Pensioners now have higher Incomes than workers

WHA

ukcarper wrote: »

I'm not sure why people think all or even majority of boomers have final salary pensions. I keep in contact with 4 of my school friends and I'm the only one with a final salary pension.

In some areas, the opposite is true. All you need is a town where the main employer was a car factory, a coal mine, a steel plant, etc., and you'll find that there'll be a certain age of pensioner where the vast majority are benefitting from a very healthy defined benefit pension scheme.

In the city close to me, it's major employers are a university and a large NHS trust, closely followed by police and fire services headquarters - there is virtually no large scale private industry. It's a true "public sector" city as its remaining industry died in the 60s/70s. Most local workers of the last few decades are public sector in one form or the other and as a result, the pensioners are generally very well off due to their state sponsored defined benefit schemes.

In the next nearest town, a deprived seaside resort, there's virtually no public sector employment and there was never any large industry - just lots of small tourist related businesses, so there is extreme pensioner poverty.

Different areas will have very different demographics.

beecher2

lisyloo wrote: »

You won't get that if you have savings which start to kick in at £10K I believe and with £16K you get no pension credit at all, so it might be that some people with relatively modest savings don't qualify.

Someone with 16k in savings shouldn't need to be supported financially by their children though, so I wonder if the poster's mum knows about Pension Credit,.

beecher2

ukcarper wrote: »

I'm not sure why people think all or even majority of boomers have final salary pensions. I keep in contact with 4 of my school friends and I'm the only one with a final salary pension.

I was shocked in my last job to find out I was the only person who was paying into the final salary pension - my colleagues were all married women and were confident they could live on their partners' pensions. Scary stuff, and I wonder how that will pan out for them.

lisyloo

I saved all my life for when I was old and now I am old why should I spend my savings?

Because as an adult it's primarily your responsibility to feed/house/look after yourself if you are able. If you aren't able then there is a safety net.

Of course this leads to a lack of moral hazard where some people won't bother, but to answer your question if you are able to look after yourself then morally you should not expect other to do that.

lisyloo

Someone with 16k in savings shouldn't need to be supported financially by their children though, so I wonder if the poster's mum knows about Pension Credit,.

It's possible but if you think that people with £16K in life saving for the whole of the rest of their life are happy to fritter it away then I can tell you that you are definitely wrong.
My MIL is 88 and is still saving her money for a "rainy day" :-)
Seriously - it isn't a lot of money to last you for the rest of your life.

Morally I think people have an obligation to look after themselves, but I do understand and emphathise that it's quite worrying to be down to your last £16K if you own property.

beecher2

lisyloo wrote: »

It's possible but if you think that people with £16K in life saving for the whole of the rest of their life are happy to fritter it away then I can tell you that you are definitely wrong.
My MIL is 88 and is still saving her money for a "rainy day" :-)
Seriously - it isn't a lot of money to last you for the rest of your life.

Morally I think people have an obligation to look after themselves, but I do understand and emphathise that it's quite worrying to be down to your last £16K if you own property.

Oh I know, my mum had more money in her last few years because of attendance allowance and still won't spend it. She wanted to leave as much as possible to her children, and I really wish she had used it to make her own life better.

I just wouldn't describe someone with 16k as poor though and regardless, I don't undertand how someone's getting less than £100 a week - I thought the basic was £115.

kabayiri

If I were a canny politician trying to get wealthy pensioners means tested, I wouldn't just introduce new policy. I know that those same pensioner might slaughter my party in the elections.

Instead, I would encourage a long running narrative in the media showing just how wealthy a decent percentage of pensioners really are.

Perhaps this is what we are seeing, or am I overly cynical

chris_m

lisyloo wrote: »

"Pensioners" covers people from 55 - 105.

It'd be safer to just say "from 55 upwards" - since Britain's oldest person is currently 112.

lisyloo

I just wouldn't describe someone with 16k as poor though and regardless, I don't undertand how someone's getting less than £100 a week - I thought the basic was £115.

I agree. People should spend their own money first before tax payers help, but if you were a well-off child then you may well decide to chip in.

Some people don't qualify for a full state pension and may not qualify for other benefits.

Linton

kabayiri wrote: »

If I were a canny politician trying to get wealthy pensioners means tested, I wouldn't just introduce new policy. I know that those same pensioner might slaughter my party in the elections.

Instead, I would encourage a long running narrative in the media showing just how wealthy a decent percentage of pensioners really are.

Perhaps this is what we are seeing, or am I overly cynical

I dont think you are being cynical at all. There have been a whole series of other campaigns orchestrated through the press targetting one group or another for short term political reasons.

However I suspect that the press would be wary of taking an anti-pensioner line as the readership of the popular press is skewed towards the elderly eg the average age of a Daily Mail reader is 58.