When will people realise that pensioners have paid for their state pension.

[notsafeanymore]

Every time there is a debate about the cost of living pensioners get a bashing.
And some have also paid for a private pension.
It's people who have never worked that should be targeted first.
I'm not on about the disabled. It's people who are benefit cheats and have never worked.

No country has managed to reverse birth rates once below replacement level.

I have nothing to say tbh except that the scoring out words thing is embarrassing.

Honestly, if you've got nothing to say it's fine just not to post.

The gvt have taken heed which is why we are basically now having to bribe the French to police their shores properly . Reform manage to skip over nicely the fact it wasn’t such a massive issue before Brexit because certain rules were in place- it doesn’t suit their one trick pony agenda- the sheer amount of immigration building up over years was mainly technically legal immigration - students that stayed on , some EU migrants who decide to remain and the fact that many third world immigrants who came legally tend to have bigger families and tend to live in particular areas, so it feels like those areas have been overrun - a great many too that people perceive as immigrants were born here and raised here so are British. It’s the nature of British that has changed and some people just don’t/wont accept a country that is now a multicultural society , despite the fact that plenty are contributing as much in terms of tax and usefulness as white van man from Scunthorpe etc -

😆

Pensioners don't pay NI

Allegedly benefit cheats only amount to 1.2 per cent. Though I think it is much higher than this going by the local grapevine.

I know. I remember the 80s sell off (theft) of public institutions. People gagging for their shares which many just sold straight away. And i also know people who bought their council houses and voted Tory ever since. And yes people voted for them and there was a culture of greed or I’m alright jack and stuff everyone else. The real issue with the council houses sales was that councils couldn’t use income from sales to replace them. No surprise where was are now, sadly many of us predicted it.

It must really annoy Reform that a Home Secretary born to Pakistani immigrants has reduced overall net migration.

Ours certainly is based on what you paid in, this is partly why it would be very difficult for a government to cut it back. They used to send out letters asking if you wanted to make voluntary contributions for any periods you had missed in order to maintain your entitlement. When my retirement age was 60 I needed 30 years contributions to get a full pension, when the retirement age was raised the number of required years was raised to 35. It's very hard to see it as anything other than a contributory scheme.

I’m in Scotland too. Even if it’s now stopped the damage continued for decades

@Scotiasdarling bit my point was European systems are based on what cash you actually paid in and there are different rates. We have a flat rate.

They have already mandated private pensions since 2013 because they knew this was an issue. I'm late 30s and have been paying NI since 14. I'll probably pay it all my life but not actually receive a state pension myself. I am putting a lot into my pension on top of the gov mandate but I know lots of people can't afford to do so and they're being taxed so much. The system isn't fair but previous governments are to blame. Pensioners should at least be aware of the situation facing younger generations.

It’s now called New Style ESA (Employment and Support Allowance) and it’s primarily an out of work sickness benefit. You cannot claim it while you’re in work, unless you are transitioning to work under the DWP’s permitted work rules, which entail working less than 16 hours per week, with a maximum wage of £203 weekly after tax and NI.

Could you tell us which things please?

I get where you are coming from. I've worked all my life, part time while I was bringing my children up in low paid jobs, only thing I have claimed is child benefit and now my children are grown up I am working full time saving to pay off my mortgage and paying half my salary into my private pension so I stand half a chance of retiring. I don't want to retire and drop dead from exhaustion. I've taken on a very stressful job because it is paid well. I haven't stopped working since I left school and I've also brought up 3 children in that time and looked after elderly relatives.
I'm tired!

Final salary pensions.

But that doesn't solve the problem. It's a ponzi scheme. You can't keep going. Sooner or later they always collapse.

No generous child tax credits?

I won't. To you.

That figure only applies to disability benefits and equates to about £660m. The overall figure for fraud within the benefits system generally is 2.2% - or approximately £6.5bn

Indeed.

And it will be sooner rather than later. We need mass immigration of young tax payers who will have 2.4 children.

I don’t see many people voting for that given the hold the right wing media has.

Well actually, we've had three different systems of variable rate state pension, being graduated pension, SERPS and S2P. All brought in at huge cost and disruption, then all scrapped after a few years again at huge cost and disruption. Just a symptom of short term politicians who are incapable of looking longer than the end of their term, and wanting to be seen to be doing "something" so constantly tinker and make changes that often they don't understand. Oh for some decent politicians and ministers who are actually capable!

I think the long term solution is for the Government to invest £12k in British stocks and shares for every baby that's born. It won't solve the problem for 60 years, but the compound interest will mean that there should be a ringfenced pot of money to cover future pensions at vastly less investment cost than we are currently paying. If they have to add to the national debt to do this then so be it, it's still cheaper in the long run.

I agree! Just glad it's finally stopped.