National Insurance record - Do you have any gaps?

[EdGey]

Is yours up to date? Do you care?

I have one missed year from when I was 18 and had no idea what a national insurance stamp was (shout out public education system). I'm now trying to decide whether I should plug the gap for just under £450, or not.

As far as I can tell, it'll make no difference to anything, as I haven't missed a year since and don't intend to moving forward, which will see me easily pass the maximum number of payments for full state pension. On the other hand, I feel we're only one Labour-style policy change from this being a very poor decision.

Either way I need to make a decision within a few months as that's the cut off.

Anyone else in the same boat? Is there more to this than I realise?

 

[EdGey]

On a side note, I recently discovered however that my partner has a lot of gaps and very few qualifying years (she is late 20s now) due to working a job with too little hours for a number of years, whilst living with parents (and studying for at least some of that time I think). It's somewhat annoying to be honest that had she just been someone who signed up for job seekers allowance she would have had qualifying years allocated perhaps... although not entirely sure on what the requirements exactly were back then.

My wife is in exactly this situation after she left work to raise our family. I suspect women on the whole are much worse off when it comes to retirement planning.

It has changed a few times over the years (up and down I believe) so it could potentially increase again in the future. The last time was in 2016, to 35 from 30, with the advent of the new state pension, as its officially called.

This is my main concern. If I choose not to plug the gap now while I have the chance, then they drastically increase the number of years required... well...