Why do posters here have disproportionately higher than average pension funds...

Bravepants

Suseka97 said:

doris540 said:

I never said you were parasites its the system it just annoys alot of us in the private sector that our pensions are worth five times less on average .Everything ive contributed to my company pension in last 12 months has been lost due to the markets Public sector ones totally untouched. The public sector say their salaries are lower and the pension is a form of compensation. So if thats the case our wages should be five times more than the public sector wages...................never in a month of sundays . Parasites no , milk the system yes. One example large government dept many staff were claiming first class travel on the train for meetings in London it got to a point that it was cheaper for them to have their own coaches which they do now all kitted out tables the lot and go by road. Friend of mine husband in the FCO all their kids went to private school from day one till they went to uni all their fees paid by the taxpayer and all the travel etc. Can the average man in the street afford to pay Private school fees ...............exactly.. 

Gosh.. now I'm starting to get really peed off with your posts... please stop lumping all public sector workers into your version of the truth... We do not ALL benefit from your version of it!!  I've worked in the public sector for 40 years and have never travelled first class, nor have I been able to send my children to private school. At times I struggled to put food on the table.  I've also been working my !!!!!! off at home since the lockdown. I deal with email correspondence well into the late evening and across the weekend, just to stay on top of my workload!

I do have a DB pension on the horizon and I've worked my socks off for it, its by no means the figure you think it is and it won't. buy me a luxury lifestyle.  So please... get that god damn chip off your shoulder.

Well said! I'm sick of all the shoulder chips too! There are guidelines about who can travel first class and who cannot. There are stringent guidelines about international travel also, regarding the class of travel. In addition, I have a CS pension BUT my organization is NOT funded by central taxation! So the tax-payer is NOT paying for my pension anyway thank you very much. I'm educated to PhD level in engineering and no doubt I can earn more money in the private sector, but I do my job because I love it, not because of the pension. I don't own a huge house or a big fancy new car. I lead a modest lifestyle in a terraced house! I don't live beyond my means and so have been able to save money for my future. I pay tax and national insurance and I contribute to my pension.

I suggest you target the private sector for your BS, since the rich company owners are the ones that have screwed you over for fun and profit not the hard-working public sector.

When I first saw this thread in its early stages I just knew some random chip carrier would come along and kick-off again about CS pensions...hence my "Yawn!". I suggest, doris50, that you now grow the hell up and get a life...or a job in the public sector.

doris540

They say the truth hurts enjoy your smug l "Im alrite jack" retirement ......................oh and ive got a life thanks for asking as a matter of interest can you tell us how much in percentage your employer contributes towards your pension so we can get a clearer picture .

happyandcontented

doris540 said:

They say the truth hurts enjoy your smug l "Im alrite jack" retirement ......................oh and ive got a life thanks for asking as a matter of interest can you tell us how much in percentage your employer contributes towards your pension so we can get a clearer picture .

When you started your career you had choices, you made them, others chose differently and the rewards differed too. We all work hard and we all pay into our pensions as we see fit, and as priorities allow. Jealousy is not a nice trait.

doris540

Nice to see that there are guidelines as to who can travel first class ........................give me strength as in international travel and such Shouldnt these be rules rather than guidelines 

Bravepants

doris540 said:

They say the truth hurts enjoy your smug l "Im alrite jack" retirement ......................oh and ive got a life thanks for asking as a matter of interest can you tell us how much in percentage your employer contributes towards your pension so we can get a clearer picture .

I shall enjoy my retirement thank you very much, I believe I have earned it. Perhaps if you spent more time making something of yourself instead of envying everyone else, and wasting energy carrying that sack of chips around on your shoulder, then you could enjoy a nice retirement too.

german_keeper

I have never travelled within my job and don't want to, one of many reasons that I was happy with my lot and have not been promoted since 1993, so this is only my understanding, not something I have experienced.

In my department the "guidelines" used to be that because of the ludicrous train fare system we have, occasionally first class can be cheaper than second, so in these cases first class should be chosen. However that has now been changed, basically for appearance's sake. What would Joe Public/the man down the pub/the man on the Clapham omnibus think about civil servants using first class. So quite ironically it appears the dorisses of this world are actually costing their beloved taxpayer money.    

jimi_man

doris540 said:

They say the truth hurts enjoy your smug l "Im alrite jack" retirement ......................oh and ive got a life thanks for asking as a matter of interest can you tell us how much in percentage your employer contributes towards your pension so we can get a clearer picture .

It's always difficult to estimate the Employer contribution with Final Salary pensions, since they aren't a fixed contribution. The idea of a final salary pension is that the benefits are guaranteed and so in general, you can't just have a fixed employer contribution. For example I was in the Police. I paid 11% for most of my 30 years, with a little more latterly. For that I received a 2/3rds pension when I was 51. But I have no idea of the employer contribution. I suspect it was a lot and I'm very grateful. 

Bravepants

doris540 said:

Nice to see that there are guidelines as to who can travel first class ........................give me strength as in international travel and such Shouldnt these be rules rather than guidelines 

Mostly for directors and decision makers...you know the people who run things...those who make important decisions and need to arrive at important business meetings refreshed and ready to work their hardest, best and most efficient. Those who need peace and quiet on the train to work, that are guarenteed to get a seat with a table. Give me the strength to understand your narrow little view of the world. 

Anonymous101

happyandcontented said:

doris540 said:

They say the truth hurts enjoy your smug l "Im alrite jack" retirement ......................oh and ive got a life thanks for asking as a matter of interest can you tell us how much in percentage your employer contributes towards your pension so we can get a clearer picture .

When you started your career you had choices, you made them, others chose differently and the rewards differed too. We all work hard and we all pay into our pensions as we see fit, and as priorities allow. Jealousy is not a nice trait.

Absolutely agree, jealousy and envy are bitter horrible traits. We should be lifting each other up not trying to pull everyone down to the lowest point.
I'd go a step further that saying we had choices at the start of our careers. We all continue to have choices. If Doris does like the path they're on or thinks someone else has a better deal, the answer is simple. Switch career's or go and work for someone else. If this difference has only just come to light then you've only yourself to blame, perhaps thats why you're seemingly so bitter to everyone else?

kangoora

Whilst I agree to an extent that local government pensions are a form of compensation for accepting lower pay I think it is disingenuous to accept this as a rule across the country. There are large swathes of the country where local government salaries are on a par, if not outright better, than 'most' private sector salaries with approximately the same responsibilities/roles. Maybe in the London/Southern Counties/South East bubble this isn't the case but I'd hazard a guess that anyone working in Local Government above say, Birmingham, that the LG salaries are reasonably comparable to their private sector counterparts (excluding specific affluent areas possibly e.g. Manchester?). You could also probably exclude people employed by 'National' companies who have reasonably defined pay scales wherever you live.

I spent a year working on a contract for an LG in NE England and was seriously thinking of applying for some of the internal vacancies that I got to see due to me seeing the salaries as 'on par' for similar roles in the local area. I eventually got a job with BT (that also has standardised pay scales for roles across the country) and did do a lot better. However, I was hugely better off financially earning £60k+ with BT in North Yorkshire than my peers living in Maidenhead on the same salary (even just looking at mortgage costs alone). The London Weighting allowance does not even come close to equalising costs between London and cheaper areas of the country.

Similarly, teachers in London are probably not THAT well paid at circa £35k after some annual increments compared to jobs in that area they could reasonably have expected to have done if they'd chosen a different career path. However, a teacher on a similar salary in North Yorkshire is actually doing pretty well when compared to the local jobs market.

Having lower pay and higher pension is a great argument where people are lower paid than their private counterparts but doesn't wash in areas where the differential is not so pronounced. Note I have no idea how to 'fix' this, just pointing out the anomaly.