Opted out of SERPS?
Discussion
Sorry for what is potentially a very daft set of questions but I'm struggling to get my head around this one.
Aged about 18 (thirty years ago
) I started a personal pension and on the guidance of a Financial Advisor, opted out of SERPS. I'm not really too bothered about the rights or wrongs of this advice now.
I remember (but not how long ago) getting a letter from the pension company advising, (I think) that this was no longer the best course of action and I would be enrolled back in and a payment made into my pension account to make up for the lost value of SERPS (or something, this bit is sketchy in my mind.
Any thoughts on what went on?
Will my state pension be less than the headline figures of £x per week now as a result of having a period of opting out?
Will the fact I may (will) end up with more qualifying years than thirty five balance out that some years I was opted out (i.e. If I was opted out for 6 years but had a total of 41 qualifying years) would the above point now be irrelevant?
IF an additional payment was made (and I haven't imagined that bit) can I 'see' this to understand exactly what went on.
TIA
Aged about 18 (thirty years ago
) I started a personal pension and on the guidance of a Financial Advisor, opted out of SERPS. I'm not really too bothered about the rights or wrongs of this advice now.I remember (but not how long ago) getting a letter from the pension company advising, (I think) that this was no longer the best course of action and I would be enrolled back in and a payment made into my pension account to make up for the lost value of SERPS (or something, this bit is sketchy in my mind.
Any thoughts on what went on?
Will my state pension be less than the headline figures of £x per week now as a result of having a period of opting out?
Will the fact I may (will) end up with more qualifying years than thirty five balance out that some years I was opted out (i.e. If I was opted out for 6 years but had a total of 41 qualifying years) would the above point now be irrelevant?
IF an additional payment was made (and I haven't imagined that bit) can I 'see' this to understand exactly what went on.
TIA
Edited by mfmman on Wednesday 4th July 10:05
Edited by mfmman on Wednesday 4th July 10:06
You can register online and check out what your state pension will be, how many years you have paid to date, how many years left to pay to qualify for max pension or even any years you are able to pay to cover any missed years
https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension
https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension
I was also contracted out of SERPS at the age of 18. over 20 years ago. This has always played on my mind because I didnt really understand what it means but I too was advised to do this by a Pension person at my place of employment.
Several years ago a took control of all my tax and a keen interest on its contents. I registerd on line to see my state pension and NI payments.
I saw this:
You’ve been in a contracted-out pension scheme
Like most people, you were contracted out of part of the State Pension.
But I also have this:
You need to continue to contribute National Insurance to reach your forecast
Estimate based on your National Insurance record up to 5 April 2018
£164.35 a week
£164.35 is the most you can get
You cannot improve your forecast any further, unless you choose to put off claiming.
£164.35 a week
£714.63 a month, £8,575.55 a year
Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE)
Your COPE estimate is
£1.24 a week
.
This will not affect your State Pension forecast. The COPE amount is paid as part of your other pension schemes, not by the government.
So it would appear being contracted out has not had any impact on what I can claim by the looks of it. Im not worried, I have a SIPP and a good work pension but its certainly worth while registering online, as already mentioned by the other chap, to see what info they hold about you
Several years ago a took control of all my tax and a keen interest on its contents. I registerd on line to see my state pension and NI payments.
I saw this:
You’ve been in a contracted-out pension scheme
Like most people, you were contracted out of part of the State Pension.
But I also have this:
You need to continue to contribute National Insurance to reach your forecast
Estimate based on your National Insurance record up to 5 April 2018
£164.35 a week
£164.35 is the most you can get
You cannot improve your forecast any further, unless you choose to put off claiming.
£164.35 a week
£714.63 a month, £8,575.55 a year
Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE)
Your COPE estimate is
£1.24 a week
.
This will not affect your State Pension forecast. The COPE amount is paid as part of your other pension schemes, not by the government.
So it would appear being contracted out has not had any impact on what I can claim by the looks of it. Im not worried, I have a SIPP and a good work pension but its certainly worth while registering online, as already mentioned by the other chap, to see what info they hold about you
oldaudi said:
I was also contracted out of SERPS at the age of 18. over 20 years ago. This has always played on my mind because I didnt really understand what it means but I too was advised to do this by a Pension person at my place of employment.
Several years ago a took control of all my tax and a keen interest on its contents. I registerd on line to see my state pension and NI payments.
I saw this:
You’ve been in a contracted-out pension scheme
Like most people, you were contracted out of part of the State Pension.
But I also have this:
You need to continue to contribute National Insurance to reach your forecast
Estimate based on your National Insurance record up to 5 April 2018
£164.35 a week
£164.35 is the most you can get
You cannot improve your forecast any further, unless you choose to put off claiming.
£164.35 a week
£714.63 a month, £8,575.55 a year
Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE)
Your COPE estimate is
£1.24 a week
.
This will not affect your State Pension forecast. The COPE amount is paid as part of your other pension schemes, not by the government.
So it would appear being contracted out has not had any impact on what I can claim by the looks of it. Im not worried, I have a SIPP and a good work pension but its certainly worth while registering online, as already mentioned by the other chap, to see what info they hold about you
Is the COPE figure the minimum you should be getting from the pension provider you contracted out to?Several years ago a took control of all my tax and a keen interest on its contents. I registerd on line to see my state pension and NI payments.
I saw this:
You’ve been in a contracted-out pension scheme
Like most people, you were contracted out of part of the State Pension.
But I also have this:
You need to continue to contribute National Insurance to reach your forecast
Estimate based on your National Insurance record up to 5 April 2018
£164.35 a week
£164.35 is the most you can get
You cannot improve your forecast any further, unless you choose to put off claiming.
£164.35 a week
£714.63 a month, £8,575.55 a year
Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE)
Your COPE estimate is
£1.24 a week
.
This will not affect your State Pension forecast. The COPE amount is paid as part of your other pension schemes, not by the government.
So it would appear being contracted out has not had any impact on what I can claim by the looks of it. Im not worried, I have a SIPP and a good work pension but its certainly worth while registering online, as already mentioned by the other chap, to see what info they hold about you
I was pleasantly surprised to find this is one bit of financial advice I'll actually benefit from. Similarly (although I was a bit older than others mentioned above), I opted out and then was opted back in a few years later. It turns out I've paid in to the government scheme for enough years to get a full pension (ISTR 30 years) and the 'opted out' years in the stand alone scheme will give me over £1200 pa extra income I'd otherwise not receive.
Fastpedeller said:
I was pleasantly surprised to find this is one bit of financial advice I'll actually benefit from. Similarly (although I was a bit older than others mentioned above), I opted out and then was opted back in a few years later. It turns out I've paid in to the government scheme for enough years to get a full pension (ISTR 30 years) and the 'opted out' years in the stand alone scheme will give me over £1200 pa extra income I'd otherwise not receive.
Indeed. I was contracted out of SERPS in 1987, until 2012 or thereabouts when it became necessary to opt back in. My contracted out amounts were paid into an Aviva scheme, that seems to have performed extremely well. I'm still going to be entitled to a full state pension, plus my Aviva pot is worth over £100K which I think can be added to my main pension pot for draw down, after I've taken the 25% tax free when I retire in about 4 years. Providing I've understood it all correctly.
The Leaper said:
Twig,
Just to be pedantic. You are not getting a full State pension. What you are getting is a full State Basic pension. The former will include any SERPS benefits and other State pensions you may have accumulated, but as you were contracted out you will not get these.
R.
Yes, sorry, you are quite correct. Full basic state pension. However, I seriously doubt, if I hadn't opted out, any extra I might have got will have amounted to a fraction of the £100K+ I now have in my Aviva pot. Which will continue to grow prior to my retirement, even though I'm no longer contributing to it. Plus, that's my money. Any state govt pension rule changes they introduce to their ponzi scheme will not effect it. Just to be pedantic. You are not getting a full State pension. What you are getting is a full State Basic pension. The former will include any SERPS benefits and other State pensions you may have accumulated, but as you were contracted out you will not get these.
R.
And if I die prior to retirement, that money goes to my family, not kept by the govt.
The Leaper said:
Twig,
Just to be pedantic. You are not getting a full State pension. What you are getting is a full State Basic pension. The former will include any SERPS benefits and other State pensions you may have accumulated, but as you were contracted out you will not get these.
R.
I thought a few years back the gov announced there would be no enhancements for SERPS and there was just one basic full amount - I guess this had (or has) an implementation date attached to it though? If indeed it is the case?Just to be pedantic. You are not getting a full State pension. What you are getting is a full State Basic pension. The former will include any SERPS benefits and other State pensions you may have accumulated, but as you were contracted out you will not get these.
R.
Right, thanks to the above posts I now understand a bit more
Next question, since mine was a personal pension, how (if at all) can I prove or see that my NI contributions from the period I opted out actually made it into my pension fund?
Might be a bit complicated that the personal pension was with Britannic who are now defunct I think and in about 2000 I transferred it all into Standard Life as I was able to join a company (but still DC) scheme. I will still have some paperwork in the loft I think but if it doesn't show me anything on how much NI contributions went in and when, how might I find this info?
Next question, since mine was a personal pension, how (if at all) can I prove or see that my NI contributions from the period I opted out actually made it into my pension fund?
Might be a bit complicated that the personal pension was with Britannic who are now defunct I think and in about 2000 I transferred it all into Standard Life as I was able to join a company (but still DC) scheme. I will still have some paperwork in the loft I think but if it doesn't show me anything on how much NI contributions went in and when, how might I find this info?
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