Martin Lewis issued a pension alert to anyone earning over £6,396 a year.

On his ITV show last night, the Money Saving Expert gave a ‘Beginner’s Guide to how National Insurance impacts your State Pension”.

He told people to think of National Insurance as a token you get every year to put into your pension ‘piggy bank’. You earn these tokens through work, caring for your children, and certain benefits.

Lewis explained that to earn your National Insurance ‘token’, you need to earn at least £6,396 a year.

He added that to get a state pension, you need to get these ‘tokens’ for at least ten years. To get the full state pension, this goes up to 35-ish years, though it can be more for many.

The Money Saving Expert said that once you get up to your total contribution amount, you will receive the full pension - £221.20 a week.

He warned that many are missing past ‘tokens’ of National Insurance due to periods of low income, years abroad, career breaks, and not claiming credits. Claiming them back can be worth tens of thousands of pounds.

Lewis explained that this is urgent due to the state pension top-up deadline on April 6. This applies to men born after April 5 1951 and women born after April 5 1953.

Previously, you could buy National Insurance ‘tokens’ you may have missed dating back to 2006. At the end of this tax year, however, the limit will revert back to six years, meaning you will only be able to buy back years since 2019.

This change has been delayed twice since 2023 after the Money Saving Expert did similar programmes warning people which caused the Government websites to crash due to over-demand.

But Lewis has said he doesn’t believe there will be another extension and so urges people to take action. Buying back years can cost as little as £16 and it is most worth it for those almost at or at State Pension age.

He said to check the National Insurance Record on gov.uk to see if you’ve missed any years. Then see if you’re on track to get a full state pension via the State Pension Forecast, also on gov.uk.

Missing years ‘tokens’ can also be replaced if you claim child benefits, carer’s credit or specified adult childcare credit. There is no deadline on these and they can all be claimed via forms on gov.uk.