Martin Lewis warns state pensioners over believing 'myth'

Martin Lewis has warned state pensioners over believing a National Insurance "myth". The BBC Sounds podcast host and ITV star appeared via video link from This Morning on Thursday (July 4) where he spoke to Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard.

Mr Lewis was asked by a 60-year-old viewer if they need to continue paying National Insurance (NI) if they already have 35 years of contributions. The Money Saving Expert said: “Let's get rid of this 35-year rule myth. I often talk, when I do my programmes, about National Insurance years for the state pension.

“I say you need 35 years-ish to qualify for the state pension. In fact, the last time I did my graphics, I got a massive ‘Ish’ put up there. You do not need 35 years, you need 35 years…ish. For some people, it's 43 years, so I can't answer that question.”

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Mr Lewis went on to say: “You can go on to http://GOV.UK and look at your state pension forecast. You can look at whether you are on track to have the full state pension. What that means is, it may say, ‘Yes, if you were to continue to pay National Insurance for the rest of your life, you would get the full state pension’.

"So, in your situation, you need to look at whether you already have enough years, or whether it is assuming you will keep getting National Insurance until you get to the state pension retirement age. If it is assuming you will keep getting state pension National Insurance, then you will need to make voluntary contributions, which you can do on a weekly basis. If you're self-employed, for example, you can make those voluntary contributions.”

He added: “So I can't tell you whether you need it or not. But I can tell you how to check. And if you get confused, then the Future Pension Centre, which is a Government helpline, a state helpline, should be able to talk you through it. But please, let's just disabuse the notion that all you need is 35 years. It depends on a lot of variables.

“You cannot simply say I've got 35 years, therefore I'm going to get the full state pension.”