Bracken Alder

My question is *not* about my specific circumstances, but about your rules. Information about my own case is included *only* as background, to make the reason for my question clearer, and is included because it may make it easier for you to answer. You can therefore ignore the first three sentences and you will see that my questions are general ones. I am asking three things: 1. In assessing State Pension entitlement, when a person paying voluntary Class 2 contributions from abroad retires during the tax year and thus their final contribution year is incomplete, are the final year's contributions disregarded, so that only complete years count towards pension entitlement? 2. If that is the case, is it possible to complete the final year's contributions, by continuing to pay Class 2 contributions after beginning to receive the State Pension? 3. When Class 2 contributions are being paid by direct debit, will they cease automatically when State Pension begins, or does the contributor need to actively cancel the direct debit? I have already clarified that my question is not specific to my own case, and you have declined that clarification, stating that you do not give advice specific to an individual case, nor clarification of information available on the gov.uk website. I would emphasise *again* that my questions are not specific to my individual case, but are about your rules. I would add that I have already sought the answers on your website and failed to find them; I would not be posting these questions here if I could find the answers on your website. I don't know what more I can do to make these points clear, and I hope that you will at least post my questions now, and ideally, answer them. Thank you for your attention.

I'm paying class 2 voluntary National Insurance from abroad and will reach age 66 before April 2025. My pension award letter quotes the same amount as my pension forecast, which was based on NI contributions to 5 April 2024. But I am still paying NI during 2024-2025 tax year. Will these 2024-2025 contributions count towards my State Pension entitlement, or do they not count because 2024-2025 isn't a complete tax year? In the latter case, can I continue paying class 2 voluntary contributions until 5 April 2025 to complete the year, to avoid my 2024-2025 contributions being lost? Also, do I need to cancel the direct debit to stop paying contributions after April 2025, or after my 66th birthday, or will they stop automatically?