Government to conduct review into state pension age

[lookingforwardtoautumn2]

https://news.sky.com/story/government-to-conduct-early-review-into-state-pension-age-13399571

Some news sites are saying the rise to 68 may be brought forward.

It doesn’t really make sense when they’re also saying pensioners will be poorer in the future compared to those today. Why is the answer to raise the age further?..

The SPA is 68 for me at the moment but I wouldn’t be surprised if it rises into the 70s, especially if they keep the triple lock.

Because I had a few years missing I made up my pension.
What really grinds my gears are the lazy gits who have never worked and claimed either jobseekers or now universal credit get their NI contributions paid for them! So you can do no work for years but still look forward to a fully paid up state pension when you retire. Yet if you have missing years when you have worked for one reason or another you either have to pay up yourself or have a reduced state pension. Yet again, if you don't plan you are rewarded. Where's the fairness in that??

I think there may be an argument to tie pensions and benefits in with how much you have paid in NI contributions, 35 years of someone on Minimum wage contributions or contributions paid because someone received a benefit is not the same as a HRT. Some countries do link benefits received with how much you have paid in.

@BeLilacWriter The argument against a welfare state is outlined in your post right there.

A lot of people on lower incomes do not have private pensions or if they do, they’re not big enough to make any meaningful difference. The full state pension is currently less the amount at which we pay income tax so I don’t understand how you can you say it’s served its purpose. There’s no way anyone could maintain themselves (proper dental care etc) and their home (repairs etc) to any decent level into their old age on the state pension as it stands. At least being younger we can work, I have no idea what someone in their late seventies or even eighties is expected to do.

Only 37% of people receiving universal credit are in any kind of work at all. And then if you look at the amount that needs to be earned to receive it and be in the ‘light touch’ for work requirements category, it’s very low. A couple needs to earn just £1,437 between them. This is not even one full time job between them. A single person needs to earn just £892 a month. Thats 18 hours a week equivalent on minimum wage. This is the far bigger problem in my mind

The government can't keep raising the pension age as a "solution". When will it stop? 72? 74? 80?

I also think the government needs to stop subsidising employers with Tax Credits. It encourages a low wage culture.

I’m sure a lot of us earn a good bit over the minimum though. I am “entitled” to well over 1k of Uc a month I get a couple of hundred as work full time. The whole system is bonkers I think they’d be better giving people with kids extra tax allowance like they do in many other western countries.

I do wonder what the costs are of them collecting tax from my wage, running UC and giving it back to me. A quick change of a tax code for working parents seems more practicle.

Another point they are unable to grasp is that I started work when I left school at 16 and I have been working and paying tax & NI for 47 years already, and by the time I retire it will be 51 years and I'll be 67. That's more than bloody enough.

You only need to pay 35 years of NI to qualify for the full state pension, so how come I will have to pay NI for an extra 16 years on top of that? For what? Paying in for an extra 16 years, and getting 7 years less retirement pension at the end of it. So I am basically losing out on 23 years' worth of money.

To say that I am utterly pissed off is the understatement of the century.

NI isn't just for your state pension though. It covers a lot more than state pension.

You can't be lazy and get universal credit or jobseekers, you get sanctioned if you aren't applying for jobs constantly.
Or are you really annoyed that disabled people get N.I credits?
A lot of the universal credit receivers will be between jobs and looking for a new one, I personally think it's a good job this safety net exists. That or their paltry wage won't cover living expenses, hardly lazy.

LOL. Oh yes you can. A neighbour retired recently after spending most of his working life on benefits,his son is following in his footsteps. Both have worked on the side and yes, I have reported them, but nothing seems to happen. There are a certain type of person who seem to create an air of unemployability and get away with it. So please, don't for one second put these arses in the same bracket as the genuinely unemployed doing their best to find work and following the rules. You do them a great disservice.

This will have a huge impact on young people gaining jobs. Whilst the young person may not replace the older more experienced employee, employers may still consider that an extra person is not required.

Also, grandparents who were hoping to care for grandchildren, to assist their children, will no longer be available.

Correct. We will spend it all, no need to worry about rent as the mortgage is paid off, house deposit and more to DC and any GC. Knowing DC can assist if we get stuck, more of us will make sure we qualify. No point paying all the tax we do otherwise.

A point you have got completely wrong is that you only need 35 years of NI to qualify for a state pension. That only applies to people starting their contribution history after 2016. For everyone else you could need anywhere from 29 to 52 years to qualify for the full amount of the new state pension. We are in transitional arrangements and will be for decades. The whole point of the New pension was to be less generous than the pre 2016 one.

If the government wants to reduce the benefits bill they should put in rent caps. This will save millions in housing benefits most of which goes to wealthy landlords (I know not all landlords are wealthy hence the ‘most’). This would also help people not on benefits

I don't think they get state pension if they've never worked ( unless through disability ), they do get Pension credit though.

If someone receives Universal Credit, they get Class 3 credits automatically. Thats the state pension only element.

It's great you're fit & healthy. However, you fail to recognise that ill health & 'overnight disability' can be as much 'bad luck' as 'lifestyle choices'. You need to appreciate your good luck & stop being so smug.

Edit: picked up the thread in active, didn't realise your post was weeks ago, sorry, but still stand by my comment.

With the proposed changes to inheritance tax, it feels like they’re trying to make sure nobody has a comfortable retirement.

In shocking turn of events in lockstep with every previous event, government decides to tax Millenials forever and never uphold their end of the bargain.

We will never retire, but on the upside, we'll never have to sell our houses for care as we'll never own any. On the up-upside, the NHS won't exist and we'll all be dead by 60 anyway.

At least we won't disinherit our children, because we can't afford to have them either.

The government announced this morning: fuck you.