I’ve easily found £30bn of savings, so why can’t the government do this?

I agree that something does need to be done here. The couple across the road from us retired on final salary pensions at 60 and are enjoying luxury holidays every couple of months along with constant building work and brand new cars. It’s somewhat galling to think that in a couple of years’ time they’ll be getting an additional 25k a year paid to them by the government when there are families out there starving.

But I think you need to revisit your proposed figures - 12K is nothing.

Very selective responses to queries/points made - OP why arent you replying to every post ? Is it because you have no answer ?

How about decreasing the pension for people who haven't paid into the system, illness excluded.
There is generations of work shy people.
Two parent families onbenefits living in poverty, there are cultures that never paid tax.
Open it new old age retirement homes like work housing, bread and water, soup on the weekend joking.
It's crazy that you want to hit the people who kept the money moving while topping up people who rarely worked.
Some families know the how to use the benefit system inside and out.

I would also make pensioners with high incomes still pay NI. Also, once you earn over a certain amount you stop having NI deducted (not many people know that) as you are deemed to have paid your stamp. I'd change that.

It’s swings and roundabouts. If you have state pension and a £12000 pa
private pension you’ll be paying at least £2400 in tax so if you reduce state pension you reduce tax revenue. Plus less money would be spent in the economy. Most of the pension paid to pensions is spent in this country unlike money from tax avoidance schemes used by the elites

It’s not the “15% wealthiest” pensioners when you are literally calling elderly couples and singles in households with no dependents wealthy when on the IFS UK income comparison chart, they’d actually be in the 20% poorest.

https://ifs.org.uk/toolsandresources/wheredoyoufitin

Especially since the elderly have a higher cost of living as age decreases ability to do DIY, cleaning, self care, etc

what about the people in work now who don't want to see their future state pension reduced? They vote too!

So you expect people to pay into state pension but then to only get x% back - nah, think I'll pass on that.

You have to apply for the State Pension. It is not paid automatically.

Why dont we just take 500 per person as a down payment on your right to live in the uk - so 2k per family of 4 that would also save 30 billion

I think one thing they could do is make people actually claim state pension instead of being automatically sent it. Very rich people might not bother. This wouldn't save nearly as much though.

IMHO this mentality of poor vs rich all is exactly what is wrong currently in the UK: what’s the point of working hard and contributing if you just end up with the same as people who minimised income and/or spent all their money instead of saving.

See also underfunded state school or private at v high cost, or underfunded NHS or private also at v high cost.
How other countries do it: state pension indexed on earnings when active (so there is a motivation to earn more: you will get more pension), free services (pension, school, health) but possibility to go private by paying a reasonable amount because the state still pays the ‘basic’ amount and you just top up: the free services have more capacity.

You need people to have ambition, not just hope that a minority will be so motivated to live above the basic standard that they are willing to pay all their lives for the majority that doesn’t contribute their share.

Can I introduce you to the concept of income tax?

I would welcome more more wealth taxes. But theres an army of people wound up by social media and AI to scream against taxing the rich, or even withdrawing extra benefits from them eg winter fuel payment.

Your completely ignoring the numerous post
saying they would ether stop paying private pensions or reduce it as they would only be marginally better off so you could spend or save that money instead

Only if you give me back my state pension investment please because otherwise it’s theft - pay your stamp to get your pension…

If only it had ever occurred to Rachel Reeves to use ChatGPT to formulate complex economic policy! We'd all be living in a land of milk and honey by now!

Honestly OP, it works by scraping masses of data and repeating it back to you. It's not a reliable source and certainly not capable of coming up with reliable policy.

ChatGPT really isn't reliable when it comes to statistics. It doesn't check the authenticity, bias or accuracy of the data it pulls. So yes, it will furnish you with some eloquent claptrap, but a lot of it is wildly inaccurate.

Anyway, that aside, what it doesn't predict is people adapting their behaviour to their own advantage. People would just stop paying into a private pension and either fritter that money away on fun stuff, or invest it elsewhere. Then you're back to paying everyone a state pension.

This is a really valid point.

I’d vote for it. People aren’t being honest about the fiscal reality, we can’t have an never ending entitlements whilst trying to squeeze money out of a smaller and smaller group of net contributors. It’s a fantasy.

Anything over £12 k a year you said. That’s what the majority would get and it’s hardly anything.