State pension

My post was about NI being abolished so everyone paid the same tax. The poster completely ignore what I said - and stated everyone paid the same income tax. Maybe they didn’t know over 67s didn’t NI - it’s not something I’d been aware of till recently. I was quite surprised that they chose to ignore the point of my post and suspected it was deliberate- hence why I said surely you know? If they didn’t I apologise!

You paid your stamp to save towards a state pension... and that's now paid off, and the pension paying out.

You also paid your jobseekers insurance in case you were unable to work and needed benefits to tide you over... and now due to age you're no longer expected to work.

So the things that you were insuring against no longer need insurance once you reach state pension age.

But of course National Insurance has been turned into a tax and extended repeatedly to extract more money, as described above.

I carried on working 2 yrs past state pension age and thought it was unfair that I didn't pay NI any more. It does seem weird - why shouldn't I have continued to pay it?

My post was about NI being abolished so everyone paid the same tax. The poster completely ignore what I said - and stated everyone paid the same income tax. Maybe they didn’t know over 67s didn’t NI - it’s not something I’d been aware of till recently. I was quite surprised that they chose to ignore the point of my post and suspected it was deliberate- hence why I said surely you know? If they didn’t I apologise!

"Surely you know this?" is a bit snarky and on the way to being rude....

There is absolutely no need to be so rude - I was talking about NI and the poster responded to my post suggesting pensioner do pay tax - they don't pay NI though and that was the tax I was talking about. The Gov can call NI anything they like (if the point of your post was the name) - we all know it's tax. I won't be responding to you again.

Yes, I agree, the boomers need to stop berating todays young and younger workers. It works both ways!

No, didn't go because in those days there were plenty of school leaver jobs. Unlike today. Yes, there are some places that take school leavers, but the vast majority of decent jobs these days require a degree. I was looking at one of the big 4 accountant firms recruitment statistics which showed very heavily skewed towards graduate intakes and a much smaller number of non graduate intake - something like 80-20.

And god the predictable boomer bashing from a few posters is so damn boring. There are pros and cons to being born into any generation. Constantly berating any one generation is negative and unfair. The real problem is the social contract in Britain has been well and truly broken.

Did you go to Uni B? My youngest didn’t and has the same job you have. He was lucky that a LA takes in trainee accountants (Cipfa), and puts them through their exams. Obviously while working full time. He didn’t fancy uni. But he gets more than my eldest who had a degree and a masters.

I’m 7 years away from SP age. I wouldn’t have an issue with continuing to pay NI once I reach 67. However I think all adults should pay some level of NI, including those not working and receiving benefits. There should be no exemption. Then everyone contributes to the pot. Arguably all benefits should be taxable in the way that the state pension is, but that’s a separate issue.

You don't pay NI - surely you know this? It's not an optional tax for the PAYE employees under 67s they pay NI on their income. I believe everyone should face the same tax on income regardless of your age.

Don't be such an idiot, of course the poster knows they don't pay NI, it's not called tax at the moment, poster was talking about tax not NI and it is still called that

You don't pay NI - surely you know this? It's not an optional tax for the PAYE employees under 67s they pay NI on their income. I believe everyone should face the same tax on income regardless of your age.

By reflecting your language, I was trying to highlight that your own point was just as reductive, and was likewise putting rather over-simplified and exaggerated words into someone's mouth. 😂

Perhaps just read it back, and also the post you were replying to.

Reality of course is somewhere in the middle.

You are taxed on your income once you're pensionable age if it goes over the 12K allowance - pensioners still pay tax at the normal rate.

FFS, of course not. Talk about putting words in someone's mouth. Everyone should try to the best of their abilities, I was simply pointing out that success rates are sometimes contingent to a degree upon circumstances that are out of a person's control.

Are you suggesting that this isn't the case?

If anyone's oversimplifying here it's you. The whole 'work hard and you're bound to succeed/if you're not succeeding, you're not working hard enough' duality is a myth, I'm afraid, and always has been.

Are you suggesting all someone has to do in order to do well is to try hard enough? Life really isn't that simple, I'm afraid.

My experience of work is that 80% of people are happy to cruise and do the bare minimum with zero aspiration and certainly no attempts to study in their free time to advance their careers. Those same people are often the ones that complain about 'fairness' and want others to be taxed for their benefit.

FFS, of course not. Talk about putting words in someone's mouth. Everyone should try to the best of their abilities, I was simply pointing out that success rates are sometimes contingent to a degree upon circumstances that are out of a person's control.

Are you suggesting that this isn't the case?

If anyone's oversimplifying here it's you. The whole 'work hard and you're bound to succeed/if you're not succeeding, you're not working hard enough' duality is a myth, I'm afraid, and always has been.

Are you suggesting that people have no responsibility at all for their own outcomes?

And that as a result all earnings are a lottery? And so should be shared out equally regardless of contribution?

Life really isn't that simple, I'm afraid.

Why do so many struggle to get their head around this?

Not easy to get a house/flat when house prices have risen far higher than wages over the past few decades.

"Do well at school" no longer leads to "get a job". You're missing the Uni years which are now pretty much essential for most decent jobs/professions. The days are long gone where 5 O levels is good enough for a decent office job and 3 A levels for a professional training role.

These days you can work your arse off and still can't afford to "support" yourself.

Boomers need to start understanding how things have changed over the past few decades, mostly for the worse for today's youngsters/young workers.

Are you suggesting all someone has to do in order to do well is to try hard enough? Life really isn't that simple, I'm afraid.