Pensions
The State Pension
What is the additional State Pension? The additional State Pension is related to the level of your earnings and is paid on top of your basic State Pension. But you do not have to be getting basic State Pension to get additional State Pension Your additional State Pension may be made up of: A State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) pension and State Second Pension You may also get: Graduated Retirement Benefit - if you paid graduated contributions during the period from April 1961 to April 1975; and Shared additional pension - if either you are divorced or your marriage was annulled after December 2000 or if your civil partnership was dissolved or annulled. This can only be awarded by the Court.
Who won’t benefit from an additional State Pension?
It is not possible to build up entitlement to the additional State Pension
for any period where:
You are not working (unless you are a carer or long-term disabled person);You
are self-employed You earn less than a certain amount, known as the annual
Lower Earnings Limit which is £4,368 in 2006/07. You have a private pension,
are contracted out of the additional State Pension and earn above £12,500
in 2006/07. Unless you are in one of the above categories, you will receive
some additional State Pension.
How much is the additional State Pension? As the additional State Pension is related to the level of your earnings, the amount of additional State Pension will depend on your earnings record. The maximum amount of additional State Pension in 2006/07 is £143.08 a week.
What is ‘contracting-out’ of the additional State Pension? You can leave or ‘contract-out’ of the additional State Pension by joining a contracted-out occupational pension or personal pension scheme. Even if you do this, you may still be entitled to some additional State Pension, depending on the level of your earnings.
More info on Personal Pensions
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