Extra £30,000 tax charges announced last week!

Cook_County

My wife and I are not yet even 50 but do live in London so spend over £2,000 each every year for our annual travel passes.

We had both been planning to buy these for the next dozen or so years until we reach 60 - at which point they would become free.

Last week's Budget announced that the qualifying age will - for both of us - now be age 66.

This means spending £2,000 to £3,000 each - every year - from ages 60 to 66; so that over those years we will end up spending roughly £30,000 that we had never planned on having to spend.

Whether you consider this a tax rise or another big raid on our pension savings is debatable; but travel passes are an essential cost for living in London so I find last week's announcement highly offensive. Am I alone?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/8408013.stm
Benefits align with women's pension age
The age at which people qualify for benefits such as free bus passes and prescriptions will rise from 6 April 2010. At the moment anyone over the age of 60 qualifies for these concessions.
But, tucked away on page 84 of the pre-budget report, the Treasury said this age threshold will rise gradually in the future. The threshold will follow the women's state pension age instead.
The same is true for the winter fuel payments. By April 2020 these concessions will be for the over 65s only.
To find out when you will qualify for these benefits in future, see the following link, and enter you date of birth and gender as "female".

Changes to state pension age

CLAPTON

It would seem to are lamenting the lose of something you never had.

Maybe there are things you will have that you didn't plan on.

Mikeyorks

Cook_County wrote: »

Am I alone?

I'm afraid it's the reason I moved away from London many years ago. The 4 hour commute - and that only if things ran precisely to time - was beginning to be intolerable. The premise that you can usefully work on the train doesn't hold good when you're emulating a sardine.

As you know - with your obvious experience -

But, tucked away on page 84

.......... the less palatable bits are often tucked away. Fight back - retire early!

TM1976

Cook_County wrote: »

.
To find out when you will qualify for these benefits in future, see the following link, and enter you date of birth and gender as "female".

Changes to state pension age

Are you worrying about the right thing? Is a do you have to cross genders to claim too?