We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
State Pension - will it eventually be means tested?
Options
Comments
-
Doctor_Who said:Flugelhorn said:it is effectively means tested - some people pay no tax on it, some pay 20% tax on all of it and some people pay 40% on itI think....1
-
SouthCoastBoy said:I've always thought the state pension will be available to all pensioners that have the necessary NI contributions, however if the following is going to come to fruition, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66187743, I think there may be a time when it will be means tested, govt debt is becoming unsustainable in the UK.
To avert such borrowings the govt need to reconsider their govt funded DB schemes and benefits, not sure any govt is brave enough to tackle these issues head on though.2 -
michaels said:Doctor_Who said:Flugelhorn said:it is effectively means tested - some people pay no tax on it, some pay 20% tax on all of it and some people pay 40% on it'Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it' - Albert Einstein.0
-
Doctor_Who said:Flugelhorn said:it is effectively means tested - some people pay no tax on it, some pay 20% tax on all of it and some people pay 40% on it3
-
hyubh said:SouthCoastBoy said:I've always thought the state pension will be available to all pensioners that have the necessary NI contributions, however if the following is going to come to fruition, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66187743, I think there may be a time when it will be means tested, govt debt is becoming unsustainable in the UK.
To avert such borrowings the govt need to reconsider their govt funded DB schemes and benefits, not sure any govt is brave enough to tackle these issues head on though.
The OP is pushing an agenda that appears to have no basis in fact.
No idea why.0 -
Pollycat said:The OP is pushing an agenda that appears to have no basis in fact.I certainly wouldn't go that far. It is common in my generation and younger to believe that we will not recieve the state pension.When I was in my early 20s I think there was an element of youthful nihilism to that. But the feeling has stuck around.What I'd really like people on this board to understand is that for the cohort in their early 40s and younger, there has been a continual changing of financial fortunes that has constantly backfooted us.My year group was the first to go to University with the grant cancelled. The first to go with tuition fees. The first to go with the revised student loans that hung around until retirement age. My partner and I saved for years to afford a deposit for a house, bought in 2007 at the peak of the market, and spend nearly a decade in negative equity. When we sold it to buy somewhere for our budding family, we sold at a loss.Our mistake? Buying a house that was the most we could afford at the time, because that was the advice everyone was giving back then. The basis of that advice was that inflation would reduce the real terms amount of loan over time due to inflation. Infation happened - but salaries remained stagnant, so instead it became ever more of a noose around our necks.My work pension was cut three times in this period, but the contributions increased. Why? To subsidise the closed final salary pensions we would never recieve.Any wonder we don't expect to recieve the pensions we're paying for now? My generation believes that the rules will always change to disadvantage us, because that is what has happened so far.Having said all that by way of background, I still do not believe the state pension will be means tested in payment.There are lots of less controversial levers that allow the government to reduce the cost of the state pension, without the increased cost of managing means testing, and in a gradual manner such that it doesn't hit a given generation all at once. (Such as freezing income tax bands indefinitely, for example...)But if they ever do start means testing the state pension, I know precisely which year they will do it in.2
-
QrizB said:tigerspill said:I don't think it will be any time soon. Political suicide for any party progressing this.I could imagine it being tapered away at higher incomes, like HICBC.Far from being political suicide, most people (even most pensioners) wouldn't object in the slightest.0
-
The one thing you can say about pensions is that the rules will change over time. When I started my pension in the early 90's I was told that I could access the money from age 50 onwards. Now it's 55 for me and higher for younger folks. That always seemed a bit off to me. In reality I couldn't have afforded to retire at 50 but it would have been nice to have the option and it felt like they had "broken the contract".
The full state pension is part of my retirement planning and it's quite late for me to make up for that not arriving so I'll be quite peeved if they manage to reduce it for me. However, I can't see the triple lock surviving in its current form for many more years. I expect the next govt to squeeze it somehow but phase in the changes so the pain and the protests are spread out!
2 -
Universidad said:Pollycat said:The OP is pushing an agenda that appears to have no basis in fact.I certainly wouldn't go that far. It is common in my generation and younger to believe that we will not recieve the state pension.When I was in my early 20s I think there was an element of youthful nihilism to that. But the feeling has stuck around.What I'd really like people on this board to understand is that for the cohort in their early 40s and younger, there has been a continual changing of financial fortunes that has constantly backfooted us.My year group was the first to go to University with the grant cancelled. The first to go with tuition fees. The first to go with the revised student loans that hung around until retirement age. My partner and I saved for years to afford a deposit for a house, bought in 2007 at the peak of the market, and spend nearly a decade in negative equity. When we sold it to buy somewhere for our budding family, we sold at a loss.Our mistake? Buying a house that was the most we could afford at the time, because that was the advice everyone was giving back then. The basis of that advice was that inflation would reduce the real terms amount of loan over time due to inflation. Infation happened - but salaries remained stagnant, so instead it became ever more of a noose around our necks.My work pension was cut three times in this period, but the contributions increased. Why? To subsidise the closed final salary pensions we would never recieve.Any wonder we don't expect to recieve the pensions we're paying for now? My generation believes that the rules will always change to disadvantage us, because that is what has happened so far.Having said all that by way of background, I still do not believe the state pension will be means tested in payment.There are lots of less controversial levers that allow the government to reduce the cost of the state pension, without the increased cost of managing means testing, and in a gradual manner such that it doesn't hit a given generation all at once. (Such as freezing income tax bands indefinitely, for example...)But if they ever do start means testing the state pension, I know precisely which year they will do it in.0
-
Flugelhorn said:it is effectively means tested - some people pay no tax on it, some pay 20% tax on all of it and some people pay 40% on itAnd what if that high earner has had a bad run of luck with investments, divorce, etc, and is effectively potless at 67, do they still get nothing?
What about the low earner that has lived a frugal lifestyle and been able to build up a decent amount of savings for retirement - do they get nothing?So no, I don't believe any political party would consider trying this on, certainly not without a multi-decade lead in, and when do politicians ever think as long term as that...4
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 350.9K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.5K Spending & Discounts
- 243.9K Work, Benefits & Business
- 598.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 176.9K Life & Family
- 257.2K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards