Ask the Pensions Minister about the future of pensions

blangsdale

I am convinced that with some reallocation of available monies paid out by the Government there would be adequate money for our pensioners.

I note with some interest that the Government has never issued a comparison table showing the relative amount paid in benefits to refugees, asylum seekers, self declared terrorists and other favoured groups of people (many of whom have not paid any contributions whatsoever) and our own pensioners (who have paid contributions all their lives).

I challenge the government to provide such a detailed comparison so that I can better understand, and come to terms with if possible, why because I am over 65 years I struggle to keep warm, have to make clothes last even when threadbare, have meals that I can afford rather than those providing better sustenance and wait for death (perhaps due to being unable to afford heating) without any breaks from this punishing routine. When these favoured people do not have such punishing impacts on their lives as I have to contend with because their financial needs are addressed.
Additionally, please advise why there are copious payments available for helping people of all ages overseas. Does not charity begin at HOME?

maybug_2

I would like to ask the Pensions Minister why the government is proposing to increase the pensionable age for women (like me) aged 56 (in my case by a further 2 years) so drastically so near to what would have been our original pensionable age. Having had it increased by 4 years already by a previous government this now makes a total of 6 years. The increase is so steep for this age group that women in the same class at school will receive their pensions at very different ages -those born in September 1953 receiving their pension in November 2017 and those born in August 1954 receiving it in August 2020 (nearly 3 years difference in pensionable age yet there is less than 1 year between them in real age). How is this justified when they will have paid the same in contributions and have the same life expectancy? It is even more annoying as women born in April 1950 (so only 4 years older than me) received their pension at 60 but I will have to wait until I am 66 so will receive 6 years' less pension than them over my life time. We all realise that pensionable age will have to increase but these increases are too steep too near the age at which we had planned to retire and when it is too late to make up this shortfall in other ways other than by carrying on working. This is simply not possible for some people, who when they chose their career expected to receive their pension at 60. Some jobs are not suitable for older people physically (eg heavy lifting) so they will have to change jobs if they need to make up the shortfall but it has always been notoriously difficult to get a new job or change careers in your late 50s or early 60s. Women in my age group often have only very small company pensions as when they started work men were considered by many people to be the breadwinners and women were expected to be 'stay at home' mums or work part-time (before returning to full time work) for longer than is the case today. Those who did work often earned a lot less than men (equality at work was still an issue despite the Equal Pay Act coming into force the year I started work) and this has resulted in lower pensions too. Many of these women were depending on the state pension to make up for their lack of company pension and now it is too late to change that.

bigchipper

The government are seeking to amend the terms of public sector pensions to save money in the current financial crisis but what steps are being taken to reform the lucrative pension arrangements currently in place for MPs and MSPs?

JulieAH_2

Why have the Goverment raised the State Pension Age to age 66 for everyone rather than considering the length of time indviduals have paid full stamp and then staggering the age from 65. Under new legislation you now only need to contribute for 30 years to be entitled to full state pension. In my own example at the age of 65 I will have paid full stamp for 49 years and yet my State Pension Age has been moved to 66.

seththomas

The stated aim of this Government is fairness but they are proposing to make the state pension £140 per week in the future for those who have not paid in but not increase the pension for those getting state pension now and who have had to pay in a certain amount to qualify. What was the point in us working and paying in all our lives when we are effectively being told we are second class citizens.

michelle457

The government is undermining any confidence people have in pension schemes (civil service, local authority, private pension scheme) as rules can be arbitrarily changed by the government. The proposed change for pension increases from RPI to CPI is not for a limited period of austerity measures but for good and will result in significantly lower pension increases for many pensioners. Poeple close to retirement or already retired have no say in the matter but find their financial situation completely changed.

Many private pension schemes are linked to the public service rules of increase, so your proposal to change the inflation indexation from RPI to CPI impacts many pensioners. I know that BT pensioners will be effected and the company estimates that this will save £2.9billion pounds from the pension scheme. The beneficiary is not the state but in this case the BT share holder.

How can the government propose to rob pensioners in this way and leave the banks untouched?

young67

I agree with the sentiment but think you'll find [quoting HMRC as they quoted to me] that we did'nt pay tax on contributions - that's why we pay tax when drawing state pension!!

down wrote: »

Why are we being taxed on State Pensions which the Government are classing as earnings after you reach pension age? The State Pension has been paid for by National Insurance Contributions and Graduated Insurance Contributions deducted from earnings after tax, earned during our working lives.

How anyone can possibly work out a projected figure for pension due when reaching pension age is beyond me, as anyone taking the above into account and if they take out a private pension plan on which they are given a tax free allowance only to end up having pay tax on the pension plan earnings at a later date thus paying tax on a larger figure when they reach pension age. Surely it would be better to pay the tax now when they are working and not to have to pay it when they retire.

young67

Why do the government use a September rate of inflation figure [to determine our next meagre increase in State Pension] then make us wait until April the following year to pass it on? This coming year's increase [2011], for example, will be almost wiped out by VAT increasing to 20% apart from any other as yet unseen shocks!!

Born_in_54

I am female and born in 1954. I understand that the retirement age of women should be equal to that of men and accepted that the way suggested by the previous government, which started being implemented in April 2010, was fair. This method increased the retirement age for women by 6 months every year between the years 2010 and 2020, so that from 2020 everyone retired on their 65th birthday.
I was due to receive my state retirement pension in November 2017, when I would be 63 years and 9 months. Your government claims to be treating everyone fairly. How is the method you are now proposing fair? Your government has announced new proposals for increasing State Pension age. This would mean that from December 2018 the State Pension age for both men and women would start to increase to reach 66 by April 2020. Women’s State Pension age would increase more quickly to 65 between April 2016 and November 2018. Under this method my pension date is likely to be July 2019, when I will be 65 years and 5 months, nearly 2 years later than I was expecting. This proposal is unfair to females born between December 1953 and April 1954 who will have to wait between 1 year and 6 months and 2 years to receive their state pension. Why are you proposing to treat a group of females unfairly, so that some of them have to wait an extra 2 years?

scubajon

Is the Married couples pension the same amount as two unmarried people co-habiting and living together?