Workers facing a bleak old age?

StevieJ

Forest_12 wrote: »

because you can only receive these benefits if you receive pensions credit and you can only receive pensions credit if you are below a financial threashold. As you have correctly pointed out, those people who have privat pensione provision raise their income above this threshold and so thy miss out on the benefits. My case is that if everyone receives a fixed pension then everyone will be above this threshold and so no one will receive pensions credit and so no one will receive additional benefits.

It would be very odd indeed for the government to set a fixed rate pension and set everyone below the bar, penalising those with private pensons even more. The whole point is to reward people for taking out additional pensions, not to further penalise them.

Are you saying that the coalition are bringing in the new rules to avoid paying the rent and council tax of old age pensioners who have no assets, thus pitching them out on the streets? even I don't think they are that bad;)

Oldernotwiser

Forest_12 wrote: »

because you can only receive these benefits if you receive pensions credit and you can only receive pensions credit if you are below a financial threashold. As you have correctly pointed out, those people who have privat pensione provision raise their income above this threshold and so thy miss out on the benefits. My case is that if everyone receives a fixed pension then everyone will be above this threshold and so no one will receive pensions credit and so no one will receive additional benefits.
.

You could be over the threshold for pension credits and still receive help with rent and council tax, although possibly not the whole amount.

Just as some people in full time employment receive LHA/HB/CTB, it's overall income and rental amounts which define eligibility, not necessarily what benefits you receive.

StevieJ

Forest_12 wrote: »

I think you will be surprised. Why not put the details into a benefits advisor website and see what someone with a tax free income of £7280 can get in benefits.

Tell you what let us have an example, BTW the applicable amount is the state pension plus pension credit. As you can see the benefits are eroded at 65p per £1 for income over and above what was previously known as the minimum income gurantee, so those benefits don't just disappear once income strikes a certain level.

Example A person's maximum eligible rent is £200 per week. This is the maximum HB they could get. They do not have any other adults living with them.
Their income exceeds their applicable amount by £10.00 per week.
Using the 65% of the income above the applicable amount, their maximum HB is reduced by £10.00 x 65% = £6.50. Their HB entitlement is £193.50 per week.

http://www.merton.gov.uk/advice-benefits/benefits/hb-ctb/housingbenefit/calculatinghb.htm#applicamt

StevieJ

Forest_12 wrote: »

Are you being deliberately obtuse?

So what do you mean here?

My case is that if everyone receives a fixed pension then everyone will be above this threshold and so no one will receive pensions credit and so no one will receive additional benefits

In my view nobody will need pension credit but the other benefits, such as rent will still be paid for pensioners with no assets, trivial pensions will merely reduce the amount people can claim in benefits. I trust you are not actually saying that giving a fixed pension to all of £140/150 will mean that no benefits like rent will be paid? I think you have the wrong end of the stick there.

Oldernotwiser

Forest_12 wrote: »

I think you will be surprised. Why not put the details into a benefits advisor website and see what someone with a tax free income of £7280 can get in benefits.

Why don't you do it? You'll be the one who's surprised!

ukcarper

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Why don't you do it? You'll be the one who's surprised!

I had a spare couple of minutes £150 a week income rent £150 a week council tax £100 a month result £145.09 housing benefit, £21.82 council tax benefit.

Oldernotwiser

ukcarper wrote: »

I had a spare couple of minutes £150 a week income rent £150 a week council tax £100 a month result £145.09 housing benefit, £21.82 council tax benefit.

Thank you. Let's hope that stops someone posting rubbish.

StevieJ

ukcarper wrote: »

I had a spare couple of minutes £150 a week income rent £150 a week council tax £100 a month result £145.09 housing benefit, £21.82 council tax benefit.

I trust that council tax benefit is per week?

ukcarper

StevieJ wrote: »

I trust that council tax benefit is per week?

You are correct its a week

StevieJ

ukcarper wrote: »

You are correct its a week

So that particular no asset pensioner will be getting £16k (tax free) a year plus bits and pieces (fuel, bus pass etc), and if they save for a pension they will probably still get £16k, looks like there may be more opt-outs than they think on the new pensions.