chawkins99

It's not being abolished. The government rolled back on that one a few months ago.

After you move, you'll need to apply to pay class 2 contributions. I'll try to find the form.

Make sure you retain a UK bank account after moving. It will make your life so much easier.

Here ya go: https://assets.publishing.service.go...59966/NI38.pdf

And: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-45439542

Lisboa

I'm open to correction here folks, but as far as I know, credits aren't given to university students; but they are given automatically on your 16th, 17th, and 18th birthday.

tbm

You're correct.

Starting credits were abolished in 2010.

Mclearg

Thanks for the info.
As I am relocating on a local contract I'm not self employed. Does that mean it's Class 3 I want to pay?

tbm

The rules are different for people paying voluntary contributions abroad. Basically, if you've worked in the UK before leaving and you're going to work abroad (no matter whether employed or self-employed), you should be eligible to class 2 contributions (which are much cheaper than class 3). If you don't meet the criteria, you can only pay the more expensive class 3 contributions.

Here are two links. The second one contains the form you have to fill out.

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-nationa...-contributions

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...ty-abroad-ni38

tbm

Deleted - duplicate post

Mclearg

Thanks for the Information - much appreciated

samills610

Is there anything I can do to better prepare myself for paying class 2 contributions before I move? I'll be leaving in 4 weeks time and trying to get organised as best as possible. Is it just a case of wait until I have moved to start the process?

durham_lad

samills610

Thank you, have done that. I can see actually that I have a few missing years during University when I was working but likely did not earn enough.

I assume Class 2 contributions are only paid for those years when actually living abroad, and that I won't be able to pay for historic gaps in contributions prior to living abroad, at class 2 rates? (Probably a silly question but worth throwing out there if anybody knows)

Only 12 years of contributions and 3 years of Gaps for myself, which means there is still a lot of time before I will see any benefit from making class 2 (or 3 when class 2 is scrapped) contributions, and a lot of things may change before then

durham_lad

I would forget about those student years for now, though worth asking about when you do call to apply for Class 2 once you have moved and are working overseas.

Since moving back I have been paying Class 3 since I'm so close to getting my OAP as I think they are also a good investment so close to retirement age. (age 66 for me I think and I'll be 64 next month). If they hadn't recently bumped up the number of years for full pension from 30 to 35 years I wouldn't be paying in at all now. Wish I'd been more diligent when I first moved over and started Class 2 contributions immediately, but at age 32 I just wasn't thinking long term, and it was a 2 year assignment I went out for.

tbm

You can't pay for historic gaps at class 2 rates. Gaps are cheaper if you pay them before April 2019 but I suspect your university years are too long ago since you can only pay for the last 6 years.

If you log into your Personal Account you can click on "View gaps in your record". It will show you whether you can still pay for the gap and, if so, how much. See https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/personal-account

For example, for 2009-10 I see "Pay a voluntary contribution of £689 by 5 April 2023. This shortfall may increase after 5 April 2019." For 2000-01 on the other hand I get "It’s too late to pay for this year. You can usually only pay for the last 6 years."

samills610

I'm only 31, but as I am moving with my USC wife I am with the mindset that this is a permanent move I do want to do exactly that and be diligent from the start really.


Hmmm, I see the same message about paying back before it potentially increases in April, but as far back as 2006-2007 (and the two proceeding years), so it appears I can still pay for these years whilst I was at university and presumably not earning enough to qualift as a full year. Two of these cost less than £200 each, so not much more than the current class 2 payment, so in theory it would make sense to pay these now. The third payment is about £700 so might not necessarily be worth it

durham_lad

The maximum pension you can get is with 35 years service, any contributions above that don't increase the amount you receive so at age 31 and with a bunch of years already in the system it is marginal, although at £200 it is probably worth doing because there is no saying if they will increase the number of years needed in the future, or more likely, abolish Class 2 so it might be good to get those cheap years locked in asap.

samills610

Thats's what I was thinking in regards to the cheaper years - they're not too far off current class 2 which may or may not be abolished in the future. Looks like i'll be paying those over the next few days.

Thanks to those on this thread.

Now to start thinking about my work based pensions and what to do with them