State Pension (rip off)

sheffield_lad

Annie those contributions are for current pensioners NOT your own pension. The reason the retiremnet age is going up is clear we are living a lot longer and we can no longer afford for folk to retire at 60 & 65.

This is not political either Labour won't change the age because they can't we have no money. Folk need to think about how they want to spend their retirement broke/just getting by = state pension or holidays and comfort = putting money away for retirement.

annie1975_2

Yes Howee I know its for current pensioners.But people like my OH (and lots of people)who should have had been retiring at 65,but now has to work longer.What I mean is after working for 50 years by the time he retires, I think is long enough.Certain jobs can't be done past a certain age...What gets peoples backs up is we are having to work longer because there is no money to pay the pensions,yet we give billions of pounds away,and waste billions.I know its easier said than done but if retirement age was left as it was and free the jobs up for the younger generation.

GhIFA

He can still retire at 65 if he wants to.

annie1975_2

GhIFA wrote: »

He can still retire at 65 if he wants to.

What i meant was he cant get his state pension.Sorry.
He does have private pensions,but its not quite enough to live on without his state pension.He has always paid into a private pension as much as was affordable.

dunstonh

Well A state pension should be enough to live on after paying tax and insurance all your life?.

Really? My state pension is on for just over £5000 a year. That is nowhere near enough. So, either I need to pay more to provide for myself or your taxes need to go up to pay for me.

Yes a lot of people dont even get to retirement age,or not long past it,all those contributions for nothing.

If its a personal pension you are on about then the money goes out to a beneficiary (tax free). If its a state pension you are on about then the spouse can gain the entitlement.

Thats what the government want i think by putting retirement age up hoping we wont live to draw it.

So, nothing to do with the fact that people on average live 10-15 times longer in retirement now than they did when the state pension was introduced?

This is not political either Labour won't change the age because they can't we have no money.

It certainly isnt political. It was under Labour that the state pension age was increased from 65 to 68. Albeit not as fast as the report that was prepared for them said it should. All this Govt has done is brought the dates forward closer to that recommended in the report. Life expectancy increases have to be paid for. Either by the tax payer or the individual.

sheffield_lad

annie1975 wrote: »

Certain jobs can't be done past a certain age...What gets peoples backs up is we are having to work longer because there is no money to pay the pensions,yet we give billions of pounds away,and waste billions..

I agree with you I know of carpet fitters, builders, plasterers all not putting anything away for retirment but I also know some of them are moving into teaching & training in other words less physical jobs. Which if I was in a manual job I would also concider when I reach that age when going into lofts via a ladder is not something I fancy.

The irony here though is the good old public sector who strike at the thought of working a day over 60 and can't get their heads around working outside the PS. That's where the waste is reform has helped but needs to go much further. PS pensions should be no better or worse than the average performing company pension scheme. That would be fair to both taxpayer and PS worker.

It's simple really if we tell folk not to bother contributing and arranging their own finances for later in life (it is their responsibility after all), we need to think about much higher taxes for the current and future workers. Personally I think the young have enough on their plate.

le_loup

dunstonh wrote: »

So, nothing to do with the fact that people on average live 10-15 times longer in retirement now than they did when the state pension was introduced?

Ooooh, that would be good!

Muscle750

plus of course working in the Civil service what u can claim for if you have to step outside the UK is almost obsene I know of one who claimed and got £2k for some warmer clothes because they had to go for a few months somewhere chilly and not forgetting the now capped £22k a year education allowence when you can't be bothered to take your kids with you and need them educated

shop-to-drop

le_loup wrote: »

Ooooh, that would be good!

Not as good as you think. If I remember correctly I think the average age for a male was 67 when state pension was introduced. So a high percentage would not have even made it to draw anything.

shop-to-drop

Just looked it up and it was worse.

In 1948 life expectancy was 66 for men and 71 for women.