Buying a state pension

Its not usually a good idea to pay tax voluntarily, but sometimes it can be beneficial.

If you’re retiring after 5 April 2010 and you won’t have achieved 30 years of NI contributions required for a full state pension you can buy extra years (up to a maximum of six).

Paying £626 of Class 3 NI contributions will buy you an extra £165 per year of state pension income.  So four years after retirement you’ll have got more money back than you originally paid.