State pension age - recommendation for age 71!!

[shaun4860]

3 hours ago, TOPGUN749 said:

The income limit to qualify for pension credit is deliberately set just below the new state pension rate,at about £201 a week I believe so if you receive the £203.85 you can’t claim any extras! It’s the main reason the higher new pension was introduced-to stop claims for all the council tax rebates,housing etc.

Close but no 🍌 

pension credit is there to make sure that people get the minimum guaranteed pension whatever that may be depending on your age.

So….. if you are on the new state pension of £203.85 but due to circumstances are paid 1p under this then you will get pension credit of 1p.

That’s the important bit.

If you have no or little savings and pay rent, the fact that you are getting 1p in pension credit means your rent and council tax will be paid.

If you are in receipt of a disability benefit the thresholds are higher and if you live on your own and nobody claims carers allowance for looking after you then you can also claim a severe disability premium.

The 1p is the important bit.

*edited to add that any other pensions are included in your income, so if you say, get a £40/w private or company pension then that would be added to whatever state pension you get.

The pension credit only really works if your state pension is your only income.

[oowee]

These are the unfortunate side effects of the choices the UK has made. 

Also painful is the rising age of private pension withdrawals. 

[Lloyd90]

8 hours ago, shaun4860 said:

I’m 63 now and as soon as I’m able I’m claiming it.

If I die 🫣 before it’s due nothing is given to my estate which I think is wrong.

I am constantly being advised to get what you can as soon as you can as you never know what’s round the corner 

With my dad just having develop dementia at 68, I thought sod working until that age, and I was going to take my private pension as early as possible and try to make do. 
 

That would have been at 58! 25 years to go. 
 

If they put this up however it’ll change to 61 (or god knows how much higher by then!). 

[London Best]

18 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

With my dad just having develop dementia at 68, I thought sod working until that age, and I was going to take my private pension as early as possible and try to make do. 
 

That would have been at 58! 25 years to go. 
 

If they put this up however it’ll change to 61 (or god knows how much higher by then!). 

I took my private pension at 53. I lost 20% (3%/ year) for taking it before 60. 
I took a part-time job for supposedly 6 months (until the picking-up/loading season started) and was so happy being able to swap my working days around my dog work that I stayed nearly 18 years. My state pension was paid from 65.
Now 75 and not regretted for one second leaving full-time work ASAP.

[Mice!]

5 minutes ago, London Best said:

I took my private pension at 53. I lost 20% (3%/ year) for taking it before 60. 
I took a part-time job for supposedly 6 months (until the picking-up/loading season started) and was so happy being able to swap my working days around my dog work that I stayed nearly 18 years. My state pension was paid from 65.
Now 75 and not regretted for one second leaving full-time work ASAP.

Losing 20% doesn't sound good, but it definitely sounds like it worked out 👍

One of the lads off the machine shop retired last year, he was one of the last old boys, only another 1 or 2 now, he'll be on a decent pension but the thing is he got there, I'm now an old boy in here at late 40s and I can't imagine many in here being able to retire early.

[Zoli 12 guage]

10 minutes ago, London Best said:

I took my private pension at 53. I lost 20% (3%/ year) for taking it before 60. 
I took a part-time job for supposedly 6 months (until the picking-up/loading season started) and was so happy being able to swap my working days around my dog work that I stayed nearly 18 years. My state pension was paid from 65.
Now 75 and not regretted for one second leaving full-time work ASAP.

similarly,i deferred taking my work pension for 10 years before i had to take it due to the rules in place.

i'm still paying my personal pension premiums for another 2 years (even though i'm retired) because if i had cashed it in 4 years earlier than what i told them at the outset the total losses in benefit were huge compared to the payout at termination.

when i finished,which is 2 years since this month,i had and still have no intentions of doing another days work ever.

Edited February 6 by Zoli 12 guage

[TOPGUN749]

8 hours ago, shaun4860 said:

Close but no 🍌 

pension credit is there to make sure that people get the minimum guaranteed pension whatever that may be depending on your age.

So….. if you are on the new state pension of £203.85 but due to circumstances are paid 1p under this then you will get pension credit of 1p.

That’s the important bit.

If you have no or little savings and pay rent, the fact that you are getting 1p in pension credit means your rent and council tax will be paid.

If you are in receipt of a disability benefit the thresholds are higher and if you live on your own and nobody claims carers allowance for looking after you then you can also claim a severe disability premium.

The 1p is the important bit.

*edited to add that any other pensions are included in your income, so if you say, get a £40/w private or company pension then that would be added to whatever state pension you get.

The pension credit only really works if your state pension is your only income.

The income limit for a single person is currently £201.05 to claim pension credit,deliberately set at that level just under the new pension of £203.85, so most new pensioners can’t qualify. In April the new pension will be £221, and they will then set the threshold at about £218. Clever stuff!

Edited February 6 by TOPGUN749

[JohnfromUK]

I also retired early (just before 60).

What I would say is to take proper professional advice.  There are so many different schemes, types, permutations, and everyone's tax positions, requirements and needs are different, so it is really important to get good advice to your personal situation.

There are many 'options' of early withdrawals, consolidations, buy-outs - and amongst those there are both good solutions, poor solutions and outright scams. 

Do make sure you get proper advice and take great care before signing over any pension funds/rights - and be aware of the tax implications as this can be different depending on peoples individual circumstances.

[marsh man]

9 hours ago, shaun4860 said:

I’m 63 now and as soon as I’m able I’m claiming it.

If I die 🫣 before it’s due nothing is given to my estate which I think is wrong.

I am constantly being advised to get what you can as soon as you can as you never know what’s round the corner 

Good for you Shaun , I knew two blokes who never saw a penny from there state pension , one of them worked with me as a bricklayer at a time when the wages were pretty poor , we had to work night time and at weekends to get a few extra pounds , he was in the Korean war and suffered from shrapnel in his legs , he went in hospital a week before his 65th birthday and never came out , another one had a heart attack while the doctor was in his house , he told him to go to hospital for some tests and while he was changing his clothes upstairs he had this massive heart attack and died on the spot , just short of being 65 .      MM

[Westley]

1 hour ago, JohnfromUK said:

I also retired early (just before 60).

What I would say is to take proper professional advice.  There are so many different schemes, types, permutations, and everyone's tax positions, requirements and needs are different, so it is really important to get good advice to your personal situation.

There are many 'options' of early withdrawals, consolidations, buy-outs - and amongst those there are both good solutions, poor solutions and outright scams. 

Do make sure you get proper advice and take great care before signing over any pension funds/rights - and be aware of the tax implications as this can be different depending on peoples individual circumstances.

THAT, is exactly what I did. My 'lump sum' was invested in 2001, after I retired. I started straight away with my 'works' pension. That was topped up from the interest on the investment.  I did that for 9 years, until I got my state pension and my Wife got her state pension. After 20 years, I am mortgage free, totally debt free and my 'lump' has increased to around 10% more than our original investment. We have drawn off sufficient to buy a newish car every 5 years or so, plus annual holidays. If, like me, you are useless at choosing the right thing with money, get a GOOD financial advisor. It has certainly worked for me.

[JohnfromUK]

23 minutes ago, Westley said:

THAT, is exactly what I did. My 'lump sum' was invested in 2001, after I retired. I started straight away with my 'works' pension. That was topped up from the interest on the investment.  I did that for 9 years, until I got my state pension and my Wife got her state pension. After 20 years, I am mortgage free, totally debt free and my 'lump' has increased to around 10% more than our original investment. We have drawn off sufficient to buy a newish car every 5 years or so, plus annual holidays. If, like me, you are useless at choosing the right thing with money, get a GOOD financial advisor. It has certainly worked for me.

Yes, my solution was loosely the same. 

It is VITALLY important to get the right advice for the circumstances the person is in.  These are complex and possibly life changing matters.

You read of people taking early retirement/redundancy and being persuaded to sign over their pension funds to a scammer, loosing the money - and then being hit by a huge tax bill for what they have done (taking out before HMRC allows it).

[Miserableolgit]

Sobering. My views are somewhat tainted by the experience of seeing my dad drop dead two weeks after his 65th birthday which kind of scuppered all his pension provisions.

 Will be 66 this year, mortgage free and currently in remission. Each day is a bonus and as long as SWMBO can muddle through then all is well.

[Zoli 12 guage]

1 hour ago, Miserableolgit said:

Sobering. My views are somewhat tainted by the experience of seeing my dad drop dead two weeks after his 65th birthday which kind of scuppered all his pension provisions.

 Will be 66 this year, mortgage free and currently in remission. Each day is a bonus and as long as SWMBO can muddle through then all is well.

really glad to hear you're doing well.👍👍😎

my dad (lucky for him) sold his business and retired at 50 and died in November 2022 aged 87.

[amateur]

I took my private pensions at 53 and started a new career in multilevel marketing, which I continued lockdown struck.

It was very different to what I had done before and so lucrative that I paid off the mortgage early.

[Westley]

2 hours ago, Zoli 12 guage said:

really glad to hear you're doing well.👍👍😎

my dad (lucky for him) sold his business and retired at 50 and died in November 2022 aged 87.

Both my Grandfather and Father died at 87...........I'm going to live it up for the next 8 years   !    😂

[Zoli 12 guage]

1 hour ago, Westley said:

Both my Grandfather and Father died at 87...........I'm going to live it up for the next 8 years   !    😂

good for you,this life isn't a practice run👍

[Miserableolgit]

5 hours ago, Zoli 12 guage said:

good for you,this life isn't a practice run👍

That's a fact, unless you believe in reincarnation 😁

[Bigbob]

I got my works pension threw being paid off due to ill health at 60  and we would of been okay but suddenly everything's nearly doubled in price , but i dont really mind it gives me more time with the grandkids . I knew a lot of guys at my work retired on the Friday dead by  the Monday seems there body just couldn't slow down 

It reminds me of the old rhyme man shall live for 3 score years and ten  so after you retire and get your pension you only get 5 years of what should be the best years of your life ?.

[Zoli 12 guage]

1 hour ago, Bigbob said:

I got my works pension threw being paid off due to ill health at 60  and we would of been okay but suddenly everything's nearly doubled in price , but i dont really mind it gives me more time with the grandkids . I knew a lot of guys at my work retired on the Friday dead by  the Monday seems there body just couldn't slow down 

It reminds me of the old rhyme man shall live for 3 score years and ten  so after you retire and get your pension you only get 5 years of what should be the best years of your life ?.

and i know/knew quite a few that didn't get to retire the last one was 52 and a dive instructor in his spare time.

that was last summer and believe it or believe it not they never got a definite cause of death which delayed his funeral by 10 weeks.

get some laughing done you're a long time dead.

[Fargo]

On 05/02/2024 at 13:30, Gordon R said:

Actual UK population is probably in excess of 74 million. Illegals have access to NHS services, occupy a disproportionate amount of Police time and are a strain on the Prison Service.

Add on the massive scale of tax avoidance / benefit fraud etc and you see why the Government needs more money.

Don’t worry Gordon it’s only 8 million per day they waste on illegals. In my local towns they are renting flats for them now as “cheaper” than hotels.

[Gordon R]

I wonder why we have homeless people on the streets and councils have waiting lists for houses, when you  jump out of  a dinghy and into a hotel / flat.

[Penelope]

6 minutes ago, Gordon R said:

I wonder why we have homeless people on the streets and councils have waiting lists for houses, when you  jump out of  a dinghy and into a hotel / flat.

 

Perhaps the problem is that people haven't realised that the people they believe are in power, are not actually the ones calling the shots

Lets just say that the influx of men of a certain age is also not confined to just European countries, it is happening in the US as well, although there are also some families from South America, but that has become a route for people not from the Southern Continent.....

As it is happening at the same time, with the "blessing" of the relevant government structures in different places around the world, you have to come to a conclusion that this is not coincidence.....(discobob, 2024)

Gordon, the above seems to be as plausible an answer as any.

Edited February 7 by Penelope

[Lloyd90]

On 06/02/2024 at 00:13, shaun4860 said:

Close but no 🍌 

pension credit is there to make sure that people get the minimum guaranteed pension whatever that may be depending on your age.

So….. if you are on the new state pension of £203.85 but due to circumstances are paid 1p under this then you will get pension credit of 1p.

That’s the important bit.

If you have no or little savings and pay rent, the fact that you are getting 1p in pension credit means your rent and council tax will be paid.

If you are in receipt of a disability benefit the thresholds are higher and if you live on your own and nobody claims carers allowance for looking after you then you can also claim a severe disability premium.

The 1p is the important bit.

*edited to add that any other pensions are included in your income, so if you say, get a £40/w private or company pension then that would be added to whatever state pension you get.

The pension credit only really works if your state pension is your only income.

So if you pay your ‘Stamp’ all your life you get the state pensions, but if you don’t you get pension credit so you get the same as state pension? 
 

Tough call. No one wants to see elderly people in bad situations but what’s the point of having a system you have to pay a stamp for and then just giving it to people who don’t pay it anyways. 

[Lloyd90]

22 hours ago, Gordon R said:

I wonder why we have homeless people on the streets and councils have waiting lists for houses, when you  jump out of  a dinghy and into a hotel / flat.

Plenty of the people on the street have been given housing and get chucked out due to smashing it up, drug/alcohol misuse, abusing / exploiting other vulnerable people in the accommodation, etc, etc.

People who are actually vulnerable get houses when they present. 
 

I know, I am booking people into emergency Accom every week. 
 

 

The dinghy lot are housed whilst their application for asylum is being processed and are being housed by the Home Office. 

Hard to assess their claims if you turf them out onto the street.

Failure of Government to have a functioning system that actually assesses claims and removes those who don’t meet the criteria.  
 

 

 

[Yellow Bear]

1 hour ago, Lloyd90 said:

Failure of Government  Civil Service  to have a functioning system that actually assesses claims and removes those who don’t meet the criteria

Nearer the mark.