UK State Pension HMRC Site - Forecast required years calculation

[Moneymatters]

Per the HMRC site, my State Pension estimate as of April 5th 2021 is based on:
"29 years of full contributions"

It also shows a "Forecast if you contribute another 8 years before 5 April 20xx" (Exact year redacted so you can't see I'm in my 50's..)
This forecast is the max so that's good.

But the maths leaves me scratching my head.

29 + 8 = 37

I thought you only need 35 years for the full pension. What am I missing?

All my 29 years show as full...

[Beaglehound]

They may just assume that you contribute until you hit the age limit, without taking into account that you might not want to overpay…Which would make you (very) late 50s

[Moneymatters]

They may just assume that you contribute until you hit the age limit, without taking into account that you might not want to overpay…Which would make you (very) late 50s

Nope. Not that. Even says I have umpteen years until retirement age to make those 8 contributing years.

[beanhead]

Strange. Just pay the 6 years' worth and see what happens?
Alternatively, you could call them to see if they can make any sense of it.

[adamu]

I tried to check mine, but it took 45 minutes for the SMS code required for login to arrive, by which time it was invalid.

[JimmyK]

Interesting. My problem (as posted on a different thread) is that although I have the min required 3yrs’ contributions to at least add to, these are almost all via credits. In other words, during the (very!) short time I worked in the UK, a lot of my contributions came through unemployment credits when signing on between short term jobs. According to HMRC, 3yrs contributions isn’t actually 3yrs unless it’s all come from contributions made during employment. Effectively, credits are discounted from this total. Leaves me in a tricky situation. If anyone’s had a similar experience (and come out of it being able to pay Class 2, or 3), I’d be delighted to hear about it!

[RetireJapan]

Interesting. My problem (as posted on a different thread) is that although I have the min required 3yrs’ contributions to at least add to, these are almost all via credits. In other words, during the (very!) short time I worked in the UK, a lot of my contributions came through unemployment credits when signing on between short term jobs. According to HMRC, 3yrs contributions isn’t actually 3yrs unless it’s all come from contributions made during employment. Effectively, credits are discounted from this total. Leaves me in a tricky situation. If anyone’s had a similar experience (and come out of it being able to pay Class 2, or 3), I’d be delighted to hear about it!

I have never paid into NI. I had two years of credit for secondary school, and an NI number.

Sent the form in a couple of times and got accepted to pay Class 3. Not the screaming bargain that Class 2 is, but still a very good deal.

The whole saga is up on the blog: https://www.retirejapan.com/?s=uk+state+pension

[bryanc]

Interesting. My problem (as posted on a different thread) is that although I have the min required 3yrs’ contributions to at least add to, these are almost all via credits. In other words, during the (very!) short time I worked in the UK, a lot of my contributions came through unemployment credits when signing on between short term jobs. According to HMRC, 3yrs contributions isn’t actually 3yrs unless it’s all come from contributions made during employment. Effectively, credits are discounted from this total. Leaves me in a tricky situation. If anyone’s had a similar experience (and come out of it being able to pay Class 2, or 3), I’d be delighted to hear about it!

I have never paid into NI. I had two years of credit for secondary school, and an NI number.

Sent the form in a couple of times and got accepted to pay Class 3. Not the screaming bargain that Class 2 is, but still a very good deal.

The whole saga is up on the blog: https://www.retirejapan.com/?s=uk+state+pension

you could get 3yrs contributions for studying over the age of 16 until 2010-
so Ben isnt yours 3 yrs contributions?(i think thats what you wrote on your blog about this)

JimmyK,are you saying that HMRC are saying the education credits dont count either?Or did you not qualify for this?

[Roger Van Zant]

Interesting. My problem (as posted on a different thread) is that although I have the min required 3yrs’ contributions to at least add to, these are almost all via credits. In other words, during the (very!) short time I worked in the UK, a lot of my contributions came through unemployment credits when signing on between short term jobs. According to HMRC, 3yrs contributions isn’t actually 3yrs unless it’s all come from contributions made during employment. Effectively, credits are discounted from this total. Leaves me in a tricky situation. If anyone’s had a similar experience (and come out of it being able to pay Class 2, or 3), I’d be delighted to hear about it!

I have never paid into NI. I had two years of credit for secondary school, and an NI number.

Sent the form in a couple of times and got accepted to pay Class 3. Not the screaming bargain that Class 2 is, but still a very good deal.

The whole saga is up on the blog: https://www.retirejapan.com/?s=uk+state+pension

Yes. The whole 3yrs contribution requirement is only for Class 2, I believe. So you applying and getting accepted for Class 3 is the only thing that could have happened; no surprise.

Unless my understanding is wrong?

[bryanc]

i think the point is he got rejected for class2 and class 3 so cant make any contributions at all