State pension due to rise in April but millions of Britons missing out – common mistakes | Personal Finance | Finance
The state pension is due to rise 3.1 percent in line with inflation this April but that could be little consolation to millions of pensioners who are missing out on the full amount. However, there are some things younger Britons can do now to make sure they receive their full entitlement when they retire.
Many pensioners rely on the state pension as their only source of income when they retire.
However, with figures showing that millions of pensioners are receiving less than £100 a week, it pays for Britons to think ahead.
Even if people have another means of income to rely on in retirement, it’s still important to make sure they are receiving everything they are entitled to.
Parents are being reminded that there are two things they can do to make sure their state pension isn’t compromised later on in life.
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She said: “State pensions are on the rise, but we shouldn’t forget there are still over 2 million people getting less than £100 a week.
“Of this, over 1.5 million are women.
“Some of these people have other sources of income they can rely on, but there are many, particularly older women, who are wholly reliant on their state pension and find themselves in desperate financial straits.”
“While auto-enrolment means future generations are less likely to enter retirement without an occupational pension, care should also be taken to ensure you claim the necessary National Insurance (NI) credits to top up your state pension entitlement.”
Parents with children under 12 who aren’t working or earning enough to pay National Insurance contributions, can claim Child Benefit to ensure they receive enough National Insurance credits.
These credits count towards someone’s state pension, so they don’t have gaps in your National Insurance record.
This could catch out higher earners who have chosen not to receive Child Benefit because they earn over £50,000 and could be subject to the Higher Income Child Benefit Charge.
In these circumstances they should state on the opt out form that they would still like to receive National Insurance credits.
Specified Adult Childcare credits were introduced in April 2011.
Britons may be entitled to receive these NI credits if they are a grandparent, or other family member, who cares for a child under 12, while their main carer is working.
People will need to put in an application to receive these NI credits as they won’t be applied automatically.
More information can be found at Gov.uk.
