Wife's Pension

djp45

Apology's if this has been asked before.My wife is 62 years old and at the moment is entitled to £1.40 state pension per week that she does not take.When I am 65 (14mnths time) will she be able to claim a pension on the back of my contributions ?

seven-day-weekend

Yes, she will be able to get 60% of your basic State Pension.

Be_Happy

Don't understand why your wife is not claiming her pension. It may be small, but it is hers to take and costs her nothing.

McKneff

Be_Happy wrote: »

Don't understand why your wife is not claiming her pension. It may be small, but it is hers to take and costs her nothing.

It all mounts up, pays towards the tv licence etc. and she can still claim 60% of your pension when you hit the big one.

seven-day-weekend

Be_Happy wrote: »

Don't understand why your wife is not claiming her pension. It may be small, but it is hers to take and costs her nothing.

Yes, I wondered that too. It is £72 a year, which will pay for six month's car tax, an air fair, a month's Council tax , a weekly shop, etc.

bendix

I wouldnt take a pension of £1.40 out of principle. In fact, given that I'll be retiring overseas, I'm actually wondering if I'll bother taking the full state pension when I'm due it.

It's a matter of principle. I can afford to pay my own way, so why should I take government money for it.

EdInvestor

bendix wrote: »

I wouldnt take a pension of £1.40 out of principle. In fact, given that I'll be retiring overseas, I'm actually wondering if I'll bother taking the full state pension when I'm due it.

It's a matter of principle. I can afford to pay my own way, so why should I take government money for it.

But you have paid for the pension through your NI contributions over your whole working life.It's not some kind of charity handout.

bendix

Don't care.

I pay huge taxes too, but I'm similarly not interested in using the public services that I can make a choice to not use - schools, hospitals etc. Obviously I have no choice regarding others like police, defence etc, but where I can consciously make a choice, then I will choose to not take the service, despite paying for it.

As I said, its a matter of principle. I fundamentally disagree with the notion of high taxes and a series of state-provided benefits, and I include state pensions in that.

I can hardly hold that position, while accepting and using them, can I?

McKneff

Pensioners would be in a sorry state if there was no state pension. For lots of them that is all they have to live on. Principles are all very well but they dont fill a hungry belly. You are lucky you can afford to have principles.

bendix

McKneff wrote: »

Pensioners would be in a sorry state if there was no state pension. For lots of them that is all they have to live on. .

Only because they failed to make adequate private provision during their working lives.

Admittedly, they weren't encouraged to.

If I ruled the world, I'd be announcing the staggered withdrawal of the state pension, to be totally phased out within 40 years, giving today's young plenty of time to do it for themselves.

Naturally, there would be resulting cut in tax and NI to enable people to do it.

McKneff

Dont talk nonsense, can you possibly imagine a miner in the forties and fifties
making provision for a pension when every penny that came in in little brown wage packet on a Friday was gone by Monday or Tuesday. And the mine owners were raking it in . By the sounds of it you could be one of them, the owners i mean not the miners. My dad worked his bollks off as a miner and we still on occasion went hungry. Some say happy days, not me !!!