A retirement trick could boost UK workers and households’ state pension payments by £3,000, according to experts. State pensioners are losing out on thousands of pounds worth of retirement money due to not applying for vital National Insurance credits, according to a fresh study.
Mums and dads are turning to their parents to help look after their kids and cut expensive childcare costs. But parents should check if they can get the cash boost, according to p ensions expert Becky O’Connor, who is director of public affairs at PensionBee. She said: “These grandparents play an essential role in enabling parents to work, particularly amid the difficulties of finding affordable childcare.
“However, it can over time negatively impact their ability to build up a pension pot.” She went on: “Therefore, it’s imperative that working-age grandparents, who provide care to children under the age of 12, are aware of their eligibility to claim Specified Adult Childcare credit.
READ MORE Met Office breaks silence on snow in November with polar vortex ‘strengthening’
“These are National Insurance credits that are transferred from the working parents, who are claiming child benefit, to the non-working grandparents doing childcare.” Becky said claiming additional credits can “serve as a vital avenue to bridge any gaps that exist in a grandparent’s work history”.
She added: “Rather than embarking on additional years of employment or paying voluntary National Insurance contributions, applying for additional credits provides grandparents with the option to enhance their retirement income and be rewarded for their hard work looking after their grandchildren.
“They can be backdated to 2011.” According to research carried out by PensionBee, 20 per cent of 55 to 64-year-olds give unpaid care to their grandchildren. As such, thousands of future retirees are at risk of losing out on a sizable boost to their retirement pot – with £3k wiped from accounts as a result of the oversight, according to experts.
