3.9% State pension increase means my NHS pension drops

Pollycat

Quick test:

are you better off overall?

Andy_L

GibbsRule_No3. said:

We have a friend who keeps telling us her M&S pension has gone down now she has her State Pension. She fails to understand that it has only “gone down” because of the tax. She is convinced the SP now has part of her M&S pension.

Some FS pensions are abated by the state pension. M&S may be one of those that does
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/oct/28/hsbc-pension-income-clawback

ETA: looks like they do
https://www.mandspensionscheme.com/i-have-taken-my-pension/my-pension/when-the-state-pension-deduction-is-applied

Paul_Herring

Pollycat said:

Quick test:

are you better off overall?

Inconvenient questions aren't allowed, I'm afraid...

brewerdave

This thread is a perfect example of how little the Common Man understands about pensions and the tax system. I have had a very similar conversation recently with an old colleague who had convinced himself that he was being penalised by our old company's pension administrator for some unknown reason ,to the point of haranguing some unfortunate at their offices!!
As to the SP increase? My overall SP increase is "only" 3.02%!!

GibbsRule_No3.

Andy_L said:

GibbsRule_No3. said:

We have a friend who keeps telling us her M&S pension has gone down now she has her State Pension. She fails to understand that it has only “gone down” because of the tax. She is convinced the SP now has part of her M&S pension.

Some FS pensions are abated by the state pension. M&S may be one of those that does
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/oct/28/hsbc-pension-income-clawback

ETA: looks like they do
https://www.mandspensionscheme.com/i-have-taken-my-pension/my-pension/when-the-state-pension-deduction-is-applied

Will admit I have not read your link but the two other friends who worked with her at M&S don't believe their M&S pensions have been impacted by the SP rise other than the tax implication.  They might have been on different terms.
Okay went and read it.  The lady actually stayed until it was time for her State Pension. The other two were older but did both stay until the new SP age applied to them as well.

casjen

brewerdave said:

This thread is a perfect example of how little the Common Man understands about pensions and the tax system. I have had a very similar conversation recently with an old colleague who had convinced himself that he was being penalised by our old company's pension administrator for some unknown reason ,to the point of haranguing some unfortunate at their offices!!
As to the SP increase? My overall SP increase is "only" 3.02%!!

This post is the perfect example of  a post that decries other people efforts to say something and looks down on other people. The point was to illustrate that a frozen allowance can have an impact on something that a lot of people wont expect and will lead them to question why for example a second pension has gone down and not up as expected. I'm fully aware how tax works as do most people. Describing people in derogatory terms (common people) is a sad  reflection on the growing "know all attitude "on many forums these days.. . Its sad the even on these forums this applies aswell.

Of course people will be better off but that is not the point in this instance.

 I would also think in the light of the current emergency that NHS employees, along with many other agencies involved,would not regard themselves as the" Common Man"

[Deleted User]

I think one of the network rail pensions behave in that way as well, if you take it early you get a higher pension, but when you go into State Pension age it dips because the slack is taken up by the state pension. So if the state pension goes up, the network rail one goes down. You could of course not take it early and then it has no effect. You also then have the tax situation going on. I had to look up my friends network rail one because I thought it was bizarre - but its all there in black and white

GaleSF63

Your second pension hasn't gone down; it's gone up. But so has your tax. 

DT2001

casjen said:

brewerdave said:

This thread is a perfect example of how little the Common Man understands about pensions and the tax system. I have had a very similar conversation recently with an old colleague who had convinced himself that he was being penalised by our old company's pension administrator for some unknown reason ,to the point of haranguing some unfortunate at their offices!!
As to the SP increase? My overall SP increase is "only" 3.02%!!

This post is the perfect example of  a post that decries other people efforts to say something and looks down on other people. The point was to illustrate that a frozen allowance can have an impact on something that a lot of people wont expect and will lead them to question why for example a second pension has gone down and not up as expected. I'm fully aware how tax works as do most people. Describing people in derogatory terms (common people) is a sad  reflection on the growing "know all attitude "on many forums these days.. . Its sad the even on these forums this applies aswell.

Of course people will be better off but that is not the point in this instance.

 I would also think in the light of the current emergency that NHS employees, along with many other agencies involved,would not regard themselves as the" Common Man"

Is the frozen allowance the reason for the net amount of your 2nd pension decreasing?
If your state pension had been frozen the increase in the other pension at 1.7% would have seen a rise in your net by that amount less 20% tax.
You have highlighted the impact of gaining 3.9% Gross on your SP when you are a BR taxpayer.
If you add your 2 increases together (SP at 3.9% and NHS at 1.7%) and then tax 20% tax off it will equal the new combined net you receive.

I do not think the vast majority of people on this forum are looking down on others. Some are very opinionated and we can all be misunderstood as our English language is complex.
Our tax system is complex and I wouldn’t say I understood it.

GaleSF63

I think you have misunderstood the term "the common man". It is an accepted description of any member of the general population who has an average understanding of things he/she has not specialised in. In law I think he can still be referred to as "The man on the Clapham omnibus".

EDIT; Should have said; post directed at casjen.