Retirement and the State Pension in Northern Ireland

You do not have to stop work at State Pension age, and you do not have to claim it straight away.

State Pension age

State Pension age is the earliest date when you can claim your State Pension. You don't have to retire or claim your pension when you reach State Pension age. The State Pension age is increasing, so check yours with the online calculator.

Claiming

You can claim your State Pension online, by telephone or by post. If you have not received an invitation letter, but you are within three months of reaching your State Pension age you can still make a claim.

Report changes to the Northern Ireland Pension Centre. You could also be eligible for Pension Credit even if you have a pension, savings or own your own home.

How much you will get

The amount of State Pension you get depends on how many qualifying years of National Insurance contributions you have over your working life. You can request a State Pension forecast using the online check your State Pension service.

You might not have enough qualifying years for a full State Pension. It's worth seeing if you can fill the gaps by paying voluntary National Insurance contributions.

National Insurance credits

You may not be able to pay National Insurance, for example if you are ill or caring for someone. The government may give you credits so you can continue building up State Pension entitlement, for example if you care for one or more sick or disabled people for at least 20 hours a week.

If you are self-employed

If your profits are less than £6,845 a year, you can voluntarily pay Class 2 contributions. If your profits are more than £12,570 a year, you must pay Class 4 contributions. If you're self-employed and about to retire, you must always contact HMRC.

Retiring early, or working on

Although you can retire at any age, you can only claim your State Pension when you reach State Pension age. For workplace or personal pensions, check the earliest age with each scheme.

Reaching State Pension age doesn’t mean you have to give up work. Most businesses don’t set an age that their employees must retire at. If an employee chooses to work longer they can’t be discriminated against.

Retiring abroad

If you are retiring abroad, you can continue to receive your UK State Pension. You can get pension increases yearly if you live in a European Economic Area (EEA) country or a country which has a social security agreement with the UK. See UK pension top-ups.

Common questions

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