Not getting the full state pension? You haven't paid in enough

Pensions minister Ros Altmann, the former consumer champion, has come under fire from pensioners who are not going to get the full flat-rate state pension.

The retirees, many of whom are women, feel put out because despite working for the qualifying number of years (35 years from next April when the flat rate of around £150-a-week comes in), they still won't receive the full rate.

Why? Because they were 'contracted out'.

This means that they, in short, haven't paid enough national insurance in to the system because their 'contracted out' contributions were given back to them to invest in their private pension, typically through an employer.

Altmann has tried to explain this fact but it seems to be falling on deaf ears: it's not that people are being diddled out of money, they have already had the money they were owed and it went into their own pensions rather than waiting for the state to give it to them in the form of the state pension.

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If the contracted out money has been invested wisely then they may have benefitted hugely from the contracted out cash.

I feel sorry for Altmann that she has become a target for these pensioners who believe that she was somehow going to provide them with more cash when she because pensions minister. Altmann is an advocate for women's pensions and has campaigned tirelessly for a fair state pension but even she can't magic up money from nowhere.

Neither can she just give contracted out pensioners a bit extra on their state pensions, it wouldn't be fair to a non-contracted out person who only has the state pension and never benefitted from contracted-out cash in their private pension.

The other argument I've heard is that people who have worked more than the 35 years and still aren't getting the full state pension. What you have to remember is that national insurance money isn't a big pot just sitting there waiting to pay out your pension – it's essentially income tax and is treated the same way as the rest of the tax you pay.

There is no pot of money waiting to pay your state pension, it is paid by those who are working currently.

So, give Altmann a break. She can't change the fact that people were contracted out (and many didn't know they were or what it meant) – she can only work with the system as it is, and it is much better than it would have been.

More on AOL Money:

Contracting out your pension abolished: what it means for you

Only a third of people will get the full flat-rate pension

Confusing pension forecasts consigned to the dustbin