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| DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads |
| Martin: This is your six-month warning! While 'boosting your State Pension' doesn't sound sexy, this is about big money, and we've had huge successes from here & my TV show (see my 5-min video explainer), eg, Cheryl emailed me: "Thank you so much for making the nation aware of the National Insurance buyback. I'd been unaware my 36 years didn't entitle me to a full State Pension (some had been contracted out). I've now paid for 7 extra years, which will gain me £40,000 - £50,000 depending on lifespan. A huge thank you."
a) Check your NI record to see if you're missing any full years since 2006. Only a full year's contributions count. If you have a partially-paid year, it can be very cheap to buy the rest (for as little as £20) so it counts too. b) Check if you're due to get the full State Pension. If you're not due to get the full £221.20/wk and your NI record shows you've gaps, then the aim is to see if you can get those extra years. Step 2) Can you can plug NI gaps for FREE? It could save you £1,000s. While NI years are usually added automatically, in some cases they need claiming - and you can do that for free. See our full list of free NI years you can claim, but the biggies are Child Benefit NI (either not claimed or claimed by the wrong partner), Grandparents' NI for grandparents (or other family members) providing childcare, and Carer's Credit NI. As Andy emailed us: "Following your advice, I claimed NI credits for looking after our grandchildren after I'd retired. I still needed six years for a full State Pension. The application was easy, though took 25 weeks to process. I will (eventually) get all six years free. My new State Pension will rise from around £173/wk to the max £221/wk, giving an additional £2,496 per year. I wouldn't have known about this without you and the team." Step 3) Missing years from 2006 to 2018? Decide soon if it's likely worth buying the years. See our full Is it worth paying to top up pension? guide, and remember you need a minimum of 10 NI years to get any State Pension. (If you can't buy enough to hit 10 years, don't do it.) In short... - At/near State Pension age (66)? If your State Pension is forecast to be under £221.20/wk, buying extra years is worth considering. Already taking your pension? The sooner you do it, the sooner your pension's boosted. - Aged 45 to 60ish? You've more time to earn enough NI before you reach State Pension age. Though the more years you're missing, especially if you can buy cheap partial years, the better bet buying is. - Under 45? If you plan to stay in the UK and work for much of the rest of your life, you've time to fill gaps, so it's not worth it. Unless it's a cheap partial year (say sub £50), then you could think of it as an insurance in case things change. Step 4) Old years typically cost up to £825, but can be worth an 'inflation-proofed' £5,000+ to you. A full voluntary class 3 (employee) NI year usually costs £800 to £825. Self-employed class 2 years cost around £160. And partial years cost a lot less. Each extra NI year typically adds £329 annually to your State Pension. So even for a full year, it'd pay you back after two and a half years of State Pension - after that, it's profit. Step 5) Think buying NI years is right for you? Before you shell out... very important safety checks. Even if it's looking a no-brainer, don't do it without bespoke calculations. How you get this, & buy years, depends... a) Everyone who is already State Pension age or within four months of it. Phone the Pension Service. b) Under State Pension age and i) filling self-employment or working abroad gaps OR ii) hold a Married Women's Reduced Rate Election certificate or Home Responsibilities Protection eligibility. Phone the Future Pension Centre. c) Everyone else can go online. The Check your State Pension forecast tool will go through your situation and let you know if you've a complex case and must phone OR can select the year(s) to pay for, in full, online via bank transfer or Open Banking. Yet even that bespoke advice doesn't cover every situation, including... - They won't usually tell you if you're entitled to free years, so check for free years first. - They won't tell you if it'll push you into a higher tax bracket, which reduces (though shouldn't end) the benefit. - They won't tell you that if you've NO other income, getting a full State Pension could mean you miss out on Pension Credit (& thus Winter Fuel Payments). See our Should I buy years if I've no other pension income? help. |
| Martin: A warning to those under 23 - you may have a hidden £2,000 in a Child Trust Fund... Some firms are trying to charge to get you access to yours. DON'T PAY. Watch Martin's CTF video briefing instead. Hyundai, Kia or Volvo diesel driver? Decide now whether to join emissions lawsuits. This month sees the deadlines for new claims against these manufacturers. See our Should I do a diesel claim? guide. Top 5.1% easy-access savings (up to £20,000). A cash ISA's just a savings account you never pay tax on. And surprisingly the current top-rate Trading 212's 5.1% AER variable* still beats the top normal easy-access savings. It lets you put in up to £20,000, allows unlimited withdrawals, and lets you transfer (without limit) existing cash ISAs in too. It's worth noting it has a slightly complex structure. More options in Top cash ISAs and Top savings. Call centre workers' insider tips: Skip waiting on hold, dialling shortcuts, top times to call. In honour of last week's National Customer Service Week, dip into our guide of crowd-sourced (unverified) tips. Call centre secrets 500 spring bulbs for £12. MSE Blagged. 12,000 bundles available, excludes NI/parts of Scotland. Plant now for next spring. Thompson & Morgan New. Cheapest Google Pixel 8a with 100GB data + £100 Currys voucher, just '£13/mth'. Now the Pixel 9's out, we're seeing prices drop on other Pixel models. Newbies to iD Mobile (uses Three's network) can get Google's 'budget' Pixel 8a with a whopping 100GB/mth data for £59 upfront, then £15/mth over 2yrs (so £419 total), plus you get an automatic £100 Currys voucher, which comes before Christmas (factor that in and it's £319 total). Compare that to buying it straight, where you'd pay £499. Want a different handset or Sim-only? See Cheap Mobile Finder. FitFlop 20% off almost everything code. MSE Blagged. Includes outlet items, eg, we found £90 trainers reduced to £45, then the code made it £36. Plus we blagged free delivery too. FitFlop Unpleasant issues help: Free wills | Power of Attorney | Inheritance tax and more. Don't have a will? This is the moment. Do, but no Power of Attorney? That's worrying. In both cases (& more), this is worth a listen... the new The Martin Lewis Podcast - listen via BBC Sounds, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your Martin fix. |
| Can't afford to clear your credit card debt? You can't afford not to check this out...
1. Apply via an eligibility calc to protect your ability to get credit. Apply for a new card, and even if you're rejected, your credit file gets a hard search mark. Instead, a 0% eligibility calc shows your acceptance odds for top cards, so you can home in on those most likely to accept you before applying, to minimise the credit file impact. 2. Go for the LOWEST FEE within a 0% long enough to clear your debt. Generally, the longer the balance transfer, the bigger the one-off debt-shift fee. So if you can clear quicker, aim to minimise fees. Unsure? Play safe & go long. 3. Usually rejected when you apply? MSE's free Credit Club (available via the MSE App on Apple | Android) can analyse the problem, plus the eligibility calc (accessible via the Club without needing to enter any more details) lists poor credit scorer balance transfers you may be accepted for (up to 16mths 0%). Be aware that, with these deals, the rate after the 0% ends is often higher than you currently pay - if so, only shift debt you're sure you can repay in that time.
Quick balance transfer FAQs (click links for Martin's answers) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Martin: If you donate to charity, why saying yes to Gift Aid means they get more & you may get more too. When charities need someone to explain Gift Aid succinctly, they ask our Martin. Here's his quick video explainer. Book your Christmas food shop delivery slot NOW. Sainsbury's launches bookings from tomorrow (Wed), while Asda, Morrisons and Waitrose have already started. Slots usually go quick. See our Christmas delivery round-up. Get a £50 to £300 John Lewis gift card if buying a big-ticket electrical item, eg, washing machine, TV. John Lewis has 295 items, ranging from £130+, where it's giving gift cards - the higher the spend, the bigger the gift card. So if you were planning to buy, check the price there and elsewhere, and assess if it's worth it. John Lewis How do you rate your bank's app? If you access your current account through your bank's app, we want to know how you find it. Please vote in this week's poll. |
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| AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS
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| THIS WEEK'S POLL How do you rate your bank's app? We want to know which apps are easy to use, and whether you think your bank's app has all the features you need (or think it should have). So if you access your current account in app, please rate it (the app and its features, not the bank itself). Vote in this week's poll. Most MoneySavers have savings - and more than half rarely touch theirs. Last week, we asked if you had savings and, if so, how often you accessed them. Around 5,200 people responded, with 97% saying they had at least some savings. Yet most keep them tucked away for a rainy day, with 33% saying they almost never touched their savings, and a further 21% saying they only dipped in once or twice a year. The most common reason to take money from savings was to cover a one-off planned expense (40%). See the full poll results. |
| MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Would I be stealing my brother's inheritance by caring for our mum? My mum's 85 and needs looking after, and I want her to live with me and my husband. We've agreed that we'll sell our house and she'll sell hers so we can afford one with an annex. She's also going to change her will, so that when she dies my brother can't make us sell the house - instead he'd get half of the rest of her assets. On the one hand, I feel like I'm stealing his inheritance, but on the other, I'm prepared to give up my job to look after our mum... (and I'm mindful that if she went into a home, there'd likely be no money left for either of us anyway). Enter the Money Moral Maze: Am I stealing my brother's inheritance? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma (MMD) | View past MMDs |
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| MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (TUE 15 OCT ONWARDS) Thu 17 Oct - Ask Martin Lewis, BBC Radio 5 Live, 1pm |
| ONE-SONG SHOWERS AND AN EXTRA WEEK OF TOOTHPASTE - YOUR RANDOM MONEYSAVING RULES That's all for this week, but before we go... we asked for your random household rules that actually save you money. Shower rules were popular, with one MoneySaver saying they had the duration of one song on the radio to finish their shower - no 10-minute prog rock anthems allowed! Another used a three-minute egg timer to similar effect. Many have rules on when the heating goes on - if anyone's wearing a T-shirt or shorts, it's not allowed. Others say heating can only go on after the clocks go back, or between Bonfire Night and Shrove Tuesday. Finally, one MoneySaver gets given the 'empty' toothpaste tubes in their home - and usually manages to get an extra week out of them! Let us know yours in our Facebook, Twitter and Threads conversations. We hope you save some money, |
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