State Pension

[oldypigeonpopper]

2 minutes ago, Charliedog said:

I feel pretty fortunate, I was strongly advised to start paying into a private company pension when i started work some 35 years ago, it was the last thing on my mind at the time but what I struggle to understand is why so many people appear to be relying solely on a state pension?

Hello, Because they cannot afford to pay in a Private pension, Have you seen the cost of private renting !!!! Dad, Mum, 2 Children, 3 Bed House needed, , i know families that mum and dad are like ships in the night, when dad works mums home, when mum works dads home, or mum works sundays so there is some extra money , but sadly not for pensions, it is these children that are going to find life even harder than the parents, that is who we should be supporting not giving to oversea countries that a lot of this money is lost in government bank accounts

[enfieldspares]

7 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

 

Once again, the “I’ve paid my stamp all my life” brigade, the vast vast majority of them have paid a tiny amount compared to the cost of the services provided. 

 

What they have done is this, no more and no less.

They have fulfilled their part of a contract between them and the state that if they paid a weekly "stamp" that they would receive a weekly old age pension I(women at age 60, men at age 65) when they finished work. 

And rightly they expect that contract to be honoured. 

There is no hypochecation of taxes in the UK so they will have paid in also in income tax, purchase tax, stamp duty, excise duty, television license, radio licence and VAT. 

And if instead of paying some of that tax they had paid it in to a private pension they'd have been better off. And had they died before age 60 or 65 their estate would have received those private pension premiums back.

But in every case they'd have been better off and received a better return than they have received by the state taking that money from them.

And lastly if they do or did pay into a private pension they did not expect Gordon Brown to the rip the backside out of it in 1997.

So they complain perhaps with some right to complain.

[Bigteddy1954]

Hi well the way i look at it  .i have been retired 2 years worked 50+ year only been laided off and got some sort of benefit due to pit strikes we made mining equipment. If you pay 45% tax your on a good wage if 4o% a decent wage and 20% an average wage . In50+ years i paid my taxes and ni contributions into the system to look after the older generation i did not begrudge doing that at the end of my working life i would get a pension.now it seems the younger generation begrude us a pension because we living a little bit longer.For the pensions i recieve are less than 15k a year and out of that i pay tax on £2700 which is £550 tax so I'm still contributing to the treasury.cheers teddy

[JohnfromUK]

15 minutes ago, Charliedog said:

I feel pretty fortunate, I was strongly advised to start paying into a private company pension when i started work some 35 years ago, it was the last thing on my mind at the time but what I struggle to understand is why so many people appear to be relying solely on a state pension?

I am in a fairly similar position, although I am now retired and getting the benefit of what I did earlier.  I have two (fairly modest) final salary type pensions from former employments and a state pension (slightly enhanced by some old SERPS benefits).  I also have a free standing 'private' pension - which I have not yet 'switched on.

• Am I 'fortunate'? - Yes in that I am not struggling to make ends meet.
• Am I 'lucky'? - No, because this was planned from my late 20's and I paid in a huge amount - at times around 25% of my salary.  I was never a big earner, but did get around UK average and (a small bit) more in later years.  But I have made 'economies' elsewhere, having had very limited 'away holidays' - usually a week in the UK annually only, driven an older car and done a lowish mileage, rarely eat out and only occasional pub visits.  If I hadn't been a bit frugal then, I might well have to be a lot frugal now.

So many ex colleagues had lots of expensive holidays, new cars, spent freely on kitchens, double glazing, latest high tech TVs, paid for entertainments, meals out and pub sessions.  Never saved or put a penny in pensions.  Many regret that now.

 

[oldypigeonpopper]

26 minutes ago, London Best said:

Do you think I never had to do any of that?

Well you seem to be moaning about old men moaning 🤔,

[Zoli 12 guage]

[Ttfjlc]

4 pages in and this thread just reminds me how life has a lot of luck involved.

I joined a company in the late noughties, one of the other new starters was telling me he had signed to continue in the RAF for x amount of years after completing so many years service, not long after they were offering redundancy and he walked with £85,000, ok no I never saw his bank account so he could of been making it up however I do know where I was working at the time offered redundancy and folk walked away near retirement age with generous 5 figure sums. 
 

I know someone working for a government department, plenty of spare time, nice pension and yet says his wife’s council pension is better than his. 
 

I know a few years ago I was paying into one pension 6% and the company I worked for paid in 12%, when Lincolnshire police were advertising I had a look at the pension offered, you paid in 12.5% and the government 31% and this was after their pensions had been altered a lot so god knows what terms some of them are on. 
 

To finish on a sombre note a friend of my dads who worked all his life retired last September and died in January

Edited February 21 by Ttfjlc

[steve_b_wales]

I've certainly started a 'good thread' here. I am annoyed that, like many other's, I chose to continue to work full time. My tax code has gone from C1272L to C232L since I was in receipt of state pension. So roughly, £10400 of my personal tax allowance has been clobbered! You would think (😄) the government would allow our state pension to be tax free!!!!

Edited February 21 by steve_b_wales

[Penelope]

1 hour ago, TRUEBRIT66 said:

1.3 Million immigrants claiming benefits in the UK presently a total of £24 Billion spent on benefits for immigrants since 2020, your definition of relatively small differs from mine!      

 

That £24 billion is for 'inactive' migrants, i.e. those that don't bloody work or if they do it's in the black economy.

[rbrowning2]

1 hour ago, Charliedog said:

 I struggle to understand is why so many people appear to be relying solely on a state pension?

Many will not have income sufficient to pay into a decent private pension pot and unless a decent final salary pension, which are virtually now none existent return on the pension is not what it once was. Cost of living has increased significantly as has buying a house, the first house I purchased was £47,000 a new build try buying any house for that sort of money today. So most young are paying either very high monthly mortgage or very high rent, then add to that current cost of council tax, electric, gas, food etc etc. Try living  on the minimum living wage with probably a zero hour contract of employment. 

[Lloyd90]

11 minutes ago, rbrowning2 said:

Many will not have income sufficient to pay into a decent private pension pot and unless a decent final salary pension, which are virtually now none existent return on the pension is not what it once was. Cost of living has increased significantly as has buying a house, the first house I purchased was £47,000 a new build try buying any house for that sort of money today. So most young are paying either very high monthly mortgage or very high rent, then add to that current cost of council tax, electric, gas, food etc etc. Try living  on the minimum living wage with probably a zero hour contract of employment. 

Probably need about £47,000 in cash deposit now to even get on the proper ladder, deposit, fees etc. 

[Lloyd90]

1 hour ago, enfieldspares said:

What they have done is this, no more and no less.

They have fulfilled their part of a contract between them and the state that if they paid a weekly "stamp" that they would receive a weekly old age pension I(women at age 60, men at age 65) when they finished work. 

And rightly they expect that contract to be honoured. 

 

Which it is, just not to the level that people were hoping / expecting. 
 

As Oowee has said, if people want bigger/better/earlier pensions, then that money will need to be raised from tax payers, at a time when the tax threshold is the highest it has ever been. 

 

I will have to work until gone 70 by the time I reach state pension age, if they haven’t scrapped it or made it means tested by then. 

[Charliedog]

30 minutes ago, rbrowning2 said:

Many will not have income sufficient to pay into a decent private pension pot and unless a decent final salary pension, which are virtually now none existent return on the pension is not what it once was. Cost of living has increased significantly as has buying a house, the first house I purchased was £47,000 a new build try buying any house for that sort of money today. So most young are paying either very high monthly mortgage or very high rent, then add to that current cost of council tax, electric, gas, food etc etc. Try living  on the minimum living wage with probably a zero hour contract of employment. 

I kind of understand but looking at the number of large new 4x4s on the school run, latest mobile phone contracts, 2 foreign holidays per year spread across social media etc etc, all of which will be on tick, maybe they should prioritize for their retirement. My folks had none of this and they are comfotable as they got their priorities right,  I should be very comfortable if I make old age but I have lived within my means (just).

[London Best]

2 minutes ago, Charliedog said:

I kind of understand but looking at the number of large new 4x4s on the school run, latest mobile phone contracts, 2 foreign holidays per year spread across social media etc etc, all of which will be on tick, maybe they should prioritize for their retirement. My folks had none of this and they are comfotable as they got their priorities right,  I should be very comfortable if I make old age but I have lived within my means (just).

This sums it up nicely. 
You either spend it as you earn it in case you don’t make retirement age, or you live more frugally for forty years or so and gamble on having a nice retirement. 
That is why I spent most of my life sitting in ditches waiting for the odd shot (which costs nowt) but can now afford to (modestly) shoot driven game.

[Yellow Bear]

1 hour ago, JohnfromUK said:

I am in a fairly similar position, although I am now retired and getting the benefit of what I did earlier.  I have two (fairly modest) final salary type pensions from former employments and a state pension (slightly enhanced by some old SERPS benefits).  I also have a free standing 'private' pension - which I have not yet 'switched on.

• Am I 'fortunate'? - Yes in that I am not struggling to make ends meet.
• Am I 'lucky'? - No, because this was planned from my late 20's and I paid in a huge amount - at times around 25% of my salary.  I was never a big earner, but did get around UK average and (a small bit) more in later years.  But I have made 'economies' elsewhere, having had very limited 'away holidays' - usually a week in the UK annually only, driven an older car and done a lowish mileage, rarely eat out and only occasional pub visits.  If I hadn't been a bit frugal then, I might well have to be a lot frugal now.

So many ex colleagues had lots of expensive holidays, new cars, spent freely on kitchens, double glazing, latest high tech TVs, paid for entertainments, meals out and pub sessions.  Never saved or put a penny in pensions.  Many regret that now.

 

Similarly - but only 1 final salary pension so  combined with SWMBO's pensions (behaved likewise) we are currently comfortable provided we are not silly.

I also find that many former colleagues who spent as described are struggling. 

[rbrowning2]

As far as I can tell private pensions have changed a lot over the last few decades, company pensions schemes for the big companies were good you joined the company expecting a job for life and automatically got signed up for the company pension scheme or a government job and pension, Police, NHS etc. and they were likely a final salary pension.  Today it looks like most pensions are run by financial institutions on behalf of businesses with uncertain returns and a job for life is also likely gone with changes in employment frequent and expected.

Then I guess who at twenty years today considers their needs in retirement when they have uncertainty in continuous employment and are living for today.
Where would many be today without the state pension and we are apparently all living longer which brings other issues like care needs into the situation. Many even reasonably financially secure owning their own house will see it sold to pay for their care, money which otherwise before the current changes would have been past down to their children to help them in their old age.

No simple answer to all this but certainly getting old in this country can be very problematic and costly.

 

 

[Wymondley]

1 hour ago, Charliedog said:

I struggle to understand is why so many people appear to be relying solely on a state pension?

Because many people didn't have the benefit of sound financial advice or encouragement to pay into a private pension when they were younger.

For many the money wasn't there anyway, remember when mortgage rates went into double figures after we'd been encouraged to buy our own houses? I had to stop paying into my pension until rates came down.

It was always based on topping up my state pension anyway rather than as a replacement, as that's all I could afford.

We were told we would receive it at 65, now it's 67 and will rise again, perhaps those doing desk bound jobs can carry on, however those of us that did manual work can't be expected to work until we drop.

Millions of ordinary working men and women created the wealth of this country, do they not deserve to be rewarded with a rest and a reasonable income for a lifetime of working?

The money would of course be there if we stopped giving it away to the workshy and feckless and those that arrive here that never have and never will contribute to the system.

[oldypigeonpopper]

13 minutes ago, Wymondley said:

Because many people didn't have the benefit of sound financial advice or encouragement to pay into a private pension when they were younger.

For many the money wasn't there anyway, remember when mortgage rates went into double figures after we'd been encouraged to buy our own houses? I had to stop paying into my pension until rates came down.

It was always based on topping up my state pension anyway rather than as a replacement, as that's all I could afford.

We were told we would receive it at 65, now it's 67 and will rise again, perhaps those doing desk bound jobs can carry on, however those of us that did manual work can't be expected to work until we drop.

Millions of ordinary working men and women created the wealth of this country, do they not deserve to be rewarded with a rest and a reasonable income for a lifetime of working?

The money would of course be there if we stopped giving it away to the workshy and feckless and those that arrive here that never have and never will contribute to the system.

Good Post 👍

1 hour ago, steve_b_wales said:

I've certainly started a 'good thread' here. I am annoyed that, like many other's, I chose to continue to work full time. My tax code has gone from C1272L to C232L since I was in receipt of state pension. So roughly, £10400 of my personal tax allowance has been clobbered! You would think (😄) the government would allow our state pension to be tax free!!!!

Hello, What a wonderful idea Steve, 🤔👍

[clangerman]

if the gov didn’t have us enslaved working for crumb wages while the greedy keep all the cake everyone could afford to provide for their old age instead all pensioners can look forward to now is living in poverty! 

[steve_b_wales]

17 minutes ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Good Post 👍

Hello, What a wonderful idea Steve, 🤔👍

Yes, 'wishful thinking' 

[yates]

21 hours ago, steve_b_wales said:

I'm still working full time. I no longer pay National Insurance but my state pension is classed as income, and therefore I am taxed on it.

What age do you stop paying National Insurance Steve ?

[steve_b_wales]

1 minute ago, yates said:

What age do you stop paying National Insurance Steve ?

When you qualify for the state pension, in my case, last April when I was 66. 

[enfieldspares]

2 hours ago, Penelope said:

That £24 billion is for 'inactive' migrants, i.e. those that don't bloody work or if they do it's in the black economy.

Smoke and mirrors. It's the immigrants fault my state pension is poor, it's the woman down the road with six kids by three different fathers fault my state pension is poor. When the reality is Johnson has lead the UK into spaffing billions on Zelensky and Ukraine and then spaffed an almost equal eye watering sum on PPE equipment from Tory Party cronies. 

It's just easy though to blame some poor man in a boat or some poor woman in a council house rather than admit that the money actually is there but it can't be had because doing so would make the life of offshore fundholders like Jacob-Rees Mogg and and his cohort uncomfortably enough impoverished to have to have only the the one bottle of wine at dinner.

[sportsbob]

43 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

Smoke and mirrors. It's the immigrants fault my state pension is poor, it's the woman down the road with six kids by three different fathers fault my state pension is poor. When the reality is Johnson has lead the UK into spaffing billions on Zelensky and Ukraine and then spaffed an almost equal eye watering sum on PPE equipment from Tory Party cronies. 

It's just easy though to blame some poor man in a boat or some poor woman in a council house rather than admit that the money actually is there but it can't be had because doing so would make the life of offshore fundholders like Jacob-Rees Mogg and and his cohort uncomfortably enough impoverished to have to have only the the one bottle of wine at dinner.

Yes the government have spent way too much on political wars and overseas aid, but the "poor man in a boat" shouldn`t even be here and the "poor woman in a council house" should be responsible for her own actions and not sponge of the people that get off their a*** and go to work.

[rbrowning2]

10 minutes ago, sportsbob said:

Yes the government have spent way too much on political wars and overseas aid, but the "poor man in a boat" shouldn`t even be here and the "poor woman in a council house" should be responsible for her own actions and not sponge of the people that get off their a$$ and go to work.

 

How do you not know that the poor woman in the council house has not spent her working life cleaning up after the likes of you on minimum wage doing a job you would turn your nose up at.