State Pension Calculator - When will you get it ?

downshifter98

Thanks EdInvestor

Happy days - so many changes and trying to make sense of them all has made me a little 'snow-blind'. Now I can see that all of these changes start from 2010......I just took a little while to get there........

EdInvestor

Paul_Herring wrote: »

I fully expect the state pension to have ceased by the time I retire in 2039

Why do you think that?

The general trend in the area of state benefits and entitlements seems to be to have more (and more) of them, not fewer.

Paul_Herring

EdInvestor wrote:

Why do you think that?

Because I don't trust the government (whichever parties are elected in the interim) not to mess around with the pensions. Again.

The general trend in the area of state benefits and entitlements seems to be to have more (and more) of them, not fewer.

In the last couple of years, maybe. Longer term they've gone down, not up. Witness the removal of the link between pensions and pay for example.

Don't get me wrong, I'll be pleasantly surprised if there is a state pension when I retire, but my current planning is based on the assumption it will either not exist, or to be of such low value that it might as well not exist.

EdInvestor

Witness the removal of the link between pensions and pay for example.

This is being restored at a time between 2012 or by the end of the next parliament.The quid pro quo will be the change to S2P making it a flat rate rather than earnings linked benefit.

If you are taling from the perspective of the higher paid, then I would agree with you.The S2P change will benefit the lower paid at the expense of the higher paid.And the lifetime allowance puts a cap on how much tax relief rich people can drain from the system.

But frankly IMHO that's about time. The way the old pension system worked was shameful - making it very difficult for poorer people to get even a basic state pension, while handing out massive dollops of effectively tax relieved life assurance to the rich.

Should have been rationalised years ago.

skintmostofthetime

It tells you you're only effected if born after`59 but I wasn't and still it tells me aged 65 !

Oh p'raps I'll just cut me wristes and save them the expense.!

Paul_Herring

EdInvestor wrote:

This is being restored at a time between 2012 or by the end of the next parliament.

Hah!

Sorry - could you be clear about this- is
1) the link between the two being restored with the pension at it's current level (or maybe inflation adjusted in the interim), or
2) is the value of the pensions before the link was severed being restored (taking into account wage rises in the interim)?

I'm certain you mean the former. I'm cynical because I'm sure the latter isn't happening. Had the link not been severed, I'm sure a week's pension would be above the current level of MIG, for example.

EdInvestor

AFAIK ( it was in the Pension Bill which went through last week), the link will be restored at the level the pension is at at the time, so it will continue as now - inflation adjusted until then and thus continue to fall behind earnings.

Had the link not been severed, I'm sure a week's pension would be above the current level of MIG, for example.

But you need to factor in S2P to get a full picture - anyone retiring with a full NI record and an average salary will be well above MIG now.

dunstonh

I think relaying on S2P even existing is a risk that you shouldnt take. It's been reduced three times since it (or SERPs) was introduced. The increase in retirement ages is a fourth time.

The Govt doesnt like playing with the basic state pension as its high profile. S2P is not. The last proposals recommended abolishing S2P/Serps/graduated and going with a single state pension. That would have been lower for people with a maximum NI record but higher for self employed or those with a lower NI record. That proposal didnt come in this time round but it is still favoured by many in Govt.

The NPSS is going to take a lot of people out of the pension credit levels whether they realise it or not. So, that is going to factor less in later years. It will probably get abolished at some point.

The only thing you should realy on is yourself and perhaps the basic state pension. Using Serps/S2P (contracted in) should be a fallback that you havent relied on.

EdInvestor

It's a good idea to check your S2P position now, so you can monitor it.Many people may be surprised about how much it is - it can easily double the size of the basic state pension.
Forecast here:

https://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk

It's important to know how much your S2P will be, because it affects any pension planning based on tax bands. The age alloowance will go up to 10k in the next few years, so that if you had no S2P, then it might make sense for a basic rate taxpayer to save up 100k in a pension to get tax free income of 5k on top of the BSP.

But if you are already getting S2P of 5k, this would be a bad idea.

So it's good to find out the facts, as S2P varies in every individual case.

Ian_W

EdInvestor wrote: »

It's a good idea to check your S2P position now, so you can monitor it.Many people may be surprised about how much it is - it can easily double the size of the basic state pension.
Forecast here:
www.thepensionservice.gov.uk

Unfortunately Ed anyone retiring after 2010 will have to wait a year for their forecast! The official version:

"Unfortunately, the Department for Work and Pensions is temporarily unable to provide customers, who reach State Pension Age on or after 6 April 2010, with a State Pension forecast. This is because the computer systems used to provide State Pension forecasts are in the process of being updated to reflect the recent changes to the State Pension rules introduced through the Pensions Act 2007.
Over the next year we will be updating the computer systems used to provide State Pension forecasts, to enable us to provide a service that will be available to all to use. We aim to have the system changes in place by Autumn 2008."


You get the same response if you write to them as well. :rolleyes: