State Pension Age

joshly · 10 October 2016 at 3:28PM

I am 50 years old.

Therefore I think I would retire at 67 which will be 2034.

A couple of times recently people have mentioned in conversation that there wont be a State Pension by the time I retire.

Will there still be a state pension in 2034?

coyrls · 10 October 2016 at 3:40PM

Well you can only ask people's opinions. The end of the state pension certainly hasn't been announced. In my opinion there will be a state pension in 2034. Others may have different views.

Linton · 10 October 2016 at 3:48PM

There will be a state pension in 2034 unless the government decides there wont be and gets the appropriate legislation through Parliament. Both these possibilities seem very unlikely to me if MPs want to keep their seats. Even if it did happen it is even more unlikely that existing rights would be removed, but rather new entrants would be stopped. Such as happened with the April 2016 change in state pension - no-one lost anything they had already earned.

So at your age I wouldnt take it as a serious risk. Or if it was the economy would be in such a serious state that perhaps a loss of state pension would be a relatively small part of your problems.

spadoosh · 10 October 2016 at 4:07PM

That will generally depend on your economic outlook.

Ive had to tell quite a few people recently they wont be retiring when they where led to believe. (stat pension age increases). They did their sums, made their plans and someone else changed them.

I take a negative outlook on pensions. Our current pension system is completely reliant on the next generation paying in based on the current generations growth. I dont expect this in the future (growth around the world has curtailed drastically).

You only need to look at the Greek pension crisis to see what happens when a government cant meet its contributions, it appears the Greek pensioners are suffering more so than the average greek person. Whilst they havent lost the state pension completely the IMF with the help of the EU have drastically reduced it.

Whilst i cant say you will or will not receive a state pension i can definitely say you would be daft to rely on a state pension. It would be prudent to make alternate arrangements to serve your own interests without relying on things you just cant control like politics or economics.

dunstonh · 10 October 2016 at 4:07PM

A couple of times recently people have mentioned in conversation that there wont be a State Pension by the time I retire.

That is a personal opinion and has no basis in fact.

The state pension was introduced over 100 years ago. It has gone through multiple financial crisis, world wars and when the country was on the verge of bankruptcy in the late 70s. Yet it continued to be paid.

The recent changes to the state pension age and the proposed linking to life expectancy keep the state pension affordable. It is not going anywhere. It may start later than current but it will be there. Whether that is early enough for you is a different matter.

DaveMcG · 10 October 2016 at 5:04PM

spadoosh wrote: »

You only need to look at the Greek pension crisis to see what happens when a government cant meet its contributions, it appears the Greek pensioners are suffering more so than the average greek person. Whilst they havent lost the state pension completely the IMF with the help of the EU have drastically reduced it.

The UK can simply debase the currency. It doesn't need to cut pensions.

Greece is a euro member and has simply run out of money. It is also worth noting that Greece's pensions were much higher as a proportion of wages than the UK state pension and the retirement dates were also lower.

bigfreddiel · 10 October 2016 at 5:12PM

joshly wrote: »

I am 50 years old.

Therefore I think I would retire at 67 which will be 2034.

A couple of times recently people have mentioned in conversation that there wont be a State Pension by the time I retire.

Will there still be a state pension in 2034?

What people are actually saying is that the state pension will be so watered down 18 years time it won't be worth having.

Things that could change are removal of triple lock, means testing, and one mentioned recently is that graduates will wait three years before being eligible. I would think this is the most likely.

So there will be a state pension, but maybe not as generous.
Cheers fj

dunstonh · 10 October 2016 at 5:20PM

Greece was also stitched up by the EU and treated very harshly. Some people have used the treatment of Greece and the lack of flexibility for different countries as a reason they voted to leave.

PensionTech · 10 October 2016 at 6:02PM

What people are actually saying is that the state pension will be so watered down 18 years time it won't be worth having.

Things that could change are removal of triple lock, means testing, and one mentioned recently is that graduates will wait three years before being eligible. I would think this is the most likely.

So there will be a state pension, but maybe not as generous.

I don't think the removal of the triple lock is a good example of watering the state pension down to the extent where it's not worth having. The triple lock is an absurdly generous policy. For the state pension to maintain its purchasing power it need only increase in line with inflation - not earnings and certainly not a floor of 2.5%. Continuing to use the triple lock will only further the redistribution of wealth from the young to the old. So while scrapping it may well (and hopefully will) come to pass, I don't think you can seriously make an argument that it renders the state pension "not worth having", given that simple inflation-linking of the current value would still result in a state pension of over £8,000pa in real terms for people with a full NI history (which is not hard to accrue). That is not a trifling amount of money to most people.

I also doubt that the state pension will ever become means-tested. Again I wouldn't actually be too upset about this, raging leftie that I am (though it would have to be accompanied by a huge change in NI contribution levels), but the fact is that the elderly vote in droves and no old person would ever vote for a government with this in their manifesto even if it didn't affect them immediately. Cue Daily Mail-esque cries of "I've served my country", "I've done my time", "scrounging single mums/couch potatoes/immigrants get benefits, why shouldn't I".

Graduates waiting three years before becoming eligible... I haven't heard this myself. I would think it a strange policy, but it's not like students tend to be massively sheltered from political manoeuvres, so I suppose it might be plausible. Still, with State Pension Age the way it is, and the number of qualifying years needed to build up a full NI record being relatively low, I don't think this would be the end of the world.

Yes, I can easily imagine the state pension being less generous by the time I come to retire (currently 68, but I'm expecting it to hit 70 by then), but I don't think a radical change like means-testing or anything that renders it completely insignificant is likely.

JezR · 10 October 2016 at 6:12PM

dunstonh wrote: »

The state pension was introduced over 100 years ago. It has gone through multiple financial crisis, world wars and when the country was on the verge of bankruptcy in the late 70s. Yet it continued to be paid.

Although the £10 Christmas bonus was not paid in 1975 or 1976. Mind you no one has valorised that since it was first paid in 1972 apart from the 2008-9 one-off bonus.

greenglide · 10 October 2016 at 7:14PM

Although the £10 Christmas bonus was not paid in 1975 or 1976. Mind you no one has valorised that since it was first paid in 1972 apart from the 2008-9 one-off bonus.

But the £10 Christmas bonus is not, actually, a pension payment, it is a payment made to all recipients of qualifying benefits.

State Pension Age

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