Foreign wife (dependent) - JP pension benefits

[Beaglehound]

Thanks for the advice. I will get onto the UK state pension ASAP.
So 21 years of contributions are needed to get the full UK pension amount? That sounds a lot more reasonable than the 40 in Japan. Is this correct?

35 years currently for U.K. pension, but the amount you get is a fair bit higher than the Japanese state pension.

[halfmanhalfsenbei]

OK got it thanks.
Is there a way to calculate what my UK pension would look like with X years of contributions?
If I were to start this year I will get to 25 years max.

[Beaglehound]

OK got it thanks.
Is there a way to calculate what my UK pension would look like with X years of contributions?
If I were to start this year I will get to 25 years max.

Have you ever worked in the U.K.? Or been on benefits? I ask because one of the criteria to be accepted for voluntary payments is that you have already made 3 years of national insurance contributions. Assuming you were at school there, you will have been credited with 2 years, but will need an extra one. This form (page 9) should help you work out if you are eligible:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... _12_20.pdf

At the moment, full annual pension for 35 years of contributions is around £9400, so around £270 for each year of contributions. As a comparison a year of kokumin nenkin contributions gets you just under 20 000 yen annually.

[RetireJapan]

So 21 years of contributions are needed to get the full UK pension amount? That sounds a lot more reasonable than the 40 in Japan. Is this correct?

Sadly no. It's 35 years for full UK state pension, minimum of 10 to qualify to receive a pension.

[halfmanhalfsenbei]

OK got it thanks.
Is there a way to calculate what my UK pension would look like with X years of contributions?
If I were to start this year I will get to 25 years max.

Have you ever worked in the U.K.? Or been on benefits? I ask because one of the criteria to be accepted for voluntary payments is that you have already made 3 years of national insurance contributions. Assuming you were at school there, you will have been credited with 2 years, but will need an extra one. This form (page 9) should help you work out if you are eligible:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... _12_20.pdf

At the moment, full annual pension for 35 years of contributions is around £9400, so around £270 for each year of contributions. As a comparison a year of kokumin nenkin contributions gets you just under 20 000 yen annually.

I did go to school in the UK but came to Japan immediately after university so have very limited UK work history.
Would I have been paying NI contributions as a student?

[halfmanhalfsenbei]

I mean, doing part-time jobs as a student.
I do have months here and there of full time work history in the UK, but it's patchy.
I suppose they could easily see the extent of my past contributions if i were to apply to may further payments?

[Beaglehound]

I mean, doing part-time jobs as a student.
I do have months here and there of full time work history in the UK, but it's patchy.
I suppose they could easily see the extent of my past contributions if i were to apply to may further payments?

Yes, probably best to fill in the form at the bottom of the link I posted before, send it off, wait for…ages, and they will tell you if you are eligible.

[JapaneseMike]

I mean, doing part-time jobs as a student.
I do have months here and there of full time work history in the UK, but it's patchy.
I suppose they could easily see the extent of my past contributions if i were to apply to may further payments?

From my understanding, as long as you had an NI number, and had income over a number of years (regardless of whether you were a student or not), then it'll count as 'working' in the UK. If you were being paid in cash / no official taxation/NI contributions then you're likely out of luck.

And the 35 years for the UK state pension will depend on your age. I think they've been shifting it upwards. I use the UK pension website and according to them I only need 32 years of contributions (25 down, 7 to go) (Not entitled until 2045 though)

[Beaglehound]

I mean, doing part-time jobs as a student.
I do have months here and there of full time work history in the UK, but it's patchy.
I suppose they could easily see the extent of my past contributions if i were to apply to may further payments?

From my understanding, as long as you had an NI number, and had income over a number of years (regardless of whether you were a student or not), then it'll count as 'working' in the UK. If you were being paid in cash / no official taxation/NI contributions then you're likely out of luck.

And the 35 years for the UK state pension will depend on your age. I think they've been shifting it upwards. I use the UK pension website and according to them I only need 32 years of contributions (25 down, 7 to go) (Not entitled until 2045 though)

Yes, for the OP it will depend if in particular tax years he paid enough in NI for the system to recognise it as a contributing year. This is opaque, to me anyway.

As far as I am aware Mike, the number of contributing years for the maximum new state pension is 35. There are all sorts of complications with crossovers from paying into the ‘old’ system, but I am surprised that for someone of your relative youth it is showing you only needing 32 in total.

[halfmanhalfsenbei]

Thanks everyone for your really helpful advice.
Long live community!