Free Online UK State Pension Income Forecast
Our instant online UK State Pension income calculator will give an indication of the minimum income you can look forward to in retirement.
This calculator considers your UK National Insurance Contribution (NIC) record to determine your entitlement to the basic state pension income.
It is important to gain an accurate statement of entitlement to find out whether there are additional UK State credits on your NICs record.
Visit the UK government’s state pension website and register to gain an accurate forecast of your UK State Pension benefits.
Basic State Pension Entitlement
A minimum of 10 years’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs) are required to achieve a State Pension entitlement. For employees, NICs are usually added automatically; credits are applied to those earning more than the minimum threshold.
The self-employed will be subject to Class 2 and Class 4 NICs contributions which provide State Pension credits. Those living abroad may have purchased additional years’ NICs credits, or can seek to do so now.
Credits are automatically applied for people looking after children, living in the UK. NICs credits are applied for people claiming child benefit, up until the child reaches age 12.
Check your record and if you don’t yet have 10 years’ state pension credits, explore the option to add credits. You can usually add up to the last 6 years’ worth of NICs. The deadline for backdating contributions is 5th April each year.
You could get more than the basic State Pension income
Our calculator will produce a good estimate of State pension entitlement for those born after the year 2000. Those born before 2000, or have worked in the UK as a non-UK national prior to 2015, may have accrued additional UK state pension credits.
State pension credits are automatically applied for those under UK employment. You may have seen NICs deductions on your payslip. If you’ve earned more than the minimum NICs threshold in a year, you will have accrued UK state pension credits.
Additional UK state pension credits include
- SERPS
- Graduated State Pension
- S2P
If you earned more than the upper National Insurance threshold during your UK working career, (enjoyed earnings higher than c.£40,000 per annum) then it is certainly worth exploring your UK State Pension Benefits further.
Find out the specifics of your UK State Pension
The UK State Pension has gone through a lot of changes over the years, with different opt-out options and benefit adjustments. You may remember ‘contracting out’ of the UK State Pension by deferring your additional credits to your employer’s plan.
Some employers, such as Amec/Wood Group actually offer an online portal to view UK state pension NICs credits alongside their employer pension. For most, it’s best to go direct to the UK Department of Work and Pensions. If you have a UK Government Gateway account, you may be able to view your UK State Pension details online.
Once you know your UK State Pension entitlement, consider planning with the UK State Pension. The basic state pension is not enough to provide a comfortable financial lifestyle, but it can provide an excellent ‘backbone’ to retirement planning. Understand what you will get from the UK State Pension and when. With this information, you can review your pensions and wider retirement wealth to design an income and withdrawal plan to suit you.