>> Yes, and it looks (if the proposals are implemented) that a lot of people
> >> will already have been pouring money down the drain, some for years.
> >> Class 3 NI payments to generate a whole "qualifying year" are, I believe,
> >> 392.60 in 2006-7.
>
> You don't need to pay C3. All you have to do is become self-employed,
> in a small way, making next to no profit, and you can pay the cheaper > C2 instead.
Or, if you have no taxable income, get your spouse to employ you for the jobs you do around the house. Get paid somewhere between the LEL and PT (about 90 a week), and you pay no tax, no NI, no employer's NI, but you get credits for not only the basic state pension but for the second state pension too (at the level of someone earning
12,500).