Old v New state pension

militarymick

Will Martin Lewis be looking at campaigning re: the ever growing discrepancy as each % rise takes place (nearly £50..!! Come April).Surely unfair and unsustainable?

eskbanker

Surely the variance will be the same in percentage terms though?

NedS

and the situation will naturally resolve itself over time.

Marcon

militarymick said:

Will Martin Lewis be looking at campaigning re: the ever growing discrepancy as each % rise takes place (nearly £50..!! Come April).Surely unfair and unsustainable?

What do you see as a fair and sustainable alternative and how would it be funded? Have you factored in how many people who retired under the old system will get increases paid by the state on the Guaranteed Minimum Pension portion of their company pensions, whereas those retiring under the new system won't get any such benefit?

Silvertabby

The long term aim of the new pension is to save money, not to throw extra at the 'new' retirees.  Going forward, the nsp will be capped at £185.15 per week (current rate) instead of the £200 or even £300 per week those who had paid extra NI for SERPS/SP2 could have racked up.  The (very) lengthy transitional period is as fair as it could be.

OP - if you have a military pension, especially if you did 22 years plus, then I've got good news for you.....  I've found the £50 that you think you are 'missing'  - it is already being paid with our Armed Forces pensions, and has been since we retired.  Even more good news - public sector pensions, such as ours, will pay full increases on our GMP amounts.  We really don't have any reason to grumble.

molerat

militarymick said:

Will Martin Lewis be looking at campaigning re: the ever growing discrepancy as each % rise takes place (nearly £50..!! Come April).Surely unfair and unsustainable?

I certainly think that Martin should campaign for "new" pensioners to get the £327.75 that "old" pensioners could get instead of the measly £185.15 limit - sounds fair to me

militarymick

What planet are you on..?....could get =0.04% of receipients

Marcon

militarymick said:

What planet are you on..?....could get =0.04% of receipients

Don't understand - please explain what you're referring to.

german_keeper

Before anyone starts any campaign it's probably best to educate oneself as to the facts of the situation. I am sure Martin Lewis wouldn't ever start a campaign suggesting that a certain group of people have been hard done by when they actually haven't. Indeed there is a far more valid argument that the opposite is true in this case.

Silvertabby

£300 + may be rare, but there are a lot of pensioners out there on £200+.  They would indeed have been rightly miffed if their pensions had been reduced to the nsp level in 2016, hence the transitional protections.

Further to my previous comments on this thread, 'old' pensioners who get less than the nsp, and who don't have other pensions,  income or savings, may be eligible for means tested pension credit (PC)  to take them up to £183 per week.  But that's not all - an entitlement to PC opens the door to a multitude of benefits that future recipients of the full nsp can only dream of.  Remember I said that the future aim of the nsp is to save money?

militarymick

Thanks for your comments folks, no I didn't serve directly in the military. 
Yes it's a complex system but rest assured those on the old pension inclusive of Serps etc.etc. do not, on average receive a payment approaching the new Pension.
     The main bone of contention is % rises ever increase the chasm between the two pensioner groups.Our costs and expenses are indentical, so in fairness the two groups should receive an increase in £s rather than % which leads to such an ever increasing divide IMO