What is the point of paying NI for 35 years to get a full State Pension, when people who have never worked receive Pension Credit anyway?

I suspect the £200K lump sum from my private pension would stop the Pension Credit so I'll enjoy my full state pension thank you very much.

Allow me. We earn about 70k between us. We have paid off our mortgage. We run a four year old car, eat out often,holiday three times a year and give thousands to charity.
Not a single person or family I know on benefits can even dream about doing any of those things.
QED
The claim that you need 200k year to be better off than on benefits is peak MN fantasy land

Because everyone should pay their way in life and that includes providing for their old age and the support system should be for those who have not been able to do so for reasons beyond their control.

Also, anyone who thinks things will remain as they are long term is fooling themselves. Give it a few more decades and anyone who hasn't provided for themselves will be in the shit. This country is financially fucked and we all need to be preparing to take care of ourselves rather than wasting time fearing other people might get something for free we had to work for.

I have found the opposite. 'No-one should have anything I can't have because shirkers'

I have worked all my life in an arts / registered charitable sector on low wages with no employer pension contributions until the last legal moment and at the lowest legal level. No complaints - I knew what I was getting into and don't require a high-spend lifestyle. And I did make contributions to a SIPP.

Now retired on state pension with a small top up.

Even with the small top up I would be better off on pension credit because of the benefits already listed.

So many concessions now only apply to Pension Credit - not over 65s. The things you want to enjoy - I could afford the Pension Credit Price in lots of places - cinemas, galleries, attractions etc, but not the non-concession price.

I am, of course, glad that I worked - but for those of us on low salaries its about incentives. If you have had a good salary and now enjoy or look forward to ( as a result of prudent planning and a good salary) a very comfortable retirement then you enjoy the benefit of your work. If you have been on a low salary and have only a small pension you might look sideway and think 'why did I bother' because Pension Credit is practically the same. So where's the financial incentive?

Go and demonstrate it then.

Yet everyone on here cries that people on benefits SHOULD have holidays/nice things because ‘why wouldn’t you want them to? Are you a terrible person?’

👏👏👏

So tired of the benefits bashers. Save your ire for the Tices of this world.

I've been paying into my state pension for 32 years - every year. And the full amount every year for the last 26 years.

I have several private pensions and they're all absolutely rubbish. I think collectively they're worth less than £100 a month.

So no, this ludicrous and unfair system does not work this way because everyone who has paid into it has a massive private pension.

There is no incentive to work - only to be on benefits.

And what's even more crazy is I know people who work but should be on benefits but are too mentally ill or proud to apply, and people who absolutely should not be on benefits but get them because they know how to play the mental health game.

This is absolutely insane and demonstrably untrue

This mentality where work is about “paying in” is so pathetic and self-aggrandizing. Be honest: like all of us you work simply because you couldn’t have a decent quality of life if you didn’t.

There will be, yes. But you started this thread about you. So, you've got a private pension so earnt enough to be able to contribute to one, clearly. So your retirement will be better than those who worked but couldn't contribute to a private pension. So, you're a higher rate tax payer are you? Yes or no? Makes a difference to outcomes.

You don’t though, not any more. There is almost no difference between working and not working unless you earn over £200k.

Because people who worked and receive state pension will probably also have a modest private pension to top it up.

But these threads are not really discussions are they? They are all based on x has this and I don’t and it’s not fair..and I have worked really hard all my life..
coupled with a large helping of faux naïveté where op can’t get their head around something or wonders if it’s really true that an income on benefits is the same as someone who earns £100k a year.

This

People are allowed to discuss benefits without the 'Oh another benefits rage bait thread' being rolled out every time.

Many people work all of their lives and don't have a private pension like my Mother. 72 and still working FT in a NMW job as a carer, not entitled to pension credit though.

This is the bit I don't understand, my neighbour who has worked but I think was self employed, gets a few pounds PC per month, they told me this recently complaining about how little it was. Later I realised that because of that they get their rent and council tax paid plus free tv license and other advantages. By the time I've paid my full council tax, tv licence etc it totally cancels out my small private pension which I get on top of the full state pension, so I'm no better off for paying thousands out of my wages into that pension🤷

Self worth, contributing to society, setting a good example to ones children, meeting people, contributing to the economy, using ones brain.

DH was 56 when he died, he was employed right up until the day he died. He, and many others like him, won't see a single penny of their state pensions. I will qualify for full state pension when retirement comes around but I cannot get in a stew about those who have never worked and can claim pension credit.

Don't worry, when we have to go gap in hand to the IMF for emergency loans, they'll impose spending reductions on the UK as part of their support plan, then the government of the day will have no choice but to cut spending and they'll be able to blame the IMF for making them do it!

I've just researched the average rent per month for a pensioner and it's approx. £1100 per month for a one bedroom dwelling - obviously this is a rough average. Add in council tax £1300 to £1900 per year and then all the other benefits and it amounts to approx £15k per annum. That's just the benefits, then add on the actual state pension approx £12k for a single person, or just under £19k for a couple. So £27k in total for a single person and £34k for a couple per annum if you're on pension credit.

Goodness, I've just made myself really depressed researching that. Bearing in mind that you pay tax on any extra income over £12.570 per annum if you're not on pension credit and liable for full council tax as well, it does make you wonder about the wisdom of being self sufficient. It's all getting ridiculous now.

Work should always benefit you - young and old - but it's beginning to seem that it's not necessarily the case. However what work does give you is self respect, autonomy and assets that you can pass onto your children. So regardless, I'm glad I worked from the age of 17 to 61. I enjoyed my various careers and engaging with the wider world. Also proud to be a role model to my daughter, who is also hardworking.

I don't know how things can be changed, but in my opinion there does need to be some adjustment to make it fairer to working people and people with occupational pension income. Maybe a substantial raise in the personal allowance would partly ameliorate the unfairness. But I can't see it happening any time soon, unfortunately.

The purpose of the State Pension is to provide the elderly with a 'bare minimum' income once they are too old to work. The purpose of Pension Credit is the same.

Reaching 66 with no savings, no alternative income, and no property is not something to be proud of, even if you did 'contribute all your life' (you had no choice, and you cost more than you repaid). It means you have failed to adequately prepare for your retirement, and now the state must support you.

So why should there be any difference in the level of support given to people who didn't prepare for retirement, whether or not they worked during their life? It costs the same to feed and clothe and heat a Pension Credit recipient as it does a State Pension recipient.

The triple lock absolutely needs to go

Well, the bottom line is the UK is stuffed if it doesn't reduce it's benefits and pension payments. You can all oppose it and vote in more pathetic MPs who pander to the public with payouts, ruining our children's futures, or you can accept that things must change.