Martin Lewis has issued guidance on what people should avoid doing when checking their state pension.
It comes after the money-saving expert previously explained that a person would need around 30 to 40 years of National Insurance Contributions (NICs) in order to receive the new full state pension. However, some people may have a gap in their records, otherwise known as a missing year.
This can happen if someone doesn't have a full year of contribution, potentially reducing how much they can get out of the pension. Fortunately, this can be made up with voluntary contribution with more time being added as the scheme has been extended to April 2025.
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Appearing on the Martin Lewis Podcast, he said explained how people can make contributions to their state pension. However, he warned: "Do not...go check your national insurance missing years and go 'I'm missing a couple of years for 2008-2009' and then check your pension forecast and go 'l yeah I'm not going to get the full pension, I'm going to go and buy'.
"There is a step first. And this is the step that is causing all the problems - you need to call the Future Pension Centre for one-on-one advice.
"It will give you bespoke advice about your national insurance record. Now what can happen if you don't do this is you may end up spending money that won't give you a gain, you may end up spending money for example to buy too many years when it won't actually increase it that much.
"But the problem is this is the one that no one can get through to. So a couple of quick things when you shouldn't be calling - if you have pre-2006 years missing you can't buy them, there's no point calling."
He added: "The other thing is if you are expected to get the full state pension - there is no point in buying years so please don't get in the queue. The final reason I don't want you in the queue - if you're already at state pension age, then you do not call the Future Pension Centre because it is not a future pension for you - you call the Pension Service and they will do the same thing."
He highlighted that the wait times to get through to the Future Pension Service will still be high as the queues will be "rammed". He noted that this is because the service cannot increase capacity quickly enough because the people running it have to be qualified.
He advised that people waiting to get through to the service but aren't a priority should get their finances in order and ensure they have the money available to contribute to their pension and give it a few weeks "at least" before they attempt to access the service.
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