by 365.25.  The 0.25 is to account for leap years.

You’ll receive a reduced state pension amount if you have fewer than 35 years of combined NI contributions and NI credits.

You can get a forecast using the following link to check how much you’ll receive.

Why don’t I receive the full amount?

Apart from needing more qualifying years, the main reason is that you were contracted out at some point.  To understand this, we must go back to 2016, when it was introduced.

Your National Insurance record before 6 April 2016 calculates your ‘starting amount’. This is part of your New State Pension.

Your starting amount will be higher than the amount you’d get under the old pension rules (which includes Basic State Pension and Additional State Pension) or the amount you’d get if the New State Pension had been in place at the start of your working life.

A couple of other reasons why you may not receive the full pension are:

• If you were self-employed as you were never part of an Additional State Pension (also known as State Second Pension, ‘S2P’ or ‘SERPs’)
• Also, women who paid the lower stamp paid less NI contributions.

What is COPE, and should I take this off my State Pension forecast?

The pension you get from your workplace or personal pension for the periods you were contracted out should include an amount that, in most cases, will be the equivalent of the Additional State Pension you’d have if you hadn’t been contracted out.

This is your Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE) amount.

Your forecast shows the COPE estimate as a monetary figure. The COPE figure is just for reference; it doesn’t change the forecast, so you don’t need to remove it from your projections.

How old will I be when I get the State Pension?

The State Pension age for both men and women is 66, increasing to 67 from 2028.

It will be phased in from 2026. This phasing impacts those born between 6 April 1960 and 5 March 1961, who will reach their State Pension age at 66 years and the specified number of months.

Then, it is due to increase to 68 in 2046, with phasing in again, this time from 2044. You can get a State Pension age forecast using this

Will I receive The State Pension automatically?

You should get an invitation letter from the Pension Service 4 months before you reach State Pension age, explaining how to claim your State Pension.

If you haven’t received an invitation letter in two months, call the Pension Service on 0800 731 7898.

Your pension will then be paid every 4 weeks into an account of your choice and paid in arrears.

Can I receive more than £221.20 per week?

You can receive more if you have more than a certain amount of Additional State Pension. Or if you delay taking the New State Pension after reaching the State Pension age.

The additional amount is 1% for every 9 weeks’ delay, equivalent to roughly 5.8% per annum.

Should I delay taking the New State Pension?

One consideration is if you delay taking, you’re missing income for that period.

So, although you’ll get an extra 5.8% yearly, when will you catch up with the missed income?  You need to take into consideration the rate of tax you’re paying.

So, for example, if you’re a higher-rate taxpayer, your pension will attract a higher rate tax.  But of course, what you might try and achieve is if you’re a higher rate taxpayer initially, perhaps because you’re still working, then delay your State Pension until you’re a basic rate taxpayer, so all your income will be taxed at the basic rate.

If you’re a higher-rate taxpayer at pension age and delay taking your State Pension for a year when you’ll be a basic-rate taxpayer, you will not be able to make up for the missed income until you reach age 77.

However, if you were either a basic or higher rate taxpayer both at State Pension and after the delay of one year, then the breakeven age would be 80.

Read here about the triple lock pension and what you need to know.

Should I top up my State Pension?

If your online forecast shows missing years, boosting your pension with Class 3 NI contributions is the most cost-effective way to secure guaranteed retirement income.

Admittedly, you are limited in how much you can get, but it is cost-effective. Buying an extra year of State Pension via class 3 NI contributions costs £907.40. This will get you 1/35 of NSP, approximately £329.77 per annum, increasing by the triple lock.

Therefore, you only need to live 3 years to break even.

If the new system covers you, you can top up your national insurance record from 2006/07 onwards.

You must do this by 5 April 2025. After this date, missing years must be topped up within six years.

What happens to my pension on death? Will any pass on to my spouse?

Under the new rules, each person builds up their entitlement to their own rights; therefore, on death, no New State Pension will be passed on to the surviving spouse.

However, the surviving spouse may be entitled to inherit part of their deceased partner’s Additional State Pension. This is providing their marriage or civil partnership was before 6 April 2016, and one of the following applies: their partner reached pension age before 6 April 2016, or they died before 6 April 2016 but would have reached State Pension age on or after that date.

If your marriage or civil partnership began before 6 April 2016 and your partner died after that date, you may inherit half of their protected payment. This is provided their State Pension age is on or after 6 April 2016.”

The new pension will be available to most people and is integral to retirement planning. For some, it will provide most of their income in retirement.

For others, it may cover their essential income needs.

Please reach out to us today to talk about your retirement planning.