The Garden Fence - help and support in tough times

burtha

Wow .....good luck with the pension thing ....sounds like a total nightmare ,hope you get it sorted

Still not heard anything from Sheffield hospital, over 2weeks now so planning on calling hospital tomorrow, see if the consultant has remembered to contact Sheffield ,...wait and see....he doesn't inspire much hope......

Pops, Durham garla sounds fun ,never been ,always forget its on , glad you had a good time

Right ...plan on going to bed before 3 am tonight ....only getting a few hours still ,think I function on auto pilot

moneyistooshorttomention

Yep...not fancying this bit of pension paperwork at all - but needs must. I woke up this morning wondering if what has happened is that maybe they have "averaged out" my Serps pension over the time since I reached Retirement Age of 60 and duly retired, as well as over my "working life" (ie up to 60). My income has been very low since retirement (as I've only been receiving the work part of my pension and that's so low that I don't pay tax on it).

So if they have done this Serps "averaging out" all the way up until my revised State Pension Age (rather than just up to my Retirement Age of 60) then that might explain why it looks as if the amount of Serps due to me seems to have been cut since my last Pension Forecast.

Sighs at the thought of looking out the paperwork and then trying to find out if they were allowed to take my very low income in between 60 and my Revised State Pension Age into account in their "averaging out" process.

I have been assuming that they stopped taking my income into account after 60th birthday for Serps "averaging out" purposes and mentally put it in a Government "bank account" and stuck inflation rises on it each year in between 60 and my Revised State Pension Age.

If anyone else has been in this position - I'd be interested to hear what happened to their Serps pension and whether its calculated out up to 60 (as I assumed) or they carry on with taking into account income received in between 60th birthday and a Revised State Pension Age (which would mean it being based on lower income for many people iyswim).

I can feel a headache - or a stiff drink or two - coming on...

silvasava

Moneyistooshorttomention - post your queries on the Pensions forum. I know there are some posters who will be able to answer your questions - they are very good.

ivyleaf

Pensions are a nightmare, aren't they I'm also managing on a very small work pension - I had to stop work early due to poor health and had to go part time for my last few years at work anyway - and will get my State one when I'm 64-and-three-quarters. I'll come in for the new "flat rate" pension - I don't know how they can call it a "flat rate" when we won't all get the same amount. I won't have enough NI contributions for the full amount, and will apparently get less in any case as I was contracted out of SERPS.

It's all completely baffling! No point worrying about it though, there's absolutely nothing I can do about it.

nursemaggie

I'm back from my holidays in Malta to visit DD and family. Had a lovely time. Went to places I had not been to before.

I am missing DGS already only got back very late last night. Woke to no one shouting grandma, grandma. Missing all the cuddles and a little hand taking mine.

Don't like coming home to house where a 21 year old boy has been on his own. An awful lot of things he just does not think to do were waiting for me as well as his washing. My poor pot plants looked dead, he forgot to water them but they have recovered over night.

It was raining when I left Manchester airport and was raining when I returned. DS says it has hardly stopped all the time I have been away. Most of the people on the plane had very little clothes on. Don't know how they got on because by the time I got into Manchester everyone around me had winter coats on.

moneyistooshorttomention

silvasava wrote: »

Moneyistooshorttomention - post your queries on the Pensions forum. I know there are some posters who will be able to answer your questions - they are very good.

]

Think I'll do just that - once I've looked out the figure for Serps in last pension forecast and then added on 2.5% pa for inflation rises and see what they have to say to see what I think it should be.

Looks like its Paperwork Day tomorrow...:(

[Deleted User]

I've just been up the garden and picked the very last of the french beans from the polytunnel and .......another half a colanderful of the first runner beans on the wigwam. Also a big bowl of loganberries (I thought I'd got the lot a few days ago) 6 perfectly ripe blackberries, a bowl of tomatoes (the yellow ones) from the greenhouse and a big colanderful of beautiful bright red redcurrants, Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum!!!

ivyleaf

Lyn, thanks for the heads-up about the Merrells sandals. I looked at them, slept on it, and ordered some this morning They're a different style from my old pair (now 8 years old) but hopefully they will be just as comfy. The old ones look really rough after so long, but they've been wonderful.

Maggie Welcome home! We missed you. What a shame DS didn't do his washing I don't think my 21 year old grandson would think to do his in that situation either, unless his mother texted to remind him. Glad your plants have survived.

Stiltwalker How are you all? I guess you're just too busy to post! Thinking of you.

nursemaggie

Ivyleaf it was not the washing so much as the kitchen full of empty burger and noodle packaging and empty bottles to clear up. The bag used for the bin was split so everything fell out and I had to clean the bin. I am sure you know what I mean. Little things not done all week that take a few seconds and we do without thinking all over the house.

I spent two hours dealing with it all before I felt I could sit down and have a coffee. He had cooked himself Raman soup (veg meat and noodles) and dropped it down his jeans. He managed to get his jeans off before getting too badly burned, put them in the washing machine but did not know how to work the washing machine.

I asked him what else he thought besides insurance, would be filed under I in the household files. I suppose your average 21 year old would not think of instructions. My oven gloves have gone moldy but if there are mold stains on his jeans it does not show they are his black ones. I still have to clean the carpet where he dropped the soup. He never thought to look in the cleaning cupboard for something to clean up the mess.

I don't have a mobile phone or I may have texted him Thursday to remind him to water my plants.

I'm a bit exhausted today. I guess it is a week of playing with a two year old that is catching up with me. Late nights and early mornings too. I'm missing the sound of him shouting grandma grandma at 5am.

Floss

Nursemaggie, I hope you are able to get your home back to its normal standard without too much work, maybe your grandson's voice could be recorded as your mobile ringtone?