RetireJapan

Hi again all,
I managed to finally get into gateway account.
Changed my address to my address in Japan etc.
I've checked my NI contributions and says I've paid 40years.
What it is is showing is gaps when started living in Japan.
Obviously I haven't paid NI contributions in uk because I'm not there.
Its saying I can pay voluntary contributions for these missed years.
But this sounds stupid, I've paid 40yrs and obviously not going to pay for services I'm not even using, and 40 years more than covers my pension.
Any you guys had this same situation?

You only need to pay 35 years for a full UK state pension.

It does vary a little, a few of us here had to pay 37 years to get a full pension. 40 sounds like enough, but you should be able to confirm it when you log on to Gateway. I forget the wording but if it says that the pension you will get is the maximum available then you won't need to pay any more. If it says that you can increase your pension to £x if you pay another y years then you will have to pay more. It's pretty clear I think, unless they've changed it.

I also got a letter from HMRC when I reached the maximum pension, saying that I didn't have to pay any more. Not sure if they still send these.