New State Pension Guide

saver861

gadgetmind wrote: »

Certainly not if they don't even bother to read it, which is usually the case.

How would the many find out this information? Where would they look? How would they know to look it up? How many even know what a White Paper or a Green Paper is?

gadgetmind wrote: »

And then fire the weak ones.

Yes you could do that ... or maybe your boss should fire you for not fully developing the team members and failing to understand the cohesiveness of the team ...... though I expect you would not agree with that either!!!

gadgetmind wrote: »

If someone reads the white paper (or even the summary) and then has questions, then I will patiently work with them to explain things. I find myself doing this a right lot at work!

Careful ...... said boss might be watching .......

gadgetmind wrote: »

If someone moans on about how they are confused, and won't look at a short summary when I send them a link, then frankly I can't be bothered. Why should I waste my time on someone who refuses to invest even a few minutes of their own?

See .... you are at it again .... making assumptions .... how do you know that all those confused by the pension estimates were lazy moaners not bothered to look it up further? ..... its a paradox ... if they were lazy moaners its likely they would not have asked for a pension statement in the first place ..... but the majority of those that did were confused such that they had to redesign the statement two or three times ..... at the last count!

xylophone wrote: »

The government has no right to assume that everybody has access to the internet or the ability to understand the complexities of the relationship between state pension and occupational pensions, particularly when there have been so many changes over the years.

That would indeed be correct ...... much less expect peeps to download White papers on their hols and digest such material.

The problem is many live in their own bubble and think the world works in the same way they do .... so, peeps on here think that everyone should read white papers etc. and be fully conversant.

The reality is, the majority of those impacted by pension changes are also likely to be the highest non IT literate people.

anothermam2

Thanks gadgetmind.
I think I may have come across paying by direct debit at one point. You can also pay by bank or cheque.

This does not appear however to be set up for paying a lump sum as is required to buy extra pension years.

There I is no bill sent by HMRC so I would be sending money to them with no way of telling them what it is for or whether I have even calculated it correctly.
I would be basically sending money with no explanation of what it is for. If there was a personal link set up on your personal statement page I would be more convinced.
It's looking like I will have to pay to telephone grrrr

saver861

gadgetmind wrote: »

I do think that everyone should be sent a paper record of their foundation amount, along with both old and new calculations.

I'm not sure how many would read it but at least they'd have been sent it!

That would be sensible ..... though they dropped the term 'foundation' a long time ago in the process ....!!

gadgetmind

saver861 wrote: »

How would the many find out this information? Where would they look? How would they know to look it up? How many even know what a White Paper or a Green Paper is?

Google.

Yes you could do that ... or maybe your boss should fire you for not fully developing the team members and failing to understand the cohesiveness of the team ...... though I expect you would not agree with that either!!!

I wasn't being entirely serious, and I have been leading large teams for 30+ years, but I still prefer to cull any weaker ones ASAP!

Careful ...... said boss might be watching .......

My boss as such is on a different site and our company secretary actively sends people my way!

See .... you are at it again .... making assumptions .... how do you know that all those confused by the pension estimates were lazy moaners not bothered to look it up further?

I don't know that and didn't claim that.

The problem is many live in their own bubble and think the world works in the same way they do .... so, peeps on here think that everyone should read white papers etc. and be fully conversant.

Yes, people should do that as it's the best way to understand and optimise their pension affairs. If they instead prefer not to bother and to moan about being "confused" then I'll point them at simple explanations, but google finds such information very easily.

The reality is, the majority of those impacted by pension changes are also likely to be the highest non IT literate people.

What's the basis for that claim? The least IT literate people are the over 65s, who aren't affected at all.

SnowMan

anothermam2 wrote: »

I wish to buy extra pension years and have obtained a pension statement online which tells me which years I can buy and how much they cost.
Unfortunately this is where all help seems to stop.
There is no link that allows you to pay online.
There is no link that allows you to contact anyone for an official statement sent to your email or otherwise.
Basically nowhere says how you pay.
There is a link that sends you in a full circle and you go round and round never finding out how and who to pay.
Surely in this day an age there should be a way of paying online!

The only other option seems to be to ring the Future Pension Centre which is a chargeable phone number.
Is telephoning really the only option I have or have I missed a hidden link?
Hope someone can help

There are extended deadlines (for anyone reaching SPA after 6th April 2016) which essentially means there is no rush to pay class 3 before 5th April 2019. So if you don't reach SPA before 5th April 2019, then best thing is to wait.

Are you sure you know what years you want to buy, whether it will actually increase your starting amount, and even if it does whether it will increase your eventual state pension.

If you post up your own situation, then it should be possible to indicate how you are affected and whether purchasing missing years could be a good idea.

gadgetmind

Are pre 2016 years purchased now treated differently to post 2016 years purchased in the future?

anothermam2

I have 31 years of contributions and would get a pension of 119.30. I am a housewife so will be making no more contributions through working. I assume I would need to buy 4 more years 2010 to 2014 which calculates to £2675.40.
I calculate I would be quids in in less than 2 years of drawing my pension. Fingers crossed I reach this age
I still don't know how to pay though without paying for a phone call!

greenglide

though they dropped the term 'foundation' a long time ago in the process

It is now, officially, the "Starting Amount" but the amount is the same.

I do think that everyone should be sent a paper record of their foundation amount, along with both old and new calculations.

I'm not sure how many would read it but at least they'd have been sent it!

Agreed, that would be an excellent plan. Maybe HMRC plan to do that? I am not aware of any plans though but we can live in hope.

They have had several attempts at simplifying the pension estimates so people could understand it ..... what chance them understanding gov white paper ....

You keep on banging on about this but could you please produce some evidence as to why DWP changed the format?

The original version was quite straightforward, gave the old rules amount, the new rules amount and said the would start with the larger one which is £.....

Considering this would be the reason why people wanted one in the first place what would be the logic in removing this information? The accompanying leaflet was pretty accurate as well, concise, no long words (unless it would upset Sun readers). Anyone who couldnt understand that wouldnt understand anything beyond "Some people will get £155.65 but some will not get as much" and immediately think that they will get the £155.65.

We do seem to be a nation of pretty thick people, especially in financial matters. People use it these days as a badge of honour "I should get everything, nobody what. Why should I have to thick, plan, save etc"

It is worrying in the extreme and seems to be getting worse. There was a time when pensioners as a group (I know this is a wild generalisation) were literate, numerate and generally fairly bright people. You didnt send letters in Sun reader English to this client group as they would complain that they should be written properly, correctly laid out, use proper words etc. Now we see generations coming who seem not to have learnt much at school or in their lives since. Can we blame the education system for this?

mgdavid

greenglide wrote: »

........... Can we blame the education system for this?

only as much as bad parenting, dysfunctional families etc; and don't get me started on the media.....

SnowMan

anothermam2 wrote: »

I have 31 years of contributions and would get a pension of 119.30. I am a housewife so will be making no more contributions through working. I assume I would need to buy 4 more years 2010 to 2014 which calculates to £2675.40.
I calculate I would be quids in in less than 2 years of drawing my pension. Fingers crossed I reach this age
I still don't know how to pay though without paying for a phone call!

Is £119.30pw the figure the DWP have quoted to you on a statement or the online system or are you assuming that's what you've earned to date based on it being the full rate of basic state pension?

How many potential post April 2016 years do you have. Or put another way in which tax year do you reach SPA?

Are your 31 years from working or credits, and do you know whether you were contracted-out of the additional state pension during some of those years? Do you have a statement showing a COPE amount? If so what is it?

If £119.30pw is the amount you've earned so far then buying 4 years from 2010 and 2014 years unfortunately might not help at all (not enough info to say), because you already have the 30 year maximum for the old rules calculation, but you would be able to earn an extra £4.45pw for each post April 2016 qualifying year (which you would need to purchase through class 3 contributions if not working or getting credits, cost is £733.20 for 2016/2017).