The State Pension


The pension problem is very like the issue of climate change. Both are long term problems. And successive governments have been kicking the can down the road.
There was a debate on the pension issue in Ireland and the answer was to kick it down the road. France tried to tackle this issue by raising the qualification age and it caused riots. We tried to raise the pension qualification age here and politicians chickened out of doing it.
 
Blue Piper said:
The pension problem is very like the issue of climate change. Both are long term problems. And successive governments have been kicking the can down the road.
There was a debate on the pension issue in Ireland and the answer was to kick it down the road. France tried to tackle this issue by raising the qualification age and it caused riots. We tried to raise the pension qualification age here and politicians chickened out of doing it.
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Thought the CA forum had shut down like our team did today :lol:
 

Littlesue said:
Lol, do you work in an office?
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No, I'm on my feet all day, drive a lot too. Obviously not everyone is physically capable of a full time shift in their 60s but there's plenty of work available for people in their late 60s that they would be capable of even in a part time capacity. Many people in their 60s are essentially forced out of the workplace by their employers also, it definitely happens, raising the age would help with this. The state benefit wasn't originally made to pay people for a third of their life, something that is not a rare thing now. There definitely needs work doing on it.
 
Hinchcliffe's Corner said:
No, I'm on my feet all day, drive a lot too. Obviously not everyone is physically capable of a full time shift in their 60s but there's plenty of work available for people in their late 60s that they would be capable of even in a part time capacity. Many people in their 60s are essentially forced out of the workplace by their employers also, it definitely happens, raising the age would help with this. The state benefit wasn't originally made to pay people for a third of their life, something that is not a rare thing now. There definitely needs work doing on it.
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There is, but it's a long term problem. The solution is to do what they do in Australia where everyone is forced to pay a lot into their pension , employer and employee and it's separate from any other tax. But if you started that now it would be 40 years before it came to fruition.
 
hallamblue said:
There is, but it's a long term problem. The solution is to do what they do in Australia where everyone is forced to pay a lot into their pension , employer and employee and it's separate from any other tax. But if you started that now it would be 40 years before it came to fruition.
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100%, but the longer it's left, the longer it's unaddressed. That version of savings that Australia and New Zealand does is certainly a success, providing it doesn't take away from the government's obligation to look after their elderly population also. The issue is defining what is elderly in 2025. Above my paygrade, and as this is an Everton internet forum I'm sure it's above 99% of everyone else's but that's my views on it.
 
The state pension age of 65(for men) was set in 1946 and in 79 years it has advanced 2 years.

The original state pension introduced before the WW1 had a pensionable age of 70.

Contribution years have been reduced from 40 to 35.

The change is demographics and life expectancy means that these thresholds need to be re-examined otherwise the whole concept becomes unaffordable for future governments(meaning taxpayers).
 
Hinchcliffe's Corner said:
No, I'm on my feet all day, drive a lot too. Obviously not everyone is physically capable of a full time shift in their 60s but there's plenty of work available for people in their late 60s that they would be capable of even in a part time capacity. Many people in their 60s are essentially forced out of the workplace by their employers also, it definitely happens, raising the age would help with this. The state benefit wasn't originally made to pay people for a third of their life, something that is not a rare thing now. There definitely needs work doing on it.
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But you would have to pay NI contributions on anything you earn then as on part time hours you wouldn't pay it so wouldn't be any point in working
 

State pension aside, does anyone have any advice on withdrawing some of your pension at 55yrs old? If you take the 25% portion does it in anyway impact the remainder?
 
Simo said:
State pension aside, does anyone have any advice on withdrawing some of your pension at 55yrs old? If you take the 25% portion does it in anyway impact the remainder?
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Only that if you do, you will (almost certainly) not be able to continue to contribute further to that pension.

My inexpert advice, based solely on personal anecdote and experience, is to pay into a pension as much and for as long as you can.

State pension is likely to diminish in value over the next few years. Assume that you are on your own with this and that, should you live to a ripe old age, your pension will not go as far as you currently hope. Very few of us will have too much to live on by then ...
 
hallamblue said:
There is, but it's a long term problem. The solution is to do what they do in Australia where everyone is forced to pay a lot into their pension , employer and employee and it's separate from any other tax. But if you started that now it would be 40 years before it came to fruition.
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But that's an excellent reason to do it. Yes, there's a short and mid-term issue, but that doesn't mean ignoring the long game.

Of course, politicians being politicians...
 

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