Gov launching pension age review

GunJack

I think it's going to have to be a combination of some of the ideas floated earlier in the thread, including, but not exclusively:-
1. Triple lock reduced to CPI only
2. Increase in employee auto enrollment rates and dropping the qualifying earnings floor that a lot of employers use to reduce contributions 
3. Pension credit limited to topping up to SP level and not being a gateway benefit any longer
4. Universal Credit reduced for non-working households, and changing the 16 hrs per week thing.
5. Raise in SP age to a max of 70 with no means testing (other than the fact it's taxable as now)
6. Reinstating at least one of the 2% reductions in employee NI payments
7. At least some degree of reversal of the employer NI changes in the last budget
8. Keep the 2 child cap on UC.
9. Simplify the tax system so there's fewer loopholes to up the tax take.

There's probably others, but that's off the top of my head....it's going to be painful for some, both before SPA and after, but I expect that the biggest whingers will be the benefit wallahs who don't want or intend to work for the majority of their adult lives...if they work they'll be better off when younger and in retirement.

I'm actually quite centrist in my political views, and I get that some of the above may seem somewhat right of centre, but the whole work/benefits/pension equation needs rebalancing if we're ever going to get the country going in the right direction.

BlackKnightMonty

itsthelittlethings said:

BlackKnightMonty said:

itsthelittlethings said:

BlackKnightMonty said:

BrilliantButScary said:

Nasqueron said:

NickPoole said:

Not a fan of this at all. Won't affect me as getting state pension - I hope the new 16/17 voting cohort look for a party which won't do this.

The problem for this cohort and really anyone born after 2000, maybe even a bit earlier, is that they are seeing the current pensioners hoover up all the money and then make them pay for the triple lock and the gold plated public sector DB schemes which are closed off to them. This won't change under Tories or Reform and unlikely to change under Labour as there are a huge chunk of pensioners who are a very reliable voting force who will always turn out and always vote against any attempt to curtail their benefits while backing cuts to other benefits (see also the WASPE women).

Nobody has the guts to scrap the triple lock and cap it to inflation or whatever lower amount other benefits / NMW get and no-one will admit that unless the birthrate increases, we will continue to need lots of working age migrants to keep the revenue coming in due to the ever decreasing ratio of workers to pensioners. Nobody has the guts to tax rich pensioners more (maybe start by putting NI back on above a certain amount)

My state pension age is 68 and will probably be 69 before I get there.

The young aren't saving because they can't afford to with house prices rising and NIMBYs blocking developments that might affect their prices while certain groups sit in almost empty 7 figure value 3-5 bedroom houses while their grandkids rent a shoebox for £1000 a month (more in London)

It's political suicide to cut pensions but the younger generations will not be forgiving to the older ones who took away their retirement when it goes to 70, 71 etc.

I'm Generation Jones, I left school at the time of the highest unemployment rates in the country. My retirement age will be 67, ( it increased by 7 years during my working life), and I am not a WASPI.

You are speaking about pensioners as an homogeneous group. There are still many pensioners living in poverty, 2/5 ths without any kind of private pension. Life has always been a struggle for many people in society, and continues to be so for some in older age. The present situation in regard to housing is 
affecting more of the off-spring of the 'middle class', so we get to hear more about it in the likes of the Daily Telegraph etc

https://ifs.org.uk/publications/how-have-pensioner-incomes-and-poverty-changed-recent-years

Why have 40% not made any pension provision?

That seems very unwise.

If you’re living on the minimum wage it’s very hard to make pension provision. I had no pension in my twenties, was just trying to survive.

40% of the population. Seems extraordinary. Especially during the era of discount council house sales.

What have council house sales got to do with pension provision?

It’s an asset you can sell to pay for your retirement costs.

itsthelittlethings

BlackKnightMonty said:

itsthelittlethings said:

BlackKnightMonty said:

itsthelittlethings said:

BlackKnightMonty said:

BrilliantButScary said:

Nasqueron said:

NickPoole said:

Not a fan of this at all. Won't affect me as getting state pension - I hope the new 16/17 voting cohort look for a party which won't do this.

The problem for this cohort and really anyone born after 2000, maybe even a bit earlier, is that they are seeing the current pensioners hoover up all the money and then make them pay for the triple lock and the gold plated public sector DB schemes which are closed off to them. This won't change under Tories or Reform and unlikely to change under Labour as there are a huge chunk of pensioners who are a very reliable voting force who will always turn out and always vote against any attempt to curtail their benefits while backing cuts to other benefits (see also the WASPE women).

Nobody has the guts to scrap the triple lock and cap it to inflation or whatever lower amount other benefits / NMW get and no-one will admit that unless the birthrate increases, we will continue to need lots of working age migrants to keep the revenue coming in due to the ever decreasing ratio of workers to pensioners. Nobody has the guts to tax rich pensioners more (maybe start by putting NI back on above a certain amount)

My state pension age is 68 and will probably be 69 before I get there.

The young aren't saving because they can't afford to with house prices rising and NIMBYs blocking developments that might affect their prices while certain groups sit in almost empty 7 figure value 3-5 bedroom houses while their grandkids rent a shoebox for £1000 a month (more in London)

It's political suicide to cut pensions but the younger generations will not be forgiving to the older ones who took away their retirement when it goes to 70, 71 etc.

I'm Generation Jones, I left school at the time of the highest unemployment rates in the country. My retirement age will be 67, ( it increased by 7 years during my working life), and I am not a WASPI.

You are speaking about pensioners as an homogeneous group. There are still many pensioners living in poverty, 2/5 ths without any kind of private pension. Life has always been a struggle for many people in society, and continues to be so for some in older age. The present situation in regard to housing is 
affecting more of the off-spring of the 'middle class', so we get to hear more about it in the likes of the Daily Telegraph etc

https://ifs.org.uk/publications/how-have-pensioner-incomes-and-poverty-changed-recent-years

Why have 40% not made any pension provision?

That seems very unwise.

If you’re living on the minimum wage it’s very hard to make pension provision. I had no pension in my twenties, was just trying to survive.

40% of the population. Seems extraordinary. Especially during the era of discount council house sales.

What have council house sales got to do with pension provision?

It’s an asset you can sell to pay for your retirement costs.

Surely you need to live in it?

BlackKnightMonty

itsthelittlethings said:

BlackKnightMonty said:

itsthelittlethings said:

BlackKnightMonty said:

itsthelittlethings said:

BlackKnightMonty said:

BrilliantButScary said:

Nasqueron said:

NickPoole said:

Not a fan of this at all. Won't affect me as getting state pension - I hope the new 16/17 voting cohort look for a party which won't do this.

The problem for this cohort and really anyone born after 2000, maybe even a bit earlier, is that they are seeing the current pensioners hoover up all the money and then make them pay for the triple lock and the gold plated public sector DB schemes which are closed off to them. This won't change under Tories or Reform and unlikely to change under Labour as there are a huge chunk of pensioners who are a very reliable voting force who will always turn out and always vote against any attempt to curtail their benefits while backing cuts to other benefits (see also the WASPE women).

Nobody has the guts to scrap the triple lock and cap it to inflation or whatever lower amount other benefits / NMW get and no-one will admit that unless the birthrate increases, we will continue to need lots of working age migrants to keep the revenue coming in due to the ever decreasing ratio of workers to pensioners. Nobody has the guts to tax rich pensioners more (maybe start by putting NI back on above a certain amount)

My state pension age is 68 and will probably be 69 before I get there.

The young aren't saving because they can't afford to with house prices rising and NIMBYs blocking developments that might affect their prices while certain groups sit in almost empty 7 figure value 3-5 bedroom houses while their grandkids rent a shoebox for £1000 a month (more in London)

It's political suicide to cut pensions but the younger generations will not be forgiving to the older ones who took away their retirement when it goes to 70, 71 etc.

I'm Generation Jones, I left school at the time of the highest unemployment rates in the country. My retirement age will be 67, ( it increased by 7 years during my working life), and I am not a WASPI.

You are speaking about pensioners as an homogeneous group. There are still many pensioners living in poverty, 2/5 ths without any kind of private pension. Life has always been a struggle for many people in society, and continues to be so for some in older age. The present situation in regard to housing is 
affecting more of the off-spring of the 'middle class', so we get to hear more about it in the likes of the Daily Telegraph etc

https://ifs.org.uk/publications/how-have-pensioner-incomes-and-poverty-changed-recent-years

Why have 40% not made any pension provision?

That seems very unwise.

If you’re living on the minimum wage it’s very hard to make pension provision. I had no pension in my twenties, was just trying to survive.

40% of the population. Seems extraordinary. Especially during the era of discount council house sales.

What have council house sales got to do with pension provision?

It’s an asset you can sell to pay for your retirement costs.

Surely you need to live in it?

itsthelittlethings said:
 

Surely you need to live in it?

Of course. Here you go: https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/homes/buying-a-home/lifetime-mortgage

BrilliantButScary

BlackKnightMonty said:

itsthelittlethings said:

BlackKnightMonty said:

BrilliantButScary said:

Nasqueron said:

NickPoole said:

Not a fan of this at all. Won't affect me as getting state pension - I hope the new 16/17 voting cohort look for a party which won't do this.

The problem for this cohort and really anyone born after 2000, maybe even a bit earlier, is that they are seeing the current pensioners hoover up all the money and then make them pay for the triple lock and the gold plated public sector DB schemes which are closed off to them. This won't change under Tories or Reform and unlikely to change under Labour as there are a huge chunk of pensioners who are a very reliable voting force who will always turn out and always vote against any attempt to curtail their benefits while backing cuts to other benefits (see also the WASPE women).

Nobody has the guts to scrap the triple lock and cap it to inflation or whatever lower amount other benefits / NMW get and no-one will admit that unless the birthrate increases, we will continue to need lots of working age migrants to keep the revenue coming in due to the ever decreasing ratio of workers to pensioners. Nobody has the guts to tax rich pensioners more (maybe start by putting NI back on above a certain amount)

My state pension age is 68 and will probably be 69 before I get there.

The young aren't saving because they can't afford to with house prices rising and NIMBYs blocking developments that might affect their prices while certain groups sit in almost empty 7 figure value 3-5 bedroom houses while their grandkids rent a shoebox for £1000 a month (more in London)

It's political suicide to cut pensions but the younger generations will not be forgiving to the older ones who took away their retirement when it goes to 70, 71 etc.

I'm Generation Jones, I left school at the time of the highest unemployment rates in the country. My retirement age will be 67, ( it increased by 7 years during my working life), and I am not a WASPI.

You are speaking about pensioners as an homogeneous group. There are still many pensioners living in poverty, 2/5 ths without any kind of private pension. Life has always been a struggle for many people in society, and continues to be so for some in older age. The present situation in regard to housing is 
affecting more of the off-spring of the 'middle class', so we get to hear more about it in the likes of the Daily Telegraph etc

https://ifs.org.uk/publications/how-have-pensioner-incomes-and-poverty-changed-recent-years

Why have 40% not made any pension provision?

That seems very unwise.

If you’re living on the minimum wage it’s very hard to make pension provision. I had no pension in my twenties, was just trying to survive.

40% of the population. Seems extraordinary. Especially during the era of discount council house sales.

I'm another that fails to see the correlation between council house sales and  pension provision. The only one I can think of, is that some may have chosen to pay a mortgage on the council house and couldn't afford to pay into a pension as well.

Have you read the link in my previous post? The state pension forms over 40% of household income for pensioners overall, it is the largest component and features in many people's retirement planning on this forum.

How old are you?  You don't seem able to 'walk a mile in another person's shoes'.
There are many reasons why someone may not have a private pension, there was no automatic enrolment prior to 2012, self-employment, gender inequality and pension scandals to name a few.

Unfortunately, many younger people will end up in the same boat!

https://maps.org.uk/en/media-centre/press-releases/2024/one-in-three-working-young-people-have-never-contributed-to-a-pension

Upwood

I’ve been reading the Terms of Reference for the review of state pension age which we all knew was coming. In the 2014 Act, I understood that the govt had to give 10 years notice of any change to SPa. I can not see any words in the Terms of Reference to confirm that. Has anyone else seen anything? Can we assume therefore that when the SPa review reports, pension age of 68 could be bought forward within an immediate 2 years just to allow for the phasing in? 

daz378

The rise to 68 in only a few years...would be political suicide...convention as stated is 10 years...might get away with 8 years..they are using Denmark  to gauge public opinion..possibly a global shock may give them some cover...I'm due to retire in 33...if they put mine up..will vote for monster raving loony party..and be very vocal on social media

eskbanker

Upwood said:

In the 2014 Act, I understood that the govt had to give 10 years notice of any change to SPa. I can not see any words in the Terms of Reference to confirm that. Has anyone else seen anything?

There's no such wording in the 2014 Act either!

BlackKnightMonty

I have little empathy or sympathy for pensioners solely reliant on the SP. If they have other assets they can sell these to raise retirement funds. Their type of work should not explain a lack of further provision, nor should it justify it. In any event if you are cooked at 60 from manual labour in 1995, how is that different to 2025? How is raising the pension age fair here?

As to raising to 68, well it’s only another year eh. Might as well make it 70, or 72 even, and if we are doing that just whack it up to 75.

kimwp

BlackKnightMonty said:

I have little empathy or sympathy for pensioners solely reliant on the SP. If they have other assets they can sell these to raise retirement funds.

As to raising to 68, well it’s only another year eh. Might as well make it 70, or 72 even, and if we are doing that just whack it up to 75.

The trend of reduced empathy with increase of wealth is a survival mechanism. 

If you didn't have much food, it made sense to group together to acquire food. If you have a big pile of food when others don't, survival is best achieved by not giving your food away, therefore empathy for those that are starving reduces.