fair do's-stop police pensions when they reach 70

prosaver

is it just me?
but when our pension system was designed in a time when many people didn't live till 70 …. It is out of date and it has to change.
heres one example .. the police (not the pop group)
they get 65 years pay for 25 years work.
So start work at 25
they can retire at 50
and if they live to 90 they will get 40 years of retirement for only working for 25 years.
plus they get the state pension..to be honest... thats just greedy
no wonder our countrys going down hill.
anyway the solution would be stop the pension at 70..
and they would still get the state pension to live on.

anguk

But it would be the same for a private pension too wouldn't it? That'll pay out until you die whether that's 5 years after you retire or 45 years after you retire.

My FIL was a policeman, he retired at 55 due to ill health and he died when he was 61, so they only had to pay his pension for 6 years, he'd done 30 years service.

Also back in those days police wages were very poor (they couldn't afford to buy their own house until he became a DCI, until then they lived in police houses) and a good pension was part of the wage package.

Lizzieanne

...but surely the state pension was also designed in a time when people didn't live as long - what cut off date should we give to that?

Police officers have to work for 30 years (they are talking about increasing that) and my husband has 5 years left to do. But don't forget he's paying £500 a month into his pension at the moment, it's not always been this amount because it's a percentage of your pay, but it's something you had no choice about when you joined.

He's counting the days till he can walk away from all the crap that's thrown at him daily (from the public, which is always expected, but also from the powers that be, which is not). It's very sad, he used to love his job, even when his pay was a pittance when compared to his friends who were in the private sector. He did it because it was a vocation and because he thought his future was secure, with a good pension. 25 years later, he 'thinks' he'll have his pension, but has no idea what it will be or whether they'll add 5, 10, 20 years to his service before he gets it.

And he has no right to industrial action.

I'm not sure why you think it will be greedy of him to claim his state pension, like everyone else, when he gets there (although I doubt that will even exist when he does get there!) and the pension that he has worked for and paid into all his life. He had no choice but to pay into this pension, and he has no choice now with what will happen to it.

But he shouldn't feel guilty for taking it and neither should any worker, whether they work for the public or private sector.
Neither of us have ever claimed a penny from the state - nothing at all, we have no children so not even child benefit payments.

And I suggest that our country would be going downhill even further were it not for the people who are constantly paying in, claiming nothing AND working long hours to protect and help others in times of emergency, illness, death...

Yes, we all have to do our bit in these difficult times, and speaking from a personal perspective, my husband has done exactly that by having his own pension contributions increased, agreeing to work on call for free and not being paid for overtime. His private pension means that when we do finally retire, we will continue with our private healthcare (no burden on the ever-struggling NHS) and other things that will make us less of a burden on the state.

I don't know what the answer is, but would you be happy if someone decided your state pension was going to just disappear when you were 70, after you'd paid your dues all your life?

moose1982

Police officers pay quite a lot into their pension pots, as noted above. Add to that the fact not many police officers actually live much beyond a decade or so after retirement, only a few live a decent amount. They basically burn themselves out.

prosaver

moose1982 wrote: »

Police officers pay quite a lot into their pension pots, as noted above. Add to that the fact not many police officers actually live much beyond a decade or so after retirement, only a few live a decent amount. They basically burn themselves out.

good point...I heard fireman go the same way, something to do with interrupted sleep, bad for the hart (shocks it)

anguk

moose1982 wrote: »

Police officers pay quite a lot into their pension pots, as noted above. Add to that the fact not many police officers actually live much beyond a decade or so after retirement, only a few live a decent amount. They basically burn themselves out.

Good point, I know my FIL didn't have set hours or even shifts, as a DCI he had to work whatever hours he was needed. There were times when his family didn't see him for days because he was at work, they can't exactly just clock off at 5pm.

vax2002

Many people still dont live until 70, in fact MOST of them.
You really should stop sucking up the bull politicians come out with.

xylophone

vax2002 wrote: »

Many people still dont live until 70, in fact MOST of them.
You really should stop sucking up the bull politicians come out with.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-15368400

"Glasgow continues to have the lowest life expectancy in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Figures for 2004-2006 and 2008-2010, show that men in the city live to an average age of 71 and women to 78."

[Deleted User]

and your benefits question is?