State Pension

xylophone

My generation in the middle have paid Graduated, Serps and S2P but we won't get our investment returned when the new £144 flat rate comes in for all.

We won't even get our contributions refunded.

See https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/181237/single-tier-pension-fact-sheet.pdf

seven-day-weekend

Dunroamin wrote: »

I can understand that with someone in your position, it was your comment that "People who have £170 a week Pensions must never have opted out of SERPS" that I was questioning.:)

OK, point taken.

SandraScarlett

margaretclare wrote: »

Well, you've explained it, but....

When pension credit was first invented a few years ago now (it replaced something else, can't remember what) numerous people thought that DH and I should get it. We did the sums online. More than once. Answer always came back: 'You are entitled to £0'. Big fat zero.

The Pensions Service even sent a lady along because they were concerned that DH hadn't applied for it. They wouldn't believe him on the phone. She was indoors exactly 5 minutes, hadn't even sat down, when she looked at a piece of paper he handed to her and said 'yes, you're right'. She didn't even ask about mine.

DH wouldn't agree to me putting his figures on here, but I know he gets basic SRP plus around the same amount in SERPS, plus an annuity which he bought with his 'golden goodbye' many years ago. This annuity has actually paid out more, over the years, than was originally put into it.

Me, I get £150.30 p.w. plus a Prudential annuity £116.43 monthly, increasing yearly by 3%, that's £177.19 total if you work it out weekly.

I don't understand what the £293.65 a week is for. Is that SRP which the two of you get? You don't make it very clear because you write 'pensions and benefits'. You should really separate the two, because - as in our case - if the basic income is too high then you don't qualify for any benefits.

That's because many of Andy's tales are written by Hans Christian Anderson ;);)

xx

itch_for_a_glitch

SandraScarlett wrote: »

That's because many of Andy's tales are written by Hans Christian Anderson ;);)

xx

Phew thsnk goodness, I thought it was real !
We dont get SRP for a decade or so, but recently requested a projection, apparently we both have 35+years, contracted out, and will get £110 ish a week. We own our home and have savings and I have other pensions.
I assume if my wife is estranged from me in the future she can claim some enhancement to her pension and HB CTB on a one bedroomed flat ?
We are considering the east coast.

oldboy64

SandraScarlett wrote: »

That's because many of Andy's tales are written by Hans Christian Anderson ;);)

xx

I don't know what your game is but your post and other similar ones from other people don't make any sense.

Am I missing something?????

margaretclare

itch_for_a_glitch wrote: »

Phew thsnk goodness, I thought it was real !
We dont get SRP for a decade or so, but recently requested a projection, apparently we both have 35+years, contracted out, and will get £110 ish a week. We own our home and have savings and I have other pensions.
I assume if my wife is estranged from me in the future she can claim some enhancement to her pension and HB CTB on a one bedroomed flat ?
We are considering the east coast.

Are you projected to get £110-ish a week each, or for the both of you? £110-ish is the present basic SRP for each individual.

In a decade or so it will all be different. Individual pension entitlement is the way of the future, so whatever you do or whatever your wife does, she'll get her own and you'll get your own. As it should be.

Dunroamin

itch_for_a_glitch wrote: »

Phew thsnk goodness, I thought it was real !
We dont get SRP for a decade or so, but recently requested a projection, apparently we both have 35+years, contracted out, and will get £110 ish a week. We own our home and have savings and I have other pensions.
I assume if my wife is estranged from me in the future she can claim some enhancement to her pension and HB CTB on a one bedroomed flat ?
We are considering the east coast.

If you're both due to retire after 2017, you should get £144 each, which is the suggested new flat rate pension. This would be whether you lived together or not - no enhancements.

NB
They can just as well prosecute pensioners for benefit fraud as they can younger people!

Bogof_Babe

So, this SERPS/S2P thing - I'm completely confused .

OH and I belonged to our employer's final salary scheme for our entire working lives (well once we reached the age of 25, which was the youngest you were allowed to join). For some time it was non-contributory, but latterly for quite some years the scheme was changed and we had to pay in. Can't remember the percentage but it was around 5% I think. Might have gone up a couple of percent in the final few years.

Does belonging to this scheme mean we were opted out of SERPS/S2P? I don't remember ever being given a choice, or any discussion on the matter. It was assumed you would join the company scheme, especially when it was non-contributory which it was when we joined.

OH is now in receipt of his SRP, which is only a couple of £ above the basic rate, and as he took his occupational pension a few years early (there was anxiety as to whether the scheme was about to close) his total income from these sources is not much above the £220 quoted in this thread (which includes pension credit, to which he is not entitled on account of his savings).

I reach pension age in a few months, but will have to wait another three years to get my full employment pension (they moved the age to 65 to equal mens' pension age). I could take it early, but would lose a good proportion of it if I do that, and I don't really need to anyway (I have income from savings, although falling interest rates might force me to reconsider). I'm only expecting a SRP of around the basic rate too, which was confirmed when I got a forecast a while ago. (I have the right number of NI contributing years for it to be a "full" pension.)

To get to the point, does this mean that we needn't have bothered contributing to an employment pension for all those years, as we'd have ended up with pretty much the same aggregated (pension) income anyway? Doesn't seem fair if that's the case, and doesn't exactly promote the idea of joining a contributory pension scheme at work, for younger people in the same position as we were.

Told you I was confused .

seven-day-weekend

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

So, this SERPS/S2P thing - I'm completely confused .

OH and I belonged to our employer's final salary scheme for our entire working lives (well once we reached the age of 25, which was the youngest you were allowed to join). For some time it was non-contributory, but latterly for quite some years the scheme was changed and we had to pay in. Can't remember the percentage but it was around 5% I think. Might have gone up a couple of percent in the final few years.

Does belonging to this scheme mean we were opted out of SERPS/S2P? I don't remember ever being given a choice, or any discussion on the matter. It was assumed you would join the company scheme, especially when it was non-contributory which it was when we joined.

OH is now in receipt of his SRP, which is only a couple of £ above the basic rate, and as he took his occupational pension a few years early (there was anxiety as to whether the scheme was about to close) his total income from these sources is not much above the £220 quoted in this thread (which includes pension credit, to which he is not entitled on account of his savings).

I reach pension age in a few months, but will have to wait another three years to get my full employment pension (they moved the age to 65 to equal mens' pension age). I could take it early, but would lose a good proportion of it if I do that, and I don't really need to anyway (I have income from savings, although falling interest rates might force me to reconsider). I'm only expecting a SRP of around the basic rate too, which was confirmed when I got a forecast a while ago. (I have the right number of NI contributing years for it to be a "full" pension.)

To get to the point, does this mean that we needn't have bothered contributing to an employment pension for all those years, as we'd have ended up with pretty much the same aggregated (pension) income anyway? Doesn't seem fair if that's the case, and doesn't exactly promote the idea of joining a contributory pension scheme at work, for younger people in the same position as we were.

Told you I was confused .

You will probably find that the income from your Final Salary Scheme is considerably more than you would get from SERPS.

Dunroamin

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

So, this SERPS/S2P thing - I'm completely confused .

OH and I belonged to our employer's final salary scheme for our entire working lives (well once we reached the age of 25, which was the youngest you were allowed to join). For some time it was non-contributory, but latterly for quite some years the scheme was changed and we had to pay in. Can't remember the percentage but it was around 5% I think. Might have gone up a couple of percent in the final few years.

Does belonging to this scheme mean we were opted out of SERPS/S2P? I don't remember ever being given a choice, or any discussion on the matter. It was assumed you would join the company scheme, especially when it was non-contributory which it was when we joined.

OH is now in receipt of his SRP, which is only a couple of £ above the basic rate, and as he took his occupational pension a few years early (there was anxiety as to whether the scheme was about to close) his total income from these sources is not much above the £220 quoted in this thread (which includes pension credit, to which he is not entitled on account of his savings).

I reach pension age in a few months, but will have to wait another three years to get my full employment pension (they moved the age to 65 to equal mens' pension age). I could take it early, but would lose a good proportion of it if I do that, and I don't really need to anyway (I have income from savings, although falling interest rates might force me to reconsider). I'm only expecting a SRP of around the basic rate too, which was confirmed when I got a forecast a while ago. (I have the right number of NI contributing years for it to be a "full" pension.)

To get to the point, does this mean that we needn't have bothered contributing to an employment pension for all those years, as we'd have ended up with pretty much the same aggregated (pension) income anyway? Doesn't seem fair if that's the case, and doesn't exactly promote the idea of joining a contributory pension scheme at work, for younger people in the same position as we were.

Told you I was confused .

Don't forget that your SERPS/S2P contributions would have been higher if you hadn't been contracted out - you get nowt for owt!