Martin Lewis reminded people they can boost their state pension but a change in April 2025 means there are now different factors to consider
Martin Lewis has useful advice to determine whether people would gain from making voluntary National Insurance contributions to enhance their state pension. It’s possible to voluntarily pay contributions if there are gaps in your NI record, which could potentially increase your state pension entitlement.
Yet Mr Lewis has a warning after the rules changed last year. Details about the issue were discussed when a listener of his BBC podcast contacted Mr Lewis to share that he had achieved a significant boost to his pension.
That followed advice from Martin Lewis suggesting he investigate whether he could purchase contributions. This individual previously had only nine years of NI contributions, whilst you require at least 10 years’ worth to receive any state pension when claiming the benefit.
Generally, you need 35 years of contributions to qualify for the full new state pension, which currently stands at £230.25 per week. Payments are rising by 4.8 per cent next April under the triple lock, pushing the full new rate to £241.30 weekly, or £12,547.60 annually.
The listener told Martin they had managed to purchase 18 years’ worth of contributions under a previous extended scheme which concluded in April 2025. Ordinarily, you can only buy contributions dating back six years, but this was temporarily extended, permitting voluntary contributions as far back as the 2006/2007 tax year.
Mr Lewis said on the podcast just before Christmas whose advice is still relevant today: “You bought 18 years, it probably cost you depending on if you were self employed or not, somewhere in the region of £10,000 to £15,000, so quite a lot of money.
“But on the back of that, you would get I would estimate around £120 a week state pension, which is about £6,000 a year. Let’s say you live 20 years from your pension age, which would be a typical life expectancy – that’s £120,000 and that is inflation proofed because of the triple lock.”
With 18 years of NI contributions, you could expect approximately £124 a week in state pension, nearly £6,500 annually. Mr Lewis also offered a cautionary note for those considering topping up, reports the Express.
Six year limit
He explained: “The whole issue about April 2025 is that was the deadline for going back to 2006. The rules now are that you can only go back six years.
“It was about the transition from the old state pension to the new state pension. If you are missing years in the last six years, it is worth checking and doing the maths.
“There are some guides online that will help you deciding whether it is worth you buying those extra years to make sure that you’re getting the full state pension. If you are missing years, it can be very lucrative but it isn’t right for everyone and it’s a bit of a process.”
Government guidance on buying contributions
The gov.uk website says: “You can only pay voluntary contributions for the past 6 years. The deadline is 5 April each year.
“For example, you have until 5 April 2031 to make up gaps for the tax year 2024 to 2025.” Visit it here for more information.
