Public Sector Pensions...

treliac

chewmylegoff wrote: »

i'm sure your imaginary friend who you have invented for the purposes of this post will regret this masterplan when he finds out how little he has to live off, unless he enjoys not being able to put the heating on when it's below freezing.

I know a number of people who are on pension credit. They live quite comfortably. Don't think anyone let alone any pensioner, barring abnormal circumstances I suppose, has to live without heating in this country in this day and age.

chewmylegoff

NJW69 wrote: »

If this was any other scheme operated by anyone else then everyone would be up in arms.

'If you sign up to our scheme (actually you don't have any choice we'll just deduct it from your earnings anyway) and pay in x% of your wage and then meet all of our criteria i.e. age of retirement, number of years contributions etc then we agree that we will pay you this amount'.

'Okay I agree - I'm only 18 but I've been told it's sensible to save for your retirement.'

Years later when you've done as asked they say 'sorry things have changed and we're now not going to honor the agreement we made'

You say 'but you never said there was any risk to this, I never invest my money in schemes where it says interest rates may change and you may loose money - I'm always really careful'

'I didn't agree to this deal and you have now breached our agreement - can I have my money back? I'm not bothered about interest just return the money I've given you.'

'Sorry no can do.'

'What do you mean - you've got thousands of pounds of my money. Is this legal?'

'Have you not heard - we're the government?'

'Oh - thats okay then.'

i'm not sure where this spate of comments claiming that public sector pension schemes are compulsory to join comes from - but they are not compulsory and you can leave at any time. your employer doesn't steal money from your pay - they take it because you did not exercise your right to opt out of the pension scheme.

as far as i know the schemes make it very clear that employee contributions are subject to change. if they make changes that you don't like you can always leave the scheme and make alternative arrangements. most public sector employers i know offer a stakeholder / money purchase alternative - join that if you're so angry about having to pay a small extra % to access the 20%+ employer contribution that implicitly comes with the defined benefit schemes.

chewmylegoff

treliac wrote: »

I know a number of people who are on pension credit. They live quite comfortably. Don't think anyone let alone any pensioner, barring abnormal circumstances I suppose, has to live without heating in this country in this day and age.

if you want to spend everything now and live off £6,500 a year with pension credit then go for your life.

Running_Horse

chewmylegoff wrote: »

i'm sure your imaginary friend who you have invented for the purposes of this post will regret this masterplan when he finds out how little he has to live off, unless he enjoys not being able to put the heating on when it's below freezing.

You mean my imaginary friend called Carl who I worked with for years? How about my imaginary Dad who did just that when he was alive, and told me how comfortable he was? If you're going to call me a liar be straight about it, instead of using weasel words.

treliac

chewmylegoff wrote: »

if you want to spend everything now and live off £6,500 a year with pension credit then go for your life.

I'm sure that if you're already rolling in dosh then it's not an option but those who only scrape through financially in life don't seem to complain and can have a comfortable retirement nevertheless. Probably depends what your 'need level' for luxuries is.

chewmylegoff

Running_Horse wrote: »

You mean my imaginary friend called Carl who I worked with for years? How about my imaginary Dad who did just that when he was alive, and told me how comfortable he was? If you're going to call me a liar be straight about it, instead of using weasel words.

i think i was pretty straight about it to be fair.

treliac

Running_Horse wrote: »

I used to think I was quite well provided for. Now I'm thinking my friend who is spending the money now and intends to retire on benefits has the right idea. He will probably be as well off as me.

Neither will he have to pay for his own care needs if and when he can no longer look after himself unless, of course, he has a property.

chewmylegoff

treliac wrote: »

Neither will he have to pay for his own care needs if and when he can no longer look after himself unless, of course, he has a property.

he will pay - just not financially. he will pay by enduring a poorer quality of life as he cannot afford to access a private nursing home with a far superior level of care.

Georgie4

new_home_owner wrote: »

where all in the same boat we will lose our child benefit and tax credit, but why should we fund your retirement more than what you do yourself??


You can blame the bankers, but the last government created loads of public sector jobs, teaching assistants and community officers that can not even arrest anyone, what was the point of this?

Our frontline service people shouldnt be affected with a pay freezes, but the last government created loads of public sector
jobs that have no power and dont really seem to be doing anything.

What exactly do you think is going to happen to the economy if thousands of public sector workers suddenly lose their jobs. As someone who earns a modest salary in the public sector , why after 20 years service should I now have my conditions of service changed when I could have earned far more in the private sector? The problem is that everyone wants it reduced to the lowest common denominator instead of campaiging for a better pension system for all. I am more than prepared to pay more into the scheme but I am lucky enough to be able to afford to. The majority of staff where I work are on less than 18k - paying more into their pension will cause real hardship and probably mean that they will be entitled to more benefits - so how does that achieve anything ?
As usual it is all spin and we are an easy target

treliac

chewmylegoff wrote: »

he will pay - just not financially. he will pay by enduring a poorer quality of life as he cannot afford to access a private nursing home with a far superior level of care.

It doesn't really work like that. Many of the private homes, who are in it for profit, are not so good. Some of the very best are the ex-council not for profit homes. Either way most homes, private or otherwise, take council-funded residents.