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.

Again - almost no one gets genuinely free childcare. I know it's confusing because the government tagline is 'free childcare', but for most people it is actually lightly subsidised, and the average family still spends considerably more on childcare after the 'free' hours than they did a decade ago.

Absolutely this.

.When the UK's modern universal state pension system took effect in 1948, the government introduced a "pay-as-you-go" approach. This allowed existing older citizens to receive a pension even if they had not contributed into the new National Insurance (NI) scheme throughout their working lives.

When are people going to realise you can't make sweeping statements, not everyone has paid for their pension, it's a benefit and you pay for the previous generations not your own?

I overpay into my work pension but I think there are people who think (rightly or wrongly) that they’ve left it late for a meaningful private pension and would rather take their chances with the state pension and pension credit, rather than paying into a private pension now and not qualifying for pension credit.

More than a decade ago
not London
One child cost over £1000
i had twins and one other
over £3000

no money off
no free hours
Nothing

Free childcare means for the hours allowed you don’t pay
It doesn’t have to mean every hour you chose is free

Maybe people who haven't read the numerous posts saying the same on this thread?

I guess in future those sitting on over £1m of assets will have to sell or downsize in order to live if their wealth means they don’t qualify for a state pension.

Something has to give and none of it is palatable.

Downsizing releases a larger property but it doesn't always release much cash. There isn't a lot of difference between the price of a 3 bedroom hhome and a 5 bedroom home in some areas, and the competition for the smaller homes is higher. Then there are moving costs and stamp duty to pay. If people are reluctant to move in the first place, it's often not sufficiently financially attractive to encourage them.

I’m guessing by then the Govn will have pre warned all younger workers
and they will have paid into their employer subsidised private pensions all their working lives anyway
So they won’t need to sell their home

I never said I was encouraged by my workplace. I was encouraged by people around me. Had there been no workplace pension I would have started a private one.

My children are about to go into the world of work in freelance careers. We have already had the discussion with them about pensions and are looking at private options for them.

Yes, but even back in 1993 I was told that living purely on the state pension may not give me the sort of lifestyle I might want. Basically the way I looked at it was that a state pension would be like a basic wage and my private pension would allow me to live a bit more comfortably. This is not something that wasn't talked about until recent years.

"I was told back then that it was a good idea to pay into my workplace pension. So I did. It wasn’t rocket science."

It's "rocket science" to people who haven't been "told" to either join the work place pension (if one existed back then) or get a private one.

Plus, if it isn't "rocket science", you wouldn't have needed to be told.

Well said

I started work in 1982. It was talked about then. Mine was compulsory at first (LA), then optional.

A lot of people left it because, like now, they needed the money. What for I don't know as they had been paying 6% of their wages into anyway.

My parents, at that time, 40 years ago, gave me the same advice you were given.

So I agree, to an extent.

We were lucky that we got that advice.

A lot of people didn't.

Working age people on benefits get a lot more stick than pensioners do. They are benefit bashing stories in the press everyday but not much negativity about pensioners. The opposite in fact.

UC is much less than the state pension too, a single person gets about £420 a month.

It’s not pensioners vs benefit claimers! The pensioners might have claimed benefits back in the day too. Like JSA.

This is divide and conquer.

I think you misunderstand me. I was told it was a good idea and when it was explained to me it seemed obvious and therefore 'wasn't rocket science'. Of course if no one had explained it then I probably wouldn't have done it.

We were both lucky then?

And a lot of people probably rejected the advice if they were given it. I remember people in my first job who decided not to do it even though we all talked about the benefits. I guess when you are in your 20s it just seems so far off.

Plus housing and other benefits

Agree. At that age I just looked at the bottom line and that was my wages. So glad I did now.

There's something called personal responsibility! It's like WASPI's all over again! So many people seem to be living under a rock and make no effort to look after themselves. Always expecting to be "told" to do things. What do people want? A personal visit by the prime minister of the day to come and tell them? The information is more easily available than ever. It was massive in the mid 80s when private pensions were introduced - you couldn't help but see it throughout mainstream media (TV, newspapers, magazines etc). Pension firms spent millions on advertising and marketing.

I remember being at a local Polytechnic on day release course for my accountancy exams and one lecture was cancelled and replaced by a pension firm who came in to give a presentation re personal pensions.

I also sat in on a talk given by a different pension firm at one of our client's businesses to all staff when they set up a firm pension scheme - it was a no brainer to join as the employer paid in several percent of wages, but a stupidly high number of staff didn't want to join!

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

So condescending.

You only get housing benefit if you rent, and only up to a certain amount. You get no help if you have a mortgage.

Pensioners are also entitled to housing benefit if they rent and have low earnings.