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I'm 29 and I checked my NIC record a few months ago. I had less than 5 years that I have paid enough NI from when I was PAYE and a few years that also had options for voluntary pay. I worked in the US as a US citizen for 5 years so have missed paying a lot of NI in the UK during my twenties.
I only ask as I have been prompted to answer yes or no as I am doing my self assesment. Can I say no and I have upto 6 years to pay NI contributions for a particular financial year? (as you do with PAYE).
farewell-
As a yoof (i.e. born after 1951) but not so young that you don't have a NIC record before 2016, I think you will be looking at the New State Pension, which only needs 10 qualifying years of NICs. You also have another 40 years to work, so you'll have plenty of time to accrue loads of years of NICs even if the lying bastards change the rules again. Obviously, IANAL, but it doesn't seem likely that you're going to gain anything by paying a small amount of voluntary class 2 unless you expect to neither pay mandatory NICs nor gain credits for the next four decades.
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Can I say no and I have upto 6 years to pay NI contributions for a particular financial year?
Yes, you can catch up later with class 2, so you don't have to do it right now. I did back in the 90s, and as it turns out it was money down the drain :)
gbj_tester
Depends on your age and your existing NIC record. You need to go through the rules to see what kind of pension entitlement you're trying to gain and how many years of NICs are needed to qualify for it.