90% Public Sector Final Salary Pension Meltdown Scandal

Harry_Powell

Do all public sector employees contribute to their pension plans? If yes, then does anyone know how much?

(I thought I'd try a different tack and rather than just have a backwards and forward argument between entrenched positions, I'd like to gain a bit of knowledge here)

ruggedtoast

Harry_Powell wrote: »

Do all public sector employees contribute to their pension plans? If yes, then does anyone know how much?

(I thought I'd try a different tack and rather than just have a backwards and forward argument between entrenched positions, I'd like to gain a bit of knowledge here)

It depends which scheme youre in and how much youre paid. I pay about 6.5%.

There are a lot of people working for charities and not for profit jobs, that get the same rubbish deal as everyone else.

Most of the low low paid jobs are now done by private contractors who I imagine probably pay their staff minimum wage at best.

Edit - Ive never heard of a fully funded pension in the public sector. The only people I know whove got these have worked for oil and gas companies.

Old_Slaphead

andygb wrote: »

Well said Chucky. I cannot see how people can criticise other people from a different sector, who have put in decades of service, and paid into a pension scheme, when there are other people such as Fred Goodwin, who have failed in their job miserably, and been responsible for hundreds of thousands of other people's current plight, and who have received a massive pension as part of their contract.
Some then go on to criticise a whole range of people - MPs, doctors, police chiefs etc., as though there is a way of comparing each person, and deciding their worth. Well I for one would consider a doctor to be important, and a police chief, and an MP. Just think what kind of society we would have without these and many other public servants.
I laso happen to think that tendering certain services out to the private sector results in a lowering of standards - school catering, cleaning in the NHS, refuse collection.
We need a pension system which is fair for all, and I do not know how to achieve that. What I do know, is that because of lack of regulation, greed and bad investment (Icleandic banks), the pensions industry as a whole is probably one of the most reviled along with the banks.

Fred Goodwin is not representitive of 99.99999% of the private sector so should not be used to represent 65% of the working population.

I'm not criticising the work of doctors, police et al (I'll make an exception for MPs) - merely saying that some of the public sector have HUGE pensions heavily subsidised by people earning a pittance - I think you'll agree that's hardly fair and just.

Agreed - pension system is manifestly unfair and needs sorting. It's no good wringing hands and saying we don't know how to achieve it. Private provision needs improving and public provision reducing until they meet.

Public sector staff are paid just as well (if not better) remunerated as private so the raison d'etre for such a heavily taxpayer-subsidised scheme to continue (ringfencing existing accruals of course) no longer exists

Old_Slaphead

Harry_Powell wrote: »

Do all public sector employees contribute to their pension plans? If yes, then does anyone know how much?

(I thought I'd try a different tack and rather than just have a backwards and forward argument between entrenched positions, I'd like to gain a bit of knowledge here)

Googling the various pension schemes shows the differing levels of contributions/benefits.

chucky

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

Which bank is it?

Is it a final salary scheme with guaranteed benefits?

it's a foreign investment bank in London.

no it wasn't final salary scheme. this had been pulled a few years previously.

ruggedtoast

You'll be reassured to hear my pension will be far from huge.

Personally I'm not wildly happy that my taxes are going towards subsidising a dozen or more missed mortgage payments for Northern Rock customers, but then life isnt fair.

mbga9pgf

Thing is, they cant touch defence pensions at least, those who are in the armed forces who have already accrued pension. Reason? They work off an X factor, which accounts for pensions provision. Any cut in pensions would IMMEDIATELY result in class action by all serving HM forces members to recoup the loss in pay they had as a result of pensions provision. To be fair, Pensions and salary accounts for ony 2 Billion of the budget, If I were in the bigger Organisations, NHS, MOD civil service and Department of work and pensions, I would be Sh*tting it.

Old_Slaphead

chucky wrote: »

it's a foreign investment bank in London.

no it wasn't final salary scheme. this had been pulled a few years previously.

Not really a fair to make a direct comparison of it with public sector scheme/stakeholders then is it?

a) It's not a FS scheme so doesn't have guaranteed benefits
b) Ultimate cost is borne by foreign shareholders not UK taxpayer. It's their perogative as owners to run a scheme and I'm sure they'd pull it if/when cost became prohibitive.
c) Less than 16% of private sector have ongoing FS schemes and over half of those schemes aren't available to new employees. Around 2/3rds have no provision at all.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/pensions/article.html?in_article_id=490791&in_page_id=6

kabayiri

2 people on the 'Tonight' program a while back (during the good years!).

Person A is a 28 yr old bloke; Person B is 44.

Both wanted to know what to save Pension-wise to achieve a modest 15K pa income.

Person A was told : 250 a month; Person B was told 440.

Both laughed and said it aint gonna happen. They were normal working blokes, and didnt have that level of disposable cash.

Herein lies a big issue.....a lost generation who feel disenfranchised from the whole pension process. Somehow, they need to be enticed back into some sort of savings arrangement. I doubt the answer is glossy government advertising on TV either....

tuggy12

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

It's not a FS scheme so doesn't have guaranteed benefits.

FS benefits in private companies are NOT guaranteed.

They are only guaranteed while there's money there to pay them.

If the scheme ends up in the PPF then payments can be cut and frozen.