State Pension

xylophone

"Naught" is still used as a number, is it not?

http://grammarist.com/usage/naught-nought/

"Both naught and nought mean nothing, and in American English they are more or less interchangeable (though naught is the more common spelling). Elsewhere, they are different. Nought is conventionally used in British English for the number zero.."

oldboy64

xylophone wrote: »

And yet https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/62866569#Comment_62866569
Despite
[/B]
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/62882390#Comment_62882390

I am wondering what counts as a "very low" income!

The answer to that is that our income, excluding DLA & AA (£187.40 a week) falls below what the government say we need to live on via Pension Credit which in our case is £407.65 a week. Our actual income (pensions & other benefits combined) adds up to £293.65 a week, hence the reason why the government have to top it up with a means tested benefit to the tune of £114.00 a week.

In total the government have calculated that we need a total of £595.05 a week to live on plus £2 of Savings Credit.

Additionally because we are classified as 'poor' we pay no Council Tax and wouldn't pay any rent if we rented.

oldboy64

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.

The £293.65 is made up of my wife's SRP, ESA - contributory for me, and some pensions of mine. I don't get my SRP until next June.

Currently our minimum income (as decided by the government that we need to be able to live on) is £407.65 a week. They don't count DLA or AA so that is in addition bringing the minimum up to £595.05 a week.

Incidentally that amount would be paid by the government even if neither of us had ever worked in our lives and claimed benefits for the past 46 years.

margaretclare

Currently our minimum income (as decided by the government that we need to be able to live on) is £407.65 a week.

I think we do actually get more than that. Some of it's mine, some of it's his, some is weekly, some is monthly, and a few bits are yearly. We're still taxpayers and we wouldn't be that, if we had 'less than what the government says we need to live on'.

This all exists only because there are 2 of us with independent earned pension incomes. When/if there is only one of us left, it will be a different story.

margaretclare

Incidentally that amount would be paid by the government even if neither of us had ever worked in our lives and claimed benefits for the past 46 years.

Different from us. Ours would not be.

seven-day-weekend

When we are receiving all our Pensions in the latter half of 2014, we too will have more than that. That is because we are a couple who have accumulated pensions in our own right.We have no Pension Credit or Disability Benefits. If one of us was , heaven forbid, to be left on our own, the surviving person's income would drastically reduce, especially mine.

itch_for_a_glitch

oldboy64 wrote: »

Currently our minimum income (as decided by the government that we need to be able to live on) is £407.65 a week. They don't count DLA or AA so that is in addition bringing the minimum up to £595.05 a week.

Incidentally that amount would be paid by the government even if neither of us had ever worked in our lives and claimed benefits for the past 46 years.

Where is this mystical figure coming from ? £407.65 ?

xylophone

The answer to that is that our income, excluding DLA & AA (£187.40 a week) falls below what the government say we need to live on via Pension Credit which in our case is £407.65 a week. Our actual income (pensions & other benefits combined) adds up to £293.65 a week, hence the reason why the government have to top it up with a means tested benefit to the tune of £114.00 a week.

In total the government have calculated that we need a total of £595.05 a week to live on plus £2 of Savings Credit.

Additionally because we are classified as 'poor' we pay no Council Tax and wouldn't pay any rent if we rented.

This is definitely giving me a sense of deja vu - there was a poster (Rotoguys?) who described almost exactly similar circumstances - perhaps the fabled Andy did too?:)

xylophone

Where is this mystical figure coming from ? £407.65 ?

See http://www.ageuk.org.uk/Documents/EN-GB/Factsheets/FS48_Pension_Credit_fcs.pdf?dtrk=true

I recall trawling through this after a post in similar vein.....

SandraScarlett

xylophone wrote: »

This is definitely giving me a sense of deja vu - there was a poster (Rotoguys?) who described almost exactly similar circumstances - perhaps the fabled Andy did too?:)

Absolutely! I can't see how a net household income, of nearly £21,000 for 2 people, and that doesn't include AA and DLA, can be described as "poor" and mean no Council Tax is paid.

xx