Ask the Pensions Minister about the future of pensions

annchester1

Why is your Government planning to reduce the one-off Cold Weather Payment from 2011? A decrease for the under 80's to £200 and for the 80+ to £300 - surely, with fuel bills increasing this should have increased or, at worst, remained the same? ANN.

maldondon

Hi Martin

Please ask the Minister why this coalition Govt. has replaced the RPI index with CPI for calcluating increases in private/public pensions when the CPI figure is nearly always lower than RPI and both Lib Dems and Cons stated they would not alter pension arrangements pre election. There is already an Early Day Motion against this change and is the Minister like some of his Lib Dem colleagues going to support it? The armed forces have also complained about the effect on service men/widows pensions.

Withdrawal of RPI will reduce pensions on an ongoing basis and is no different to withdrawing the earnings link pensioners have had to put up with until the latest reversal. This move takes away any benefit the putting back of the link may have given

topazz13

Could the Minister please advise what will happen to the benefits which receivers of pension credit are able to claim at the moment.

If I had to pay council tax, dentist, etc. out of £140 p.w. I would be much worse off.

lin_m

I don't argue with the principle of equalising the pension ages, but I strongly disagree with the way in which this Government is proposing to implement the changes. I am a 54 year old woman and believe that women of my age are being unfairly treated. Having already had my retirement postponed till the age of 64, I am now told that I will have to work another 2 years. They say that the age is rising to 66 in 2020 but for women born in 1954 it is rising in 2018. I will have worked 51years. I work 46 hours a week in a heavy manual job and am extremely worried about my future. Please ask the Minister WHY?

Prof_as_was

Very keen to see Michelle457, Neil1 and Dominic9's questions on this pressed. Webb has not deigned to answer a civil and detailed letter from me. UK Stats Authority should have been consulted, wasn't, and says CPI not a proper measure. OBR, Hutton, and recent Budget Red book have all tabulated the horrific punitive effect on 8 million elderly (including widows on paid-extra-for fractional occ pensions). These pensions are all paid for by lifetime contributions, are contracted to be RPI indexed, and the affected are in both private and public sectors).

There is an Early Day Motion (1032) before the Commons which moderately and reasonably asks only for postponement and more careful consideration.

We note that Govt finds RPI entirely appropriate when it it is on the take - for example, the ideas floated about indexing my daughters' students loans spoke of RPI.

Not only Webb, but several others now prominent in Govt, also made pre-election promises that they would not do what is now proposed. All a bit Arthur Daley.

Dilly

Until the Pensions Industry is seen to be fair, open and provide realistic sums for retirement I cannot see why anyone would want to take up a pension.
In my own experiance every time I have invested via AVCs or Defined Benits Plan the sum invested has been eroded by high charges and / or incompetance by the Fund Managers, who still expect to receive huge sums for continued poor performance.
These people are so called 'professionals' which should mean they are better able to provide growth ( regardless of the swings in the markets) than I am. Obviously not! most of their performance is derisory. What is the Government proposing to do about regulating them properly and providing easy to understand and clear information, so proper decisions can be made. Currently if a provider is not up to scratch the only way out is to transfer to an often equally useless provider. I find it a poor sign that almost everyone has not a good word to say about Pension providers. The best way forward if you want to rely on your own instincts is to use a SIPP. All the decisions are then yours and you can't do much worse than the 'professionals'
Pensions send most people to sleep as they do not and can not understand all the jargon and complications which arise. Its easy to pull the wool over our eyes. What are they planning to do about this?
Why is it elsewhere in Europe the pension contributions are the same as ours but the pension payments much higher? I am thinking particularly of Holland but there are other countries.

JW19

I am among the group of women most affected by the increase in the state retirement age. Until I was almost 50 I expected to retire at the age of 60. Like other women I reluctantly accepted the need to equalise the pension age and had to adapt to working another 4 years longer than expected. However, I have now had almost another two years added to my pension age. This is outrageous when I was only just over seven years from retiring and is just not enough time to prepare. The outrage and fury amongst women worst affected by this is palpable. I still accept the principle of equalisation but it needs to revert to the original timetable for women. There is now a six year difference in pension age for women born only four years apart and even worse, over three years difference in pension age for women born only a year and day apart. How on earth can this be considered remotely fair? This affects a group in society who generally have little private pension provision. I personally know several people who have had this referred to the Pensions department by their MPs so I would like to know if you are going to reconsider this and make alternative plans for women born around 1954 who are the most affected. The government said they would do what was fair. This is just lazy and convenient.

Lar2084

Please can you tell me why, as we are in the EU, our pensions are far below everyone else in member countries although our cost of living in the majority of cases is higher. I understand our pensions are on a par with Bulgaria. The majority of pensioners have worked hard from the age of 15 to retirement age and beyond and cannot afford to live they just manage to exist, how can they battle the cold and afford to keep warm. They cannot afford essential repairs to the homes they have bought without handouts from the government. I had to decide on whether to have my teeth done or my roof repaired! Also how do they afford new clothes, even charity shops are becoming expensive. I get £1 over the amount payable as I have a tiny private pension therefore do not get any benefits at allother than free bus pass. Could you or any other MP exist on the amount we receive? I would like to see you try!

dark_angel_1

Please can you tell me why I should be penalised because I was born in the wrong year and now have to wait until I am 66+ to retire. I earn poor money but still end up paying taxes to keep over 60's running round on free bus passes and heating allowances. Plus paying for every immigrant to claim free prescriptions, health care etc even though the majority of them have not contributed to this society, nor can they understand the Queens English but know how to get benefits!!!
My father died 33 years ago and my mother 8 so why should I carry on working in a job that is physically and mentally challenging and i will need all my wits about me to carry on with my occupation.
If you stopped paying out freebies to people that have not earned the right to them, the rest of us may be able to pack work in. Everyone in a similar position to myself feels the same. You may as well leave our coffins at the workplace door.

I feel everyone except the English get treated fairly!!
It is against our Human Rights for you to so actively discriminate on the grounds of being born in the wrong year. Whilst present pensioners can swan off on holidays, cruises, but still qualify for heating allowances.

The world has gone mad and I know longer wished I had been born in such a country full of weak minded politicians.
Yours furious
D Britton

jeanniebeanie_2

Johnjiffy wrote: »

I have heard a rumour that there may be an increase in Pension to £140 per week.

Apparently we await a green paper on proposals. Before it gets to that stage can we be assured that this increase will not be at the expense of those who made a working lifetime of extra contributions through Graduated Pension Schemes and SERPS etc.

Can we be assured that those who receive more than £140 per week will not have their pension reduced?

I would like to second this question. Along with an assurance that S2P, SERPS
etc if kept, will not continue to be eroded and a further assurance about the funds invested by people who opted out of SERPS.