Pensions

Would'nt it be far better if everyone just got the same Basic government pension and if they wanted more when they retire then they should take out a private one????

Re: Pensions

But what of those workers who have already paid in with an expectation of a pension at the current rate and at a date when retirement was fixed at 65??? Is it not unfair that these people should pay more than £1000 per year and receive even less pension??? - would you be prepared to do that???

It is also significant that MPs themselves, who are to all intents and purposes Civil Servants, are not having their pensions cut in the same way.

Re: Pensions

Don't people already do that Antibrown anyway. My husband paid into a private pension most of his working life, as well as paying his NI for his oap and the other things. My pension (not my oap) is an NHS one (but not huge as folks imagine NHS pensions to be) and I paid into that on top of my NI contributions.
I would not rely on a basic state pension to be adequate in old age - there is no control over what will be paid.

Re: Pensions

Aerolor, I mean everyone should get the same basic pension paying the same amount into it and not adding AVC's.

Any extra that they want to pay should go into a private pension scheme.

The one thing that people are forgetting is that you can take your money out of ANY pension scheme and invest it into an annuity of your choice.

I took my money out of the Civil service scheme when I left and invested it into another pension scheme which produced more than the government one would have done.

Re: Pensions

Do you mean paying in the same amount each for the same basic State pension Antibrown? - that would be fine with me, as long as it was enough to manage on. As it is many people pay in for more years than they need to for a basic state pension, while some (a lot of women) don't have enough years accrued to qualify for a full State pension. Aren't AVC's different and part of a separate scheme to private and State pensions. I'm not quite sure what you mean.

Re: Pensions

Yes, everyone should pay the same amount for the same basic State pension.
ie, everyone pays £10/week and recieves £100/week when they retire.
Trouble is it is not that simple, accountants slip in clauses that only they can understand.
AVC's are additional voluntary contirbutions which are added to the pension scheme that you are paying into.
When I worked for the Civil service they took 6% of your salary whether you liked it or not and put it into a pension scheme which would pay you a pension on top of the government basic state pension. Later came a law whereby you could opt out of the scheme which I did.

What I am saying is everyone should get the basic state pension which they pay for, any additional pensions should be Private ones not compulsary ones which the Civil service do.
Everyone would then have a choice of where they put their money. so, if a company changed the way that they paid out pensions on Fruition you could take your fund and put it wherever you wanted to.

Clear as mud eh!

Re: Pensions

I see what you mean now Antibrown. I didn't realise that your Civil Service Pension was compulsory.

Would the number of years paying into the State pension count as well. What if somebody only paid in the £10 per week for 20 years and somebody else paid in £10 for 40 years. Surely they should get more.

I do think the way the State pension is calculated both in the past and currently is complicated. All this contracting out if you also pay into a separate pension. Private pensions should also be fully portable (without loss) as long as you re-invest the money into another scheme.

One peculiar thing with my sister and I. I have worked a lot more years than she has and also paid into an NHS pension. I didn't pay a reduced NI contribution as some married women could years ago. My sister did not join a pension scheme and even though she has less years contributions than me she gets more State pension (She did not work at all for several years). I couldn't understand this, but apparently it has something to do with the fact that when I joined the NHS scheme I was automatically "contracted out" because I joined the NHS pension scheme. I still paid NI, but a slightly reduced amount. This meant that even though I paid more overall (because I earned more than she did) and also did more years contributing, I received less State pension than my sister. She even receives more State pension than her husband, who was a teacher and paid into a pension scheme. That doesn't make sense to me at all.

Re: Pensions

What we have to remember, is that it is only the private sector that generates the wealth required to pay public sector pensions. Unless the public services contribute more themselves we will eventually be bankrupted. It may seem unfair now, but to me, and all of the private sector generally, the thought of being taxed until death to continue to pay obscene public sector pensions, is almost criminal.

Like many other things, cowardly Labour failed to grasp this particular nettle although they have always agreed that there needs to be urgent reforrn. Their only answer to any problem was to throw obscene amounts of money at it to buy another year's peace. The last government was an absolute disgrace and, to use one of Uncle Joe's favorite sayings, should all be rounded up and shot.

Thank goodness someone has found a little mettle, to sort out a problem without worrying about being popular. I agree with very little that the current government is doing, but they really should be congratulated on this....

Re: Pensions

You have hit the nail on the head Aerolor.

I do not think anyone fully understands the state pension scheme.

I used to think I did after doing a course on running one but, my wife never worked after we got married and when I retired she recieved a state pension.
I queeried it and asked how she was entitled to one and the reply was ' she is, everyone is entitled to a state pension'.

OK it is only a small pension £56/week but to say she only paid national insurance for 5 years before we married it is something that we did not count on.

When I say that people should get the same I did mean Pro rata.

Re: Pensions

Barry, as things stand there are 4.5 workers paying into the pension scheme for every pensioner, in the year 2045 there will be only 2.5 people paying into the pension scheme for every pensioner.

You dont need to be a mathematician to work out the problems in the future.