Blunket on pensions

[JagLover]

People will have to save more for their retirement and cannot expect the state to "dig them out of poverty" in their old age, David Blunkett, the Work and Pensions Secretary, said yesterday



www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/05/13/npens13.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/05/13/ixnewstop.html

No mention that his own party has both penalised private pensions (through the tax treatment of dividends) and eliminated the incentive to save for low to middle income pensioners through means tested benefits.

[BliarOut]

Looks like the government has it's eyes on an inheritance tax bonanza

em, after a lifetime of contributing NI, I fully intend to spend all my money and sponge off the state.

[Plotloss]

Its a small improvement from the 'we must up taxes to ensure you get a pension' lunacy they previously came out with.

[anonymous-user]

No mention also that as a career politician he gets a fat index link pension paid for by the rest of us. Hypocritical CT

[cliffe_mafia]

They'll probably just ban retirement - work until you are 120.

[Smartie]

Erm, I thought i was already paying for my pension with NI contributions.

Typical of this government, get you used to paying for something, then charge you for it again!

Road fund licence, a contribution to the upkeep of the roads?

Fuel duty, a contribution to the upkeep of the roads?

I know, why not start charging tolls?

Cnuts!

[jaker]

unrepentant said:

No mention also that as a career politician he gets a fat index link pension paid for by the rest of us. Hypocritical CT

plus iirc, it's final salary, with a max of 100%. No such possibilities for the rest of us suckers.

[JagLover]

Smartie said:

Erm, I thought i was already paying for my pension with NI contributions.

You are paying for your state pension which is not a lot of income if you look at it.

[JagLover]

Plotloss said:

Its a small improvement from the 'we must up taxes to ensure you get a pension' lunacy they previously came out with.

But only a small one.

I think we are headed for compulsion.

The issue of private pensions shows Labour hypocrisy at its worst. They prattle on about the need to encourage saving, and then through their own policies severely damage the pension industry.

As well as the tax raid on pension funds and the means tested benefits, there is also the new pensions act which has signed the death warrant for final salary pension schemes.

[cotty]

anyone know the maximum you can put into pension I belive it is 15% of salery

[jaker]

Smartie said:

Erm, I thought i was already paying for my pension with NI contributions.

yeah, nice one mate... good gag.

Like the other brilliant one I heard (from a supposedly intelligent accounts type person), that Labour havent put up income tax. so what's fiscal drag?

>> Edited by jaker on Friday 13th May 14:05

[MilnerR]

I like the idea of having some sort of opt out scheme. e.g. You are unable to claim anything off the state but conversly your personal tax burden is reduced by the amount that the welfare state represents of your tax. Therefore if you don't want to claim welfare (of any kind) you don't need to contribute. I really do object to having a large percentage of my salary taken from me to keep workshy scrotes in widescreen TVs and mobile phones!!

[cotty]

JagLover said:

People will have to save more for their retirement and cannot expect the state to "dig them out of poverty" in their old age, David Blunkett, the Work and Pensions Secretary, said yesterday

Perhaps if they took better care of our money when they tax us we wouldnt have to "dig the govenment out" when they get short of money

[apache]

cotty said:

Perhaps if they took better care of our money when they tax us we wouldnt have to "dig the govenment out" when they get short of money

bloody well said, I still find it astonishing where all the cash goes, the govt takes an enormous amount of money from us and seems totally unable to do anything particularly well with it, all with complete unaccountability

[jaker]

Well, 2.5 million people on Sick benefits is expensive you know.

At least unemployment is at its lowest since 1990 or whatever.

Oh, hold on... there could be a link there!!

>> Edited by jaker on Friday 13th May 14:31

[Laingy]

Dont forget the private pensions are capped at about £1.5m (a pot) which is a lot smaller pot than the politicians get - to pay for thier 100% final salary schemes

new labour is all about making rules for others then not applying them to themselves.