Those of us of a certain age are paying more attention to our pensions than usual. As I approach the state pension age I thought I had better check to see how much I might get.

Historically, the state pension has depended on a complex set of rules that relied upon things like number of years worked, type of National Insurance paid, SERPS, contracted out etc etc.

Things are now much simpler thankfully. There is a very easy to use government website that calculates everything for you. https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension&ved=2ahUKEwizk46QxbaMAxVPVkEAHeIdFv4QFnoECAkQAQ&usg=AOvVaw27smsj4r3hmUvLv3krpU90

It seems that, even having paid over the max number of NI contributions I am short because I contracted out some of my pension, for a private pension, along the way. There is a calculator to show how much I can pay to make up the difference and what impact this might have.

For example, if I pay £4800, it will improve my state pension by £31 a week which gives me a payback in three years. Hard to find any investment that is as good as this. And, of course, the pension is index linked.

IMPORTANT – There is a deadline of 5th April.