The full rate of the new State Pension will be £179.60 per week (in 2021/22) but what you will get could be more or less, depending on your National Insurance (NI) record.
The full basic State Pension is £141.85 per week. If you have fewer than 30 qualifying years, your basic State Pension will be less than £141.85 per week but you might be able to top up by paying voluntary National Insurance contributions.
The full amount is £141.85 a week in the tax year 2022/23.
The full new State Pension is £185.15 per week. The only reasons you can get more than the full State Pension are if: you have over a certain amount of Additional State Pension. you defer (delay) taking your State Pension.
Employers and employees each pay 6.2% of the employee's gross salary into the state pension fund. Self-employed persons and freelancers must pay the full 12.4% themselves. However, contributions must only be paid up to an income of currently $137,700 (as of 2021).
The average Social Security benefit is expected to be $1,827 per month in January 2023. The maximum possible Social Security benefit for someone who retires at full retirement age is $3,627 in 2023.
You'll need 35 qualifying years to get the full new State Pension. You'll get a proportion of the new State Pension if you have between 10 and 35 qualifying years. You have 20 qualifying years on your National Insurance record after 5 April 2016. You divide £185.15 by 35 and then multiply by 20.
Not everyone gets the same amount. How much you get depends on your National Insurance record. For many people, the State Pension is only part of their retirement income. For example, they may also have money from a workplace pension, other pension and/or earnings.
You usually need a total of 30 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions or credits to get the full basic State Pension. This means that for 30 years, one or more of the following applied to you: you were working and paying National Insurance.
Any State Pension you get is liable to income tax, but it's paid to you before any tax is deducted.
Do you pay tax on your pension? You pay tax on your pension if your total annual income adds up to more than your Personal Allowance.
The basic State Pension is usually paid every 4 weeks into an account of your choice. You're paid 'in arrears', which means you're paid for the last 4 weeks, not for the coming 4 weeks.
If you have never worked, and therefore never paid NI, you may still be eligible for the State Pension if you have received certain state benefits, for example carer's allowance or Universal Credit.
If you are retiring abroad, you can continue to receive your UK State Pension. You can get pension increases yearly if you live in a European Economic Area (EEA) country or a country which has a social security agreement with the UK.
According to the trade association, a single person will need £10,900 a year to achieve the minimum living standard, £20,800 a year for moderate, and £33,600 a year for comfortable. For couples it is £16,700, 30,600 and £49,700.
The government provides a small state pension to all eligible people once they reach a certain age. However, you should think of this as a top-up to your other income, as on its own it is usually not enough to live on.
You can claim State Pension abroad if you've paid enough UK National Insurance contributions to qualify.
You need 39 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions to get the full amount. You'll still get something if you have at least 10 qualifying years, but it'll be less than the full amount. You might qualify for an Additional State Pension, depending on your contributions.
Although you can retire at any age, you can only claim your State Pension when you reach State Pension age. For workplace or personal pensions, you need to check with each scheme provider the earliest age you can claim pension benefits.
You will not get your State Pension automatically - you have to claim it. Check if you need to claim the new State Pension instead. You can claim the basic State Pension by either: calling the State Pension claim line.
Those with 35 years will simply get the full flat-rate pension and anything beyond this will simply help with the general cost of providing pensions to today's retired population.