smarty156

I was looking at the voluntary contributions info on the HMRC website the other day. As I'll be on an H4 visa I can't work when we move out to the US in November. Therefore, contributions would be £13.90 per week i.e. £722.80 per year. Given I already have 28 years contributions and you only need 35 for a full pension, that seems an awful lot to have to contribute over the next 7 years to bring me up to a full pension. As I'm currently 44 I'm thinking it might be better to not make additional contributions yet but wait until I'm working in the US (we'd get green cards further down the line) in which case I'd pay Class 2 contributions at £2.75 per week which then seems like quite a bargain.
If we return to the UK then I'd get a job and pay Class 1 again anyway so no issues.
Any thoughts? Have I got that right?

Pulaski

If you're only going to be here short term (a few years) I certainly wouldn't worry about it if you already have 28 years in the bag. If you are able to pay Class 2 it is quite a bargain, but personally I wouldn't aim only for 35 years of contributions as it is quite possible that they could adjust the rules again and make it 40 years, or more, for a full pension.

smarty156

We don't know how long we're going to be there yet. Depends how we all get on with living there and how my wife gets on with the job. Guess I'll just park this for a while and re-visit once we have a better idea of how long we'll be there.
Thanks again. Just trying to make sure we do all our research before the big move.

thinbrit

You can play catch up with up to six years of contributions. If you are currently up to date, which I presume you are, you might want to readdress this question in 5 years time.

HM Revenue & Customs: When and how to top up your National Insurance contributions

Uncle_Bob

Yes i just applied for class two and got some correspondence back that wasn't too clear. It lists approx $600 amounts going back several years. I assume that what i have to pay if i want to start paying the smaller amounts every month or so? If so I'll have to decide if its worth while spending a few thousand on it for myself and the wife.

Both myself and the wife worked for approx 5 years each in the UK.