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p00hsticks

leslieknope wrote: »

public sector employee here: can i just add that today i found out they are upping our mandatory contributions to our pension by at least 0.75%? so actually the payrise we get is going straight into our pension - which is no longer the final salary kind, just your regular pension that everyone else gets.

Are you sure ? If it's changed to a CARE (Career Average Revalued Earnings) pension, it's still a defined benefit pension which is considerably better than many can hope for.

Muscle750

sangie595 wrote: »

Jeez, we have been found out. That's the place we are conducting secret experiments in phase shifting.....
Damn, no, got confused with the plot of a Dr Who storyline.

Seriously, give it up now. You have already been proven incorrect on every substantive claim you have made. If you don't like your job, go get a better one - if you can - instead of blaming the world for your own inadequacies.

Get off your high horse please i state facts which my argument is also written in black and white in many areas by various publications websites and such like....................are we all wrong.............i think not basically i dont see many on here denying my points

Gavin83

LannieDuck wrote: »

I'm now as trained as I can be, and the pension scheme's been gutted. Added to which, budgets have been slashed and the work's been piled on. It's no exaggeration to say that my workload is now double what it was when I started, and as a result I've been struggling to cope.

I handed in my notice two weeks ago, and I'll be joining a private company in a few months' time :j

I can't wait to be joining you.

I agree with you, it wasn't always this bad but given the budget cuts in recent years the job has become extremely stressful with the less people attempting more work. I didn't particularly help when our director proudly claimed in a presentation we're operating on the lowest budget of any London borough. Thanks. Might look great on your CV but probably not so much when your department collapses under your direction.

I'm stressed to the point it's starting to affect my health and my relationship. A colleague of mine is one of the most chilled nicest guys you can meet yet he's started shouting at people in the office. Another one of my colleagues actually went temporarily blind due to work related stress and was told his vision will never return fully and since he's had to wear glasses. Great environment to work in.

Muscle750 wrote: »

i think not basically i dont see many on here denying my points

I don't really see you addressing any of the points others have raised either. I'm not even sure what point you are trying to make. Yes the pension on offer is good but the salary is poor. It balances out.

I also see you've ignored the question many have asked. If you feel life in the public sector is so much better why haven't you attempted to get a job?

Muscle750

Difference is I cant walk out the door at 55 with a good pension which those in the public sector can which weve paid for, it boils down to the fact the tax payer has contributed far more to the public sector pensions than the employers have in the private sector and this idea of pay is lower in the public sector is complete rubbish. Plus of course far more claims for expenses in the public sector working overseas for the FCO and you get school fees paid etc i know of one who claimed £2k because they went to a "colder climate" and needed a few warm jumpers for 3 months

nicechap

I'm 57 in NHS, another 10 years before I can get my NHS pension.

I think the OP may be confusing history with current events.

p00hsticks

Muscle750 wrote: »

Difference is I cant walk out the door at 55 with a good pension which those in the public sector can which weve paid for, it boils down to the fact the tax payer has contributed far more to the public sector pensions than the employers have in the private sector and this idea of pay is lower in the public sector is complete rubbish. Plus of course far more claims for expenses in the public sector working overseas for the FCO and you get school fees paid etc i know of one who claimed £2k because they went to a "colder climate" and needed a few warm jumpers for 3 months

Please just stop digging. You come across as a really bitter and twisted individual, and the few civil servants you appear to know (I seem to recall you have also previously mentioned one from GCHQ on a 100k+ salary) are by no means typical of the vast majority of civil servants working as lowly paid social and care workers, clerical staff in job centres, benefit centres, tax and council offices etc.

You seem to have some very outdated / incorrect notions of both public sector and private pensions. I'd be surprised if you couldn't take yours at 55, although like the vast majority of civil servants you'd have a large reduction for doing so.

The daft thing is, from previous posts you appear to have been employed full time by the same employer for 30+ years and have had a final salary pension for the first twenty of those, and your employer is still contributing 5% to your current pension.

There are many young workers out there today who can only dream of that sort of employment stability - but you completely fail to appreciate it, preferring to whinge about those who you perceive as having a better deal.

hyubh

aife wrote: »

The current NHS pension scheme is rubbish.

aife wrote: »

There are people at the top of the scale in the public and private sectors who're retiring young on massive amounts of money while most of us are still working flat out for not much reward.

Bonniepurple wrote: »

People used to be able to retire at 55.

LannieDuck wrote: »

I nonetheless chose to enter the public sector when I qualified. Why? Excellent training opportunities and a final-salary pension scheme. I'm now as trained as I can be, and the pension scheme's been gutted.

dawyldthing wrote: »

Pensions are in my opinion one big con.

leslieknope wrote: »

public sector employee here: can i just add that today i found out they are upping our mandatory contributions to our pension by at least 0.75%? so actually the payrise we get is going straight into our pension - which is no longer the final salary kind, just your regular pension that everyone else gets.

These views are utterly barmy. Facts are:

• With the collapse of private sector DB, public sector pensions are now a class apart. They are not 'just your regular pension that everyone gets' at all.
• The idea normal retirement ages 'back in the day' were 55 for white collar public sector schemes is false. The civil service and teachers schemes' NRAs were historically 60, the LGPS' 65 by default but from 60 depending on length of service. It's only reasonable NRAs are higher now because people are living much longer than 'back in the day'.
• The CARE public sector schemes remain very good because the unions completely outmanoeuvred the coalition government in negotiations for replacing the old final salary schemes. In particular, they ensured a big improvement in accrual rates - e.g. the LGPS went from 1/60 final salary to 1/49 career average. (Overall, the CARE LGPS is officially costed to be no less expensive than the final salary schemes it replaced!)
• In the 'heyday' of private sector final salary schemes, it was common to have a separate 'executive' section with extra-generous terms. Public sector schemes have never had anything like that, i.e. a high earner ended up with a higher pension simply because they were a high earner, not because they accrued pension on better terms.
• The public sector CARE schemes actually then flip things right the other way: with the better accrual rates, a low earner will typically end up with a higher pension under CARE than they would have done under final salary. Together with the end of contracting out, which means higher state pensions for public sector scheme members, a not insignificant number of lower-paid members are frankly over-pensioned, and could probably do with exchanging some pension for a pay rise.

motorguy

Muscle750 wrote: »

I see the unions have said that the 1% pay increase to public sector workers is a disgrace and left many feeling took for granted. Ive worked for the same company 30 years and last pay rise we had was 10 years ago final salary pension ripped from under our feet at the same time and a miserly 5% paid by the employer into our present pension scheme. Plus we got to work till were ready to drop not take a nice pension at 55 and as ive said before many having more income from their public sector pensions than if they continued working whilst us idiots continue paying for them So tell me all those bleating on their 1% pay increase would you like to join us in the private sector ?..................As i thought so carry on looking forward to a nice pot at 55 to enjoy life with..................we cant

The small window of being able to retire at 55 has pretty much gone - unless you're a civil servant with a lifetime of working for them behind you.

Also, if you genuinely believe you're under valued - leave and go elsewhere that will pay you more. Simples. And if you cant, then you're not under valued are you?

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Muscle750 wrote: »

Difference is I cant walk out the door at 55 with a good pension which those in the public sector can which weve paid for, it boils down to the fact the tax payer has contributed far more to the public sector pensions than the employers have in the private sector and this idea of pay is lower in the public sector is complete rubbish. Plus of course far more claims for expenses in the public sector working overseas for the FCO and you get school fees paid etc i know of one who claimed £2k because they went to a "colder climate" and needed a few warm jumpers for 3 months

And what? If they are decent jobs, why didn't you get one?

The CEO of Sainsburys gets paid more than you do as well. Why don't you resent that?

Barny1979

Muscle should have worked harder at school, would be interesting to know what he earns, as I'm sure he prob earns more than some other careers, nursing for example.