Hanging on the Telephone

Another wet day, and I couldn’t go anywhere until this afternoon as I was awaiting a parcel redelivery. Decided to do something useful and check what my State Pension - due in five years time - was looking like. It transpired I needed to make more NI contributions if I wanted to get the maximum so phoned the Future Pensions office for advice. Twenty minutes later I finally got to speak to someone! But it was worth the wait. If I make one extra years voluntary contributions, I get within a pound or so of the maximum I am entitled to. The extremely helpful lady agreed it may not be worth paying the two extra years worth that the website had suggested, as I’d need to guarantee living at least another 8 years to recoup that investment! One very good piece of advice was that I should ensure my contribution is recorded against the 2020/21 tax year, as anything pre 2016 counts towards “years contributed” but will not increase the pension at all.
Duly noted, I phoned HMRC and settled in for another long wait. Thankfully, I could leave the phone on loudspeaker and get on with other things whilst I waited (*see below). Again, once through to someone, the service was efficient and helpful. Not entirely painless as I am now a few hundred pounds poorer, but at least I know I’ll get it back in a few years time.
I checked Mrs C’s figures as well. Her more stable employment record means she only has to cough up an extra £70 in voluntary NI to get her up to maximum state pension. So that’s a no-brainer! We’re seeing our IFA next week though, so I’ll just check with her before committing to anything else regarding State Pensions.
*And whilst I was waiting for the call to HMRC to be answered, I managed to book tickets to see Madness (supported by Squeeze) in December. All in all, a productive day.