If you are younger than 48, do you expect the state pension to still be around when you get to state pension age?

[daisym00n]

When people talk about raising the state pension age, the argument is usually that it will never happen because pensioners are more reliable voters.

But actually aren’t today’s pensioners the least likely to be affected? These things take years to implement. Any major change to pension age or entitlement is usually phased, so the people who’ll get hit hardest are the ones who are in their 40s/50s now, not those already collecting it.

If the current pension is unsustainable, it’s people currently under 50 who’ll feel the pain when the government turns around and says “sorry, there’s just not enough left”.

Part of me thinks I’d rather they were upfront now, rather than kick it down the road again. If there are big changes coming, I’d rather have 15+ years to plan around it not be blindsided when I’m coming up to retirement.

I’m not factoring the state pension into my own retirement planning at all. I just don’t believe it’ll be what we’re told it will be by the time I’m old enough to claim anything.

Anyone else thinking this way?

No i expect to work until I'm to ill to or I die whichever comes first

Yup. Always been self employed. Within one company. Am free to freelance elsewhere but don’t.

I’m in my mid-thirties and I assume no.

Something will exist, but those with any real private pension saving will be means tested out of it.

That’s the thing - they need to say it early enough to allow people to plan, but no party wants to do that. Imagine if any party came out tomorrow with a new policy “no universal pension for those currently under 35”. They may as well just not bother running. So they’ll all just delay delay delay until it becomes urgent, and then it will have to come in with less notice (or there’ll have to be a lot of tax rises and cuts elsewhere to cover it).

I don't think it will exist without means testing and I'm not factoring it at all into my retirement planning (I am 38.) But I also think that there is a danger of us all speaking something into existence and the more younger people say they don't expect to receive the state pension, the quicker the government will be to remove it.

I’m 47 and think it will still be around in some form, but worth comparatively less than it is today and the age to get it will be higher.

No

I assume i will be in the situation where they means test it, and I will be about 3p over the threshold and somehow end up slightly worse off that if I never saved at all, as I will miss out of some other things like bus passes or something.

I cant see us hitting a point of no provision at all. We have alms houses for the elderly of the parish that are 400 years old and there was outdoor relief before the whole workhouses era.

I am 48 and yes I fully expect it to be there by the time I reach 67/68 whichever it will be.

If they are going to take it away or means test it, I’d like to reduce my NI contributions please.

I’m 46 and have a workplace pension. I pay in about £250 a month, plus my employer’s contributions on top.
The reality is, I won’t be able to survive on that alone if the state pension isn’t around by the time I retire. I’d need to start building my own pension (a SIPP) now if the state pension disappears in the next 20 years. The problem is, we simply don’t have any spare money to put aside at the moment — and it would have to be at least £750 a month to replace the state pension.
I’m sure there are people who can manage that, but many of us can’t.
A friend of mine contributes very little a month into her workplace pension (she’s part timer) and her pot is currently £23K. She thinks she’s doing great and honestly, I can’t even say she’s wrong, because most people around us are in the same boat

Your NI payments pay for the current pensioners pensions not your future pension.

I’m in my 40’s and I do expect to receive it although I think the age threshold will increase again and the triple lock will go.

The trouble with any means testing proposal is the impact it’ll have on paying into private pensions. Private pensions are optional… the government would have to be very careful not to create a situation where those on low incomes who had saved into a pension were worse off than those who hadn’t.

I pay £400 a month into my pension. Wouldn’t I be better off pocketing that knowing the state will step in if my income on retirement is below a certain threshold?

I am 53 and it has never really factored into my plans. Didn't trust the government in 1995 any more than I trust the current one, which is when the state pension age for women moved to 65. So I started saving for retirement as soon as I graduated. At that point, you could draw a private pension at 50, and that is what I aimed for. Now it is 55 for my DOB (and I am looking forward to it!), and state pension age has moved to 67 for me. I am going to be beyond angry if the government reduce the tax free lump sum and I end up having to keep working to make my retirement affordable.

If I was younger, I would be very worried indeed.

Yes. Because opt out work place pensions were only introduced a few years ago, it will be phased out in line with the introduction of that.

I am 43 and I really hope that it will be because it's been part of my pension planning. I don't expect to get it at 67, but I will be gutted if I don't get it before 70 because I've been paying National Insurance contributions for 25 years already!

I hope so. I’ll be sad if it’s not. I’ve been a public sector worker since 24 (in 45) and look forward to my occupational pension but have to take the reduced amount at 60 that I’m hoping will be topped up but the state pension at 67/8 so I can take a small lump sum.

Ive never claimed any benefits and don’t have children.

My mum missed out with the raise in pension age for women tit he tune of 36k

If the ramblings of Elon Musk are anything to take heed of, AI and robotics will have taken all our jobs and we'll all be on some kind of UBI.

Whoever's left of course, after the Great Pig Pox pandemic of 2032, the American Civil War 2.0, the Asian Flying Fungus Rice Paddy Plague of 2036 and the...

Or something like that. So no need to worry.

42 and doing all my retirement planning on the basis of it not being available to anyone who has private provision until that provision has run out - a bit like care home fees. Hopefully assisted dying is also legal by that point so I have the choice to not piss all my money up the wall on inadequate, pointless ‘end of life’ care

I've been saying this for ages. It's really scary, I feel like I have next to nothing. I own a home (own as in have 24 yrs more mortgage....) and have a small private pension but I'll be screwed if there's no state pension. I don't trust in it at all!!

They can’t be reduced - your NI contributions are paying today’s pensions.

Yes but it's not worth much so I have my own pension as well.

Word

I’m 60 and I’m not sure it will be there for me at 67. Or it will be means tested.

Yes, because I've paid into the system for all my working life of 20 odd years. Won't be happy if was all for nothing at the end, but I do suspect it won't be a thing when it's my turn.