The most impactful pension news you'll never hear.

[Ginge R]

Most policy gets informed, not by politicians, but by actuaries. And the Government's actuary has just concluded that NIC need to rise by 5% in order to maintain just the basic state provision.

Me, I think higher NIC is just a ploy to get people to retire. But the government will probably combine Income Tax and NIC? We cannot live in a low tax environment forever, that's the reality of this. Means tested state pension, anyone?

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...

[grumbledoak]

Ponzi scheme doesn't pay out for late joiners shocker. One generation will receive pensions and healthcare they didn't pay for. Their grandchildren will pay for healthcare and pensions they don't get.

[Ginge R]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/pensions-retirement/new...

[Jockman]

Some decent comments there, Al.

Life expectancy has risen by up to 10 years for men since 1980. How on earth did the Govt expect to fund this?

[jeff m2]

Jockman said:

Some decent comments there, Al.

Life expectancy has risen by up to 10 years for men since 1980. How on earth did the Govt expect to fund this?

By underfunding the NHS and printing lots of DNR cards. Thus reducing.......

[jeff m2]

Interesting the Telegraph chose the word entitlement, a word more associated with hand outs.
I'm not in the UK (anymore) but I believe the State pension has to be earned by paying in for some ridiculously long time 30 plus years or something like that.

Maybe time to take a look at the unearned handouts first and then possibly look at benefits being sent abroad, is it realy the responsibility of the UK Gov to safeguard the welfare of a child in (some other country)

[Gargamel]

jeff m2 said:

Interesting the Telegraph chose the word entitlement, a word more associated with hand outs.
I'm not in the UK (anymore) but I believe the State pension has to be earned by paying in for some ridiculously long time 30 plus years or something like that.

Maybe time to take a look at the unearned handouts first and then possibly look at benefits being sent abroad, is it realy the responsibility of the UK Gov to safeguard the welfare of a child in (some other country)

Full state pension of a whopping £160 a week is 35 years of contributions.

Of course we could afford a better pension scheme and no need to raise NIC. Simply divert the foreign aid budget of £13bn into the pension fund between now and 2025. That would be £ 91bn plus compound interest.

[sidicks]

Gargamel said:

jeff m2 said:

Interesting the Telegraph chose the word entitlement, a word more associated with hand outs.
I'm not in the UK (anymore) but I believe the State pension has to be earned by paying in for some ridiculously long time 30 plus years or something like that.

Maybe time to take a look at the unearned handouts first and then possibly look at benefits being sent abroad, is it realy the responsibility of the UK Gov to safeguard the welfare of a child in (some other country)
Full state pension of a whopping £160 a week is 35 years of contributions.

Of course we could afford a better pension scheme and no need to raise NIC. Simply divert the foreign aid budget of £13bn into the pension fund between now and 2025. That would be £ 91bn plus compound interest.

Most people won’t pay enough NIC to cover their own state pension.
The aggregate accrued liability for the state pension is circa £5 trillion.

Edited by sidicks on Wednesday 10th January 08:48

[jeff m2]

Slightly off topic, but what happens to a wife who doesn't work and prefers to be a Mother.
What pension does she receive, if any?

[Gargamel]

sidicks said:

Most people won’t pay enough NIC to cover their own state pension.
The aggregate accrued liability for the state pension is circa £5 trillion.

Edited by sidicks on Wednesday 10th January 08:48

Cut tax on cigarettes and alcohol ?

[tankplanker]

jeff m2 said:

Slightly off topic, but what happens to a wife who doesn't work and prefers to be a Mother.
What pension does she receive, if any?

As long as she has been claiming child benefit for the kids while they are under 12 she will have "credits" to the state pension covered for that period: https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit/what-youll-get

Outside of that period if she hasn't worked for long enough or getting credits from some other source of benefits she won't have enough credits for the full pension. You need 35 years at present.

[Jockman]

Quite easy to track your NI record on your Govt Gateway. Any gaps, you have a (limited) option to purchase those years back.

[jeff m2]

tankplanker said:

jeff m2 said:

Slightly off topic, but what happens to a wife who doesn't work and prefers to be a Mother.
What pension does she receive, if any?

As long as she has been claiming child benefit for the kids while they are under 12 she will have "credits" to the state pension covered for that period: https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit/what-youll-get

Outside of that period if she hasn't worked for long enough or getting credits from some other source of benefits she won't have enough credits for the full pension. You need 35 years at present.

Hmm....most kids don't remain under 12 for 35 years.

Just curious, as my Mother never worked, can't ask her now about her pension....for the obvious reason.

[FiF]

Jockman said:

Some decent comments there, Al.

Life expectancy has risen by up to 10 years for men since 1980. How on earth did the Govt expect to fund this?

Life expectancy in the UK has dropped, and frankly looking at the number of fat feckers of all genders running about and necking ridiculous quantities of alcohol followed by dirty kebabs etc it will drop further.

A further explanation for drop in life expectancy is increased antibiotic resistance.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/01/life-ex...

[sidicks]

FiF said:

Life expectancy in the UK has dropped, and frankly looking at the number of fat feckers of all genders running about and necking ridiculous quantities of alcohol followed by dirty kebabs etc it will drop further.

A further explanation for drop in life expectancy is increased antibiotic resistance.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/01/life-ex...

To be clear, actual life expectancy continues to increase - on average people are stil expected to live longer than their parents etc.

What has changed is that previous (over-optimistic) forecasts for (projected) future life expectancy have been reduced a little.

Edited by sidicks on Wednesday 10th January 09:38

[MrBarry123]

I've always assumed that I'll never benefit from a state pension*, which is why I've paid into a private pension since I started full-time employment at 18.

The mathematics of the system simply don't work with a combination of comparatively low NI contributions and a population ageing in the way ours is now.

*I would be eligible under current rules in 2061...

ETA: It's all going to be very exciting when they finally axe the scheme. Can you imagine the uproar!?

Edited by MrBarry123 on Wednesday 10th January 09:44

[Ginge R]

DELETED: Comment made by a member who's account has been deleted.

Inter-generational watfighting won't help. As one of the youngest baby boomers, I fully expect my state retirement benefits to be means tested, and that's how it should be. I'm ready for it. As an adviser, it's fair to suggest that my view on trust planning has changed a lot these past couple of years. The emphasis is subtly changing from appreciation for the sake of it, and sitting on big pots, to more and more emphasis on flexible asset preservation. The picture is fluid and dynamic.

Let's not forget though, the eldest cohort of boomers went from a wartime footing still, into a workplace that was also austere and just as uncertain. The younger generation has also benefited greatly from growth derived from the application of boomers. Sure, boomers may have simply benefited from being born into, and associated with, a flourishing post war economic moment in time, but you can only play the cards you're dealt. It's unfair to generalise and characterise thus.

[tankplanker]

jeff m2 said:

Hmm....most kids don't remain under 12 for 35 years.

Just curious, as my Mother never worked, can't ask her now about her pension....for the obvious reason.

The rules were different before April 2016, so if she retired before then it is likely she had more than she would have done now assuming she didn't top it up somehow, and the changes shouldn't mean anybody who is already claiming their state pension should be worse off, only better off.

There are some exceptions for those close to retirement age, those that were paying reduced NI for some reason (say, married women's reduced contributions, which finished in '77 I think?), so you would need to work it out on an individual basis.

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/...

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Gargamel said:

Simply divert the foreign aid budget of £13bn into the pension fund between now and 2025.

You do realise that foreign aid is essentially a way of subsidising our own industries without breaking any unfair trade agreements. So we give £10m in foreign aid to some tinpot country, who in turn agree to spend £9m of it on British products (arms often) or contracts with British firms.

So by cutting £13bn of foreign aid, we wouldn't be saving £13bn. It'll probably cost us more than £13bn in lost deals by the time we've paid unemployment benefit.

[FiF]

sidicks said:

FiF said:

Life expectancy in the UK has dropped, and frankly looking at the number of fat feckers of all genders running about and necking ridiculous quantities of alcohol followed by dirty kebabs etc it will drop further.

A further explanation for drop in life expectancy is increased antibiotic resistance.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/01/life-ex...

To be clear, actual life expectancy continues to increase - on average people are stil expected to live longer than their parents etc.

What has changed is that previous (over-optimistic) forecasts for (projected) future life expectancy have been reduced a little.

Edited by sidicks on Wednesday 10th January 09:38

Yes, true, and those over optimistic forecasts have been used in particular ways. What's clear is that the rise in life expectancy cannot continue despite predictions from some folks who should know better, that's before including journalists who either don't know any better or do but choose not to display it for the sake of clicks and column inches.

Further to my comment about the kebab eating binge drinking sector, the pensioners dying today are mostly those who lived through the war, ate healthier diets, and have really benefited from improved health care, probably also benefits from fewer smoking and improvements in air quality. Swings and roundabouts obviously.

Personal view, when I read journalusts prattling that we will all live to a hundred, not so sure.