45% of working age people not saving toward a pension at all

Neither of those people are British but individuals could sell their shares to pay the tax bill. I also believe alot of billionaires have property which can be sold. These are things us mere mortals have to do if we have unsustainable lifestyles.

I'm sorry but we have huge swathes of the population in poverty, we cannot afford to continuously protect the wealth of billionaires from the COL crisis. They have been having a boom whilst we are having a bust, it is not a coincidence. The books need rebalancing.

Yeah I'm talking about this. He said he was laughed out of the room 🤷‍♀️

Because he's a freelancer, not an employee - they also don'tget sick pay or holiday pay. He could get a private pension, though.

One friend told me he was just not able to join a pension scheme as a freelancer. I am not sure why.

Completely agree. It's never to late to start, something is always going to be better than nothing.

Billionaires mostly don’t have cash.

Kylie Jenner is a billionaire because her make up brand is worth that. Do you think the government should take the shares in her make up brand and become a controlling shareholder? Well that would mean she’d be worth less as the government would likely tank the company’s performance and value.

Taylor Swift is a billionaire because she owns the rights to all of the music she’s created. Should someone take that off her?

Neither Kylie’s make up brand nor Taylor’s songs are going to really help the government as you can’t spend that value on the NHS, it’s not cash. And you can’t sell those things, as only billionaires can afford to buy them, and so no one can now afford the assets you’ve taken.

While I agree no one should be a billionaire, your solution isn’t really practical.

Why can't they get a pension?

It's embarrassing isn't it?! When will women learn that stopping work and allowing themselves to become the default parent is a really, stupid thing to do. Men don't do don't do it, so why do women? I'll never understand this.

They could start by making it easier for the self employed to get pensions in the first place. I have a lot of self employed friends and they struggle and give up.

Who is telling taxpayers to be grateful?
Are you referrrng to the poster who looked after her disabled child? Do you really think she did it for the meagre payment she received from the gov?

Surely she was simply stating facts when she was defending her positon of not paying into a private pension because she didn't have enough disposable income to do so.

The alternative would have been for her to work outside the home, earn a salary and pay into a pension. Instead she did more than an institution could ever have done for a fraction of the cost and to her absolute financial detriment as she now faces quite a bleak retirement?

Carers all over the country are in a similar position and we should never underestimate the valuable contribution they make to society. The vulnerable in our society could not survive without the carers and volunteers who put others before themselves.

I’m glad we all agree that I should not stop pension contributions. Unfortunately, whilst it would be lovely to reach retirement age, I do need to keep myself alive, housed, and fed before then too! It’s a bit of a bugger!

Undergraduate loan 9%
Postgraduate loan 6%
9+6=15

This is exactly the issue. Everyone is either on NMW or earning 6 figure salaries. Nobody on NMW has ever made foolish decisions or spends money unwisely. Nobody on a six figure salary has ever had anything less than the silver spoon they were born with.

Personal responsibility is important across the board, and the fact remains that for many people, particularly young people, pensions are not seen as a necessity, despite them having even a small amount of disposable income they can pay towards it.

I have never put any significant amount of money into my pension but as someone else pointed out, with the employer contributions added on, it’s been the best free money I ever got. I was really surprised how little you could put into a pension and still do ok, but the key is you have to start really young.

Banking on one of the kids making it big 🤞🤞🤞

No, obviously not (would be nice tho) but it is very worrying. I think a lot of people aren’t properly educated on pensions though. I knew what a mortgage was before I got one and how taxes worked, but I didn’t really know about pensions till I actively looked when I became self employed.

I pay in via my work and then £10-20pm into a private pension but that’s all I can stretch to
I earn 28.5k and my mortgage is going up £120pm in October so it’s tight

If you want to present yourself as a martyr, don't be surprised if people pick you up on it

Ouch.

Not always easy to get, these days. A lot of self-employed people are only self-employed because they tried, for literally years, to get a good "normal" job, with maternity, sick pay and pensions that lots of us enjoy. It's not even necessarily that they couldn't find one in the field they qualified for; lots of people started up their own business because they couldn't find any job at all. This can be the case for older workers in particular, or those with children with additional needs, who needed more flexibility than many jobs can give.

You keep missing the point.

Ditto

But we can tell the government and by default tax payers to be "grateful"

Oh I'm one of "the sensible" I'm also fully aware that what I earn is way, way, way above average and that many working people simply can't afford to pay into a pension. My son for example, degree in music, which he uses working with adults and children with learning disabilities. He's a long way to go before he retires but I expect he will rely on inheriting from his parents. I don't begrudge universal pension.

Given I’m the only one you asked to disclose my status, and few others have done the same, that’s a wild statement to make. What you mean is, people aren’t agreeing with you therefore they must not feel empathy for those on low wages. Looking through the thread, I haven’t seen anyone suggest those on low incomes should forego their basic needs in order to save for their retirement.

You keep missng the point.

There is no hierarchy of vulnerbility.
The child could have been born to a junkie mother, a rape victim, a prisoner. Society has to protect the most vulnerable including those who cannot live independently and need constant care, we cannot make humans feel 'less than' or insist they must be 'grateful' for finding themselves in a position not of their choosing.

If you want to present yourself as a martyr, don't be surprised if people pick you up on it.

I was really full of energy when I was 45/46. Now that I'm 51 I have aches and pains that seem to appear from nowhere and every injury or illness takes twice as long to recover from - and I have kept myself fit!

I worry how you're going to find working once your body feels old and knackered. Working is much harder than holidays and fun stuff that's for sure!

Our society? yes. All societies? No.

Can you genuinely not grasp the concept of gratitude?

It was a two-way benefit, despite the constant emphasis on the “favour” supposedly being done for the state.

The minute the child was born, a reciprocal relationship also began through healthcare, benefits, support and wider taxpayer-funded services like adult residential care.

That poster did make sacrifices, but the arrangement was never entirely one-sided, however much they want to lead with "I have saved the state x".

Yep.

It also only seems to be certain people that have to trip over themselves to express eternal gratitude for the support they receive despite the fact that many people receive support through the state in several different ways, especially if you have children.

That makes no sense, sorry. You said you would rather work than retire, as retirement sounds boring. Then said the opposite.