If you’re still working towards the State Retirement Age, will YOU be receiving the full amount to which you’re entitled?

For many of us, the State Pension is a core part of our retirement income – and even if you have a private pension or additional investments it can provide a reliable income stream.

Royal London is urging all those who are approaching retirement to check whether it is worth buying state pension top-ups – each of which could add £244 a year to their income – to bring them up to the maximum pay-out, which is currently £164.35 a week.

However, the advice comes with a caveat to make sure you will get the full benefit of any top-up payments.

The firm has just updated his firm’s guide to top-ups to include advice on whether it is worthwhile making the 2017/18 voluntary payment, which costs £741.

You need 35 qualifying years to get the full new State Pension – and if you have fewer years than this, but more than 10, you receive proportionately less… so, if have 20 qualifying years, you divide £164.35 by 35 and then multiply by 20.

The opportunity to buy top-ups can be particularly useful for to those who contracted out of part of the State Pension during their working lives.

The first step is to ask for on official state pension forecast which will tell you how much you can expect (at today’s rates) when you reach retirement age, and if you have any missing contribution years which you could top up with a voluntary payment.

The situation is complicated by the fact that many people will not receive a full pay-out because they have previously contracted out of the second state pension, with that money going into their company pension. This has led to some people buying top-ups in the past which will not actually benefit them in the future.

Former Pensions Minister Steve Webb, who is now policy director at Royal London, told Money Mail: “Many hundreds of thousands of people who are not going to get a full State Pension of £164.35 could boost their pension prospects by paying heavily-subsidised voluntary NI Contributions.

“Now that 2017/18 is over, it is time for those who did not build up a qualifying year towards their pension to review whether to pay voluntary contributions for that year.”

Check your State Pension: https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

Once you have this information you can find out what this means for your retirement by finding out exactly how much you can comfortably afford to spend for each year of your retirement using RetireEasy’s LifePlan, as well as try out different scenarios for your future by subscribing to LifePlan Premium.  It can also tell you whether you have the resources in place to be able to afford to retire at your chosen time…