DEAR TRICIA

Need some practical financial advice? YOUR MONEY Editor Tricia Phillips and her team can help

QI want to give up work at 65 as I have a bit of savings I can live off until I get my state pension at 66. I have 45 years of National Insurance contributions. Will I have any problems receiving a full pension if I give up work a year early?

You will need 35 qualifying years worth of National Insurance contributions to get the full basic state pension. You can request a state pension forecast to ensure your NI record is complete and to

Afind out how much you are on track to receive via gov.uk/check-statepension or call 0800 731 0175.

QIf we want to gift our grown-up children some money towards paying off debt and the deposit for a home, do we need to let anyone know about this officially?

No, you don’t need to. But it is good practice to keep good records of any gifts you make. Such as the amount and date, and you could even get the recipient to sign for it.

AQI keep getting texts offering me a free pensions review. I’m only in my 40s so I thought it would be a bit too early to do this. Should I take one of these free offers up?

It is wise to have regular reviews of any pension or investments. However, I would be wary of cold callers, text or emails – this is one of the tactics crooks use to entice people into fake scams. I would suggest you contact the firm who set up the plan if you want to check anything. Or speak to an

A