Public sector wellcome to the real world

atush

toshy wrote: »

Well thank-you all for an interesting time! I hope my input has helped to quell some of the antagonism against public sector workers and given you all a broader picture.
There are no real rights and wrongs in all this re private v public. It's just flagging up the differences between the two.
Its time the gaps were narrowed and I hope you all agree with that! I for one will be doing my bit to try to reach this goal. But I'm sorry...if I'm forced into taking strike action in order to achieve it, then strike I shall!
I'll check back tomorrow to see who else has slagged me off! he he!:rotfl:

I personally had less antagoism for the PS until you started your rant and didnt' justify your positions or answer my Q's.

I used to think you were unfortunate and didn't quite grasp today's realities. Now having sat thru your diatribes w/o answer, I think I may (for the first time in my life ever) go over to the dark side and agree with the Daily Mail.

I think, perhaps all on your own, you have put the PS sector back a notch in public sympathy.

toshy

ani_26 wrote: »

This, in my view, is the direction in which government policies are heading.

The only trouble with this is, of course, it will create the big divide, such as it has on this thread, of the ' have's ' and the ' have nots ' .

Those who can afford to pay into ANY pension plan, can provide for some semblance of a ' comfortable ' retirement, whilst those who simply cannot afford to pay into a pension plan. What happens to them?

When I realised that my public sector pension would not support me in my retirement, I borrowed extra on my mortgage to allow me to purchase AVC's. It means that I will need to work until I am 71 to pay off my mortgage but hopefully then I will be able to relax and enjoy my retirement. If I peg out before then, at least I have the comfort of knowing that my sons will gain some benefit.
C'est la vie!

toshy

atush wrote: »

I personally had less antagoism for the PS until you started your rant and didnt' justify your positions or answer my Q's.

I used to think you were unfortunate and didn't quite grasp today's realities. Now having sat thru your diatribes w/o answer, I think I may (for the first time in my life ever) go over to the dark side and agree with the Daily Mail.

I think, perhaps all on your own, you have put the PS sector back a notch in public sympathy.

Which Q's did I not answer?

toshy

atush wrote: »

I personally had less antagoism for the PS until you started your rant and didnt' justify your positions or answer my Q's.

I used to think you were unfortunate and didn't quite grasp today's realities. Now having sat thru your diatribes w/o answer, I think I may (for the first time in my life ever) go over to the dark side and agree with the Daily Mail.

I think, perhaps all on your own, you have put the PS sector back a notch in public sympathy.

I have just checked your profile and it is showing that you have only posted once on this thread, i.e. the one above. Have you been posting under another name or is there a fault on the web-site?

Le_Chuck

toshy wrote: »

My monthly contribution to my pension is currently £168 per month, the % we have to pay was increased in 2008
I will be working for a minimum of a further 5 years
My annual contribution has never been less than £428 p.a even in the first years
I have been working in the public sector since 1966
The lump sum is taxable if I choose to take it.
In 2008 I, like many other public sector workers chose to make additional AVC's on top of my % pension contribution in order to keep my pension at around £7,000 p.a.

For those on £18k+ it did, those on less (which you've said you are) its decreased.

Le_Chuck

toshy wrote: »

my current salary is £17,000. Pay rises and increments/up-grading is all totally frozen, has been for 2 years and it seems no change in that is likely. Even the majority of teachers are not on that salary as a lot of experienced teachers are leaving in droves, so most schools have a predominance of NQT's and also choose to appoint NQT's to try to balance their budgets. Uglymug lives in cuckoo land methinks!

Really? thats not the case everywhere

toshy

Le_Chuck wrote: »

For those on £18k+ it did, those on less (which you've said you are) its decreased.

It became a sliding sclae.
£0-£12,000 5.5%
£12,000.01 - £14,000 5.8%
£14,000.01 - £18,000 5.9%

This is higher than I previously paid

Uglymug

Moby wrote: »

More bitterness from the virtuous private sector bod who has never had a day's dole in his life blah blah blah. I'm sorry mate you don't convince anyone. You are now squealing because you made the wrong choices in life with regard to providing for your retirement. You should blame the companies you worked for and their scams of having pension holidays and paying out bonuses and flash company cars instead. You were all mugs and bought it due to your corporate greed in the good times. Research has shown that Gordon Browns tax on pensions had very little impact in comparison!

Now its all gone bad and your suffering....As I said many of us never bought this Thatcherite dream in the first place. I'm looking forward to a good pension...circa 20K a year index linked and no matter what happens it won't change much because of my accrued rights to date. By the way my pension is self financing but even if it wasn't i deserve it for the reasons given! Welcome to the real world...didn't someone say somewhere!

Sorry, I thought I’d mentioned I drove a six year old Mondeo, I haven’t got and never have had a flashy company car, I think the majority of private sector workers have never had a flashy company car. Only one of the 5 companies I’ve worked for have provided them but that was for very senior managers, not the ordinary shop floor workers. I also haven’t had a bonus for over 10 years and prior to that it was only ever in the region of a couple of hundred pounds. You really do have a perverse view of what real life is like outside your cotton wool wrapped environment of the public sector.

Congratulations on attaining your pension, you’ve certainly managed to grab most of the pie there haven’t you. A 20K pension is what most of use can only dream of in the private sector. I’m certain nobody in my current small company will be able to save the £666,666 (that's two thirds of a million pounds) they’d need to purchase a similar pension. It seems, according to you, everyone in the private sector have made the wrong decisions in life. It’s extremely disheartening to see that you think we’re all mugs. I truly hope that this view is not shared within the majority of the public sector. I’ve always had a fairly good regard for the public sector, but unfortunately, after being involved with this thread, I’ve changed my opinion, and it’s not for the good.

If proof was ever needed that the system needs reforming this must be it, from his job description the poster seems to have implied he’s a fairly small cog in the system, the size of his pension is scandalous. Surely, everyone, even other moderate members of the public sector who’ve only managed to amassed a much smaller pension must see the injustice in this.

Le_Chuck

toshy wrote: »

I am a woman and in 2008 I was in my late 50's, I now have to work to 65 to receive my full pension. The current talks are about this being raised even higher.

if youre in your late 50's you'll still qualify for the 85 year rule, so you can retire on full pension at 60 (providing you have 25 years service)

Le_Chuck

toshy wrote: »

It became a sliding sclae.
£0-£12,000 5.5%
£12,000.01 - £14,000 5.8%
£14,000.01 - £18,000 5.9%

This is higher than I previously paid

Really? it was a flat 6% prior to 2008 (im in the LGPS btw)