State pension with 18 qualifying years — just over halfway.

Eighteen qualifying years puts you just past the halfway mark to the full state pension. At 2025/26 rates this gives you approximately £118 per week or around £6,100 a year. This is a typical position for someone who arrived in the UK in their thirties, or who had a decade of self-employment where they opted out of Class 2 NI. The gap to the full pension is 17 years, representing roughly £5,600 a year in lost income for life. If you are still working, every additional year of employment with qualifying NI contributions narrows that gap automatically. If you have past gaps, buying them back through voluntary Class 3 contributions remains one of the best financial returns available anywhere — each £824 spent buys you £329 a year for life.