The Truth About The State Pension

marklv

MikeJones wrote: »

The article Mark posted the link to is dated November 2007. Here's what was reported today:

- State pension will be linked to earnings despite cuts, Tories say (Telegraph.co.uk)

Whether it will happen, and in the timescale proposed, is another thing.

Mike

I work in the field of Pension Education and Pension Guidance in the UK. I am a member of the Specialist Pensions Forum as well as being a Voluntary Adviser for The Pensions Advisory Service. I work with scheme members, employers, trustees, scheme administrators and advisers on most things to do with employer sponsored pension schemes. The views expressed by me in this thread are my personal opinions. You should seek professional advice from an appropriately experienced and qualified adviser. I am not an IFA.

Well, politicians say a lot and then always come up with plenty of excuses for U turns. I don't trust Cameron any more than Brown, and even if they restore the earnings link in 2015 it will be several decades before the state pension will have caught up to a reasonable level.

marklv

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

£130pw to cover basic needs sounds reasonable to me - plus you get all the extras like bus passes, WFA, prescriptions, age allowance etc etc.

Seems fair that anything above this level should be provided for by the individual......let's hear it for taking a bit of self responsibility.

Most pensioners do not have extravagent needs apart from food, fuel and council tax and the occasional bag of Werthers Originals.

I don't agree - fixed bills (e.g. council tax, utilities) are going to be around £50 a week alone. I think you need around £200 a week net, per person, in order to live decently as a retiree.

marklv

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

I know that but that's the minimum a pensioner will get from the state if they haven't saved anything themselves. Point I was making is that no-one will be living on 'a pittance'

The whole serps, S2P, new 2012 pension is nothing but a con (ie stealth tax) for most individuals who will not see much, if anym benefit. Still I suppose it's deceptive way of reducing cost of state welfare.

It depends on what you mean by pittance. For some people anything less than £400 a week is a pittance.

Old_Slaphead

marklv wrote: »

It depends on what you mean by pittance. For some people anything less than £400 a week is a pittance.

Depends what you mean by a pittance - I was referring, in my original response, to your post #13.

I don't think for basic state support in old age to cover a minimum £130pw + extras is unreasonable. If current-generation pensioners have higher aspirations then they should make some provision for it themselves (obviously additional state allowance may need to be made to help registered carers)

margaretclare

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

£130pw to cover basic needs sounds reasonable to me - plus you get all the extras like bus passes, WFA, prescriptions, age allowance etc etc.

Seems fair that anything above this level should be provided for by the individual......let's hear it for taking a bit of self responsibility.

Most pensioners do not have extravagant needs apart from food, fuel and council tax and the occasional bag of Werthers Originals.

This is horribly ageist and extremely insulting. You would not make these kind of remarks, even tongue-in-cheek, about other groups in society (I will not name them because that in itself could be seen as 'racist').

I am darned glad that I have a little more than the basic state retirement to live on. Not rich, but a long way from being poor. DH and I each get pensions plus annuities so we don't have to get into the whole means-testing circus. Nor do we use free bus passes, we prefer our little car. It occasionally needs some attention, like this week when it went for its MOT and ended up needing more work done, some £430 worth. OTOH we recently did approx 2,000 miles in Brittany and Normandy on holiday. You do not mention holidays - these are things that most other people expect, why should retired people not have them? A bag of Werther's Originals (whatever they are) would be unlikely to cover the cost of a holiday. While we were away we saw a lot of older people. Early September is when they go - weather still good, kids back to school, why shouldn't they?

margaretclare

marklv wrote: »

I don't agree - fixed bills (e.g. council tax, utilities) are going to be around £50 a week alone. I think you need around £200 a week net, per person, in order to live decently as a retiree.

Our 'fixed bills', including car insurance, come to £304 a month. The biggest item in this is council tax: £117 a month for a 'C' band 2-bed bungalow.

marklv

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

Depends what you mean by a pittance - I was referring, in my original response, to your post #13.

I don't think for basic state support in old age to cover a minimum £130pw + extras is unreasonable. If current-generation pensioners have higher aspirations then they should make some provision for it themselves (obviously additional state allowance may need to be made to help registered carers)

Yes, £130pw is enough to prevent you from starving to death and freezing to death, but it doesn't leave much left for anything else, does it? Moreover, many elderly are still active drivers and motoring costs are high and need to paid for.

I believe the official poverty line income is estimated at £12,000 a year, so £130pw is still well below that.

bendix

marklv wrote: »

Yes, £130pw is enough to prevent you from starving to death and freezing to death, but it doesn't leave much left for anything else, does it? Moreover, many elderly are still active drivers and motoring costs are high and need to paid for.

I believe the official poverty line income is estimated at £12,000 a year, so £130pw is still well below that.

Shouldn't that be the entire aim of all welfare benefits, including the state pension? Enough to keep you from starving and freezing to death.

We seem to think things like holidays and cars and such like are our god-given right. They are not. They are things to be paid for.

The government's duty is to provide a minimum basic level of support to those who can't do it for themselves. By all means, do that, but if people want extras like holidays and cars and Werthers Originals, then people should make their own provision for them.

What is so wrong with that?

bendix

margaretclare wrote: »

This is horribly ageist and extremely insulting. You would not make these kind of remarks, even tongue-in-cheek, about other groups in society (I will not name them because that in itself could be seen as 'racist').

I am darned glad that I have a little more than the basic state retirement to live on. Not rich, but a long way from being poor. DH and I each get pensions plus annuities so we don't have to get into the whole means-testing circus. Nor do we use free bus passes, we prefer our little car. It occasionally needs some attention, like this week when it went for its MOT and ended up needing more work done, some £430 worth. OTOH we recently did approx 2,000 miles in Brittany and Normandy on holiday. You do not mention holidays - these are things that most other people expect, why should retired people not have them? A bag of Werther's Originals (whatever they are) would be unlikely to cover the cost of a holiday. While we were away we saw a lot of older people. Early September is when they go - weather still good, kids back to school, why shouldn't they?

Precisely my point. You use your annuities and extra savings that you did yourself to give you the extra luxuries you want in your life. Such thing's are not the taxpayer's obligations; they are yours. The taxpayer's obligation is to ensure you don't die of starvation.

marklv

margaretclare wrote: »

Our 'fixed bills', including car insurance, come to £304 a month. The biggest item in this is council tax: £117 a month for a 'C' band 2-bed bungalow.

I included council tax in my £50-55 a week bill estimate. Council tax is around £25-27 a week when averaged out over the year. Utilities (gas, electric, water, fixed line phone, TV licence) should be around the same figure. House and contents insurance maybe around £8 a week. So maybe I underestimated slightly - £60-62 a week is more realistic.

If you are a driver and include motoring costs (other than petrol, which depends on how often you use the car) then I estimate you need to add another £18 a week to cover insurance, road tax and any repairs and maintenance. So we have a grand total of around £80 a week for a retired couple with only one car - just to cover essential basic bills.