New (2016) State Pension - BEWARE!!!

Sterlingtimes

Having had various periods of "contracting in" and "contracting out", I calculate my overall weekly equivalent State Pension at £240. I am not sure that it would be easy to calculate my benefit if I have been "contracted in" throughout.

JezR

saver861 wrote: »

The fact that she acknowledged the new pension was mis-understood and needs improving clarifies my point - it was mis-sold. .

So now you agree with me that she said it was misunderstood rather than mis-sold. Thank you. Mis-selling is your opinion, fine.

I don't think there is any doubt that the new state pension has been misunderstood because of all the posts in here. It has also been appallingly reported in the press.

dunstonh

It has also been appallingly reported in the press.

Isn't that the case with most financial reporting in the media? Rarely do you see an accurate report.

xylophone

I now have a reasonable understanding of the workings of DB pensions, GMP etc but this only came about when circumstances required me to get down to learning about them.

When I was a bright young thing, ( the dear, dead days beyond recall:eek:) I barely gave the matter a thought, especially, I suppose, as the pension was non-contributory....

saver861

JezR wrote: »

So now you agree with me that she said it was misunderstood rather than mis-sold. Thank you. Mis-selling is your opinion, fine.

I don't think there is any doubt that the new state pension has been misunderstood because of all the posts in here. It has also been appallingly reported in the press.

She said it was mis-understood.

Interviewer suggested "mis-sold"

Mrs Altmann agreed.

Nuff said .....

hyubh

saver861 wrote: »

None of those were schemes that I was a member of

You were a member of the LGPS! I don't recall you naming the fund, so I gave a few examples of what LGPS funds provide.

but I have no doubt there will have been information on Contracting Out.

Great - so the onus was on yourself to find out what it meant.

One of your links is a document updated in 2009 ... long before the new pension was even mentioned.

Per what I quoted, I responding to your assertion, 'Well I read my pension scheme literature but I don't recall anything particularly standing out about being contracted out at the time'. You got your early retirement a while ago, didn't you?

Thus the point is that the information was insufficient for many

I was deliberately trying to find slightly older literature that corresponded to your own time in the scheme.

People can bleat all they like about the fact that people shoulda, coulda, woulda .... as it stands, they didn't ...... and where those numbers are significant then there has to be a root cause other than peoples 'laziness'.

Because it's complicated, and realistically there is only a limited amount of hand-holding that pension scheme administrators can provide. Beyond that it's up to the individual to take responsibility for their own affairs, which may mean taking the time to understand, or may just mean not whinging like a spoilt child when things turn out slightly differently to what was originally assumed.

peterg1965

dunstonh wrote: »

Isn't that the case with most financial reporting in the media? Rarely do you see an accurate report.

It's generally the case with MOST reporting in the media on a variety of subjects. Things get sensationalised, and facts are blurred. I am in the defence arena and lots of published material is simply incorrect or written in a certain manner that belies the truth.

Also I have been contracted out for the vast majority of my working life, I know where I stand with the new SP, I benefited from a contracted out Protected Rights pension and latterly with a public sector FS pension and have no right to expect the full flat rate. Having said that I am now fully aware of how many years I need to pay full NI to qualify and I may not make it!

saver861

hyubh wrote: »

Because it's complicated, and realistically there is only a limited amount of hand-holding that pension scheme administrators can provide. Beyond that it's up to the individual to take responsibility for their own affairs, which may mean taking the time to understand, or may just mean not whinging like a spoilt child when things turn out slightly differently to what was originally assumed.

Well I'd like to think I have taken responsibility for my affairs .... and I think my affairs are in pretty good shape even if I say so myself.

As for my understanding of my new pension access, I did just that, and took responsibility. I got me some statements .... I got me some more statements when they changed em ... because the first ones were too confusing .... I even got me yet some more statements when the second version was deemed too confusing also!!!

I got me some knowledge on how much I would get for my years ... awww man you would be soooo proud of me for taking all that that responsibility ... all by my little ole self ....

However, you still don't ... more likely won't get it. It ain't just me saying that I was under the impression I would qualify for the full state pension with 35 years NIC's when the new pension info came out. Nope ..... not just me bro ... loads others too ..... intelligent peeps too ... so not too complicated ....

Spin ... spin ... spin... thats the reason ..... it was mis-sold ... people were mis-informed .... 55% don't get the full thing due mainly to being contracted out .. thus majority do not get it ... yet by far the majority 'thought' they were gonna get it if they had 35 years.

These are people who are responsible .. working .. jobs .. mortgages .. families .... etc etc .. don't you think they were responsible enough to manage these everyday circumstances .... so why did so many fail when it came to understanding their new pension entitlements ...

Government spin ... that's what it was bro .... but somehow something tells little ole me that you ain't never gonna get that bit ... and its all down to the fact that peeps did not read the green paper and check out their contracted out status etc etc.

The fact that they have had at least three attempts at the pension statements might give you a clue as to why people are still confused ......

seven-day-weekend

This is how I understand the single tier pension (it doesn't affect me). Please correct me if I am wrong!

The flat rate is £155. However, if you have paid into a contracted-out Pension scheme, then this amount will be reduced an amount equivalent to the number of years you were contracted out. Then you will get whatever pension you contracted into on top.

Hasn't it always been this way? My friend who never contracted out gets more SP than me. However, my Council Pension more than makes up the difference and I have ended up with more in total than her.

I agree that initially I thought that everyone would get £155, with any other pension on top. I don't think it was made terribly clear.

LXdaddy

My state pension date is pre-April 2016 so I'm not impacted directly. But I have to agree that on the initial announcement my understanding was that from April 2016 everyone would get a new flat rate pension.


I KNOW that is incorrect - it's certainly not FLAT RATE - it's SINGLE TIER and I know that periods of contracting out reduced the entitlement. But this knowledge has accrued since the time of the initial announcement.


Undoubtedly all that information was in the public domain at the time of the original announcement, but what I "heard" was a new simpler system where everyone who qualified would get the same state pension ie good news.


When communication fails the responsibility is with the speaker not the listener.