Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi I Sperg
I read a post from you last week or so where you talked about the fact that you choose not to go onto benefits but rather to work mowing and strimming lawns etc.
Something occurred to me and I couldn't find the post again, so I am writing this message to you instead.
I don't know what your situation is and apologise if I am way off target here...I am assuming you may be self employed...
Do you still get your National Insurance credits paid towards your State Pension?
I only ask this because it used to be that you paid Class 2 NI if you were self employed, and this did not count towards your State Pension.
Obviously when you are in PAYE (which can be hard to get or maintain when autistic) then your NI is ok.
And on benefits it is paid also.
You will need 30-35 years to get the full state pension. Or maybe you can do something with Pension Credit otherwise...either way, whether you claim now or not...you may end up claiming more later....
I know you are very smart, so you probably have this all figured out...forgive me if I speak out of turn...I just wanted to check you are ok!
Sorry to butt into this conversation.
I always thought people who were self employed could make direct contributions to add to their state pension, i think class 4 contributions. To do it required contacting HMRC, getting a code, making payment 3-4 times a year and that was pretty much it.
I haven't looked at this in years though so things might have changed. But as far as I know, you can make contributions for your state pension directly to HMRC. Obviously once you hit the max number of years, 30-35, it becomes pointless to put any more contributions in for your pension, in which case you can probably do class 2 which I think is only for benefits/nhs.