ABSTRACT
Th e amount of basic State Pension one receives depends upon the qualifying ➤ years one has built up before reaching State Pension age (60 for females and 65 for males. Th is will be equalized to 65 between 2010 and 2020 – women born on or before 5 April 1950 will not be aff ected by the change, but those born between 6 April 1950 and 5 April 1955 will be allowed to have a State Pension between the age of 60 and 65). A man will receive the full State Pension if he has 44 years of qualifying years. ➤ From April 2010 the full basic pension will be £97.65 a week for a single person ➤ and £156.15 for a couple. For a female, 39 qualifying years are required in order to get the full basic pension ➤ – this rule applies until 2010, when 30 years of qualifying years will be needed to qualify for a full pension. People who do not qualify for the full basic State Pension but who have more than ➤ 25% of qualifying years will get an approximate pro rata weekly income based on number of qualifying years. For those reaching retirement age on or aft er 6 April 2010 for each qualifying year an individual will get a thirtieth of the full amount for each qualifying year. For those aged 80 years who do not have a State Pension, there is a non-➤ contributory State Pension provided the person lives in the UK, has lived in the UK for a total of 10 years or more in any continuous period of 20 years aft er their 60th birthday and has no basic State Pension, or less than 60% of the full rate. Individual can defer claiming State Pension – deferral for at least 5 weeks will ➤ increase the State Pension by 1%.
