State Pension (rip off)

le_loup

Erm ... my comment was about the use of the word TIMES when D meant YEARS.
Read first, comment second.

shop-to-drop

le_loup wrote: »

Erm ... my comment was about the use of the word TIMES when D meant YEARS.
Read first, comment second.

Cheeky!

What makes you think he meant years? I read it as correct myself.

dunstonh

Erm ... my comment was about the use of the word TIMES when D meant YEARS.

No, I meant times. Life expectancy after retirement is generally recorded as being just 2 years on average when it was introduced. It is now closer to 20 years with expectation that it will move to 30 years.

le_loup

In that case, I grovingly apologise to all.

jamesd

annie1975 wrote: »

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

It's supposed to be enough to avoid abject poverty and is only around four tenths of pensioner incomes overall. But most people will appreciate a higher living standard than provided by the state pensions. The way to get that is to exercise choice and pay into other pensions or invest for retirement in some other effective way.

Here are some official statistics about pensioner income for 2010-11 that you might find interesting:

• In 2010-11 the average net income for all pensioner units (pensioner couples and single pensioners together) was £340 after housing costs (£369 per week before housing costs).
• Between 1998-99 and 2010-11, average net income after housing costs increased by 40 per cent. Before housing costs the rise was 33 per cent.
• Average pensioners' income has grown faster between 1998-99 and 2010-11 than average earnings, which increased by 11 per cent during the same period.
• In 2010-11 state benefits accounted for 43 per cent of pensioners’ incomes, occupational pensions made up 26 per cent, earnings 20 per cent, investment income 7 per cent, and personal pensions 4 per cent.
• Single male pensioners had an average net income After Housing Costs of £257 per week in 2010-11 compared with £211 for single female pensioners (the basic state pension that year was £97.65 for a single pensioner).

That £369 a week is around £19,100 a year. Way more than the state pensions provide. For that report, pensioners means only people above state pension age, or a couple with one above. About three quarters of pensioners own their own homes.

You might also find it interesting that "The median net income has grown faster than the mean net income for both Before Housing Costs and After Housing Costs, with the Before Housing Costs median increasing 39 per cent between 1998-99 and 2010-11 and 48 per cent After Housing Costs. This means pensioners in the middle of the income distribution have seen faster growth than those in the upper end of the distribution", so it's not an increase just due to rich retirees getting richer but really is the average pensioners doing better.

margaretclare

Thrugelmir wrote: »

A close friend of mine never made it past his 39th birthday. So he'll never receive a penny of what he paid in.

Neither did my daughter, who died 10 years ago this month, aged 39.

Nor did her Dad, my first husband, who didn't even make it to his 60th.

kidmugsy

Nor my father.