Many of us who retire before the State Pension Age then dedicate a lot of our time to caring for our grandchildren or other young relatives. If that sounds familiar, then you, or your partner, might well benefit by checking out whether you’re missing out on a very handy boost to your future State Pension.

Investments and savings firm Hargreaves Lansdown calculate that grandparents potentially run the risk of missing out on more than £53,500 over a 20-year retirement by not transferring NI credits. These calculations are based on someone who has looked after young relatives for ten years, boosting their pension from around £128 to £179.60 a week.

Under the new state pension rules, receiving the full amount (currently £179.60) depends upon you putting in at least 35 years’ worth of NI contributions over your working life. Many women who have taken career breaks to raise a family in particular will find themselves falling short of this, but so too will many men who have worked abroad for part of that time, or omitted to make contributions in some tax years for a variety of reasons.

What many people don’t realise is that – if they spend a lot of time providing childcare for a young relative aged under 12 – it is possible to top up their state pension by allowing them to claim “Specified Adult Childcare Credits”, so that the parents sign over their child benefit NI credit to them.

You will receive a Class 3 NI credit for each week or part week you cared for the child: these credits will plug gaps in your National Insurance record and help to build entitlement to the State Pension. What’s more, the credits can be backdated to April 6, 2011, which is when the scheme came into effect.

A word of caution, however:  this will only work if the parents are in work and earning credits another way themselves. Both you and the parents will also need to be in agreement. Moreover, only one grandparent or family member can receive the credit.

The link to find out more and make a claim is: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-insurance-credits-for-adults-who-care-for-a-child-under-12-fact-sheet/specified-adult-childcare-credits-fact-sheet

Check out how your retirement plans are going…

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