MSE News: Autumn Statement 2015: State pension rates confirmed

Former_MSE_Helen

Osborne also revealed that those who leave the UK for more than four weeks at a time will no longer get pension credit...

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Autumn Statement 2015: State pension rates confirmed




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kuepper

How does he justify having one rate for existing pensioners and another for new pensioners? I thought we were all going to get the new flat rate pension but there will now be 2 classes of pensioner. I had 47 years of contributions to get what I get, those retiring from April only have had to have contributed 30 years to qualify. Sickening that even with my basic pension top ups and the announced rise I will be £16 a week worse off than a new pensioner in April.

molerat

I think you need to read up on the new pension. A pre 2016 retiree could be getting up to £280.31 a week, a new full pension is only £151.25.

bigadaj

kuepper wrote: »

How does he justify having one rate for existing pensioners and another for new pensioners? I thought we were all going to get the new flat rate pension but there will now be 2 classes of pensioner. I had 47 years of contributions to get what I get, those retiring from April only have had to have contributed 30 years to qualify. Sickening that even with my basic pension top ups and the announced rise I will be £16 a week worse off than a new pensioner in April.

No you won't, everyone will be in transitional arrangements for the first few years. So you would get the better of currently accrued under the new and old system, there's no huge change.

Mr_Costcutter

Dear me, they have spoken about 'simplyfying' pensions for years, but it doesn't seem to have happened. The New State Pension has caused nothing but confusion for the average man in the street. A shambles really.

kuepper

molerat wrote: »

I think you need to read up on the new pension. A pre 2016 retiree could be getting up to £280.31 a week, a new full pension is only £151.25.

I think it's you who needs to read up on the new state pension, it's £155.65 not £151.25. I don't know how any typical pensioner could be getting £280 a week state pension, I had 47 years of contributions and get less than half that

kuepper

bigadaj wrote: »

No you won't, everyone will be in transitional arrangements for the first few years. So you would get the better of currently accrued under the new and old system, there's no huge change.

do you mean existing pensioners will eventually move to the new flat rate pension, where have you read that? Everything I've seen suggests 2 classes of pensioners

JezR

My dad's pension is within spitting distance of the maximum. Might have been a bit closer still I guess if the company he worked for hadn't gone bust a year before his retirement. The optimum was probably to have paid 20 years of the maximum SERPS contributions and retired before the percentage on surplus earnings was cut back from 25% to 20%. There may be a sweet spot later on when the reduced SERPS is offset by accumulated S2P.

molerat

kuepper wrote: »

I think it's you who needs to read up on the new state pension, it's £155.65 not £151.25. I don't know how any typical pensioner could be getting £280 a week state pension, I had 47 years of contributions and get less than half that

I used 2015 rates as I could not find the 2016 max additional pension rate. The new pension will not fully kick in for some time. There will be winners and losers and some, just like you, will not get the full amount possible. My "new" pension rate would be something like £77 but I am protected by the transitional arrangements.

molerat

kuepper wrote: »

do you mean existing pensioners will eventually move to the new flat rate pension, where have you read that? Everything I've seen suggests 2 classes of pensioners

No you will not change your scheme. There are "old" pensioners, "transitional pensioners" and "new" pensioners. I will be transitional as my old scheme is higher than my new scheme but I can top up post 2016. MrsM will be fully new scheme as her new scheme is higher than the old. There will be several classes of pensioners just like now with some getting more and some getting less. It never has been and never will be a "flat rate" pension.

hyubh

Mr_Costcutter wrote: »

The New State Pension has caused nothing but confusion for the average man in the street. A shambles really.

The complications are in dealing with the legacy of the old, very complex system. So no, not a shambles really.