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Original poster

In thinking that I may never be allowed to retire.........

280 replies

whymumwhymum · 17/06/2011 21:43

Have worked in public sector for nearly 20 years now and just saw in the news today that they are planning on keeping the pensions for my age group and under back until we are 66 ffs.

That was not what I signed up for when I decided to pay into the scheme!

Thats nearly another 30 years and tbh I don't think i'll survive in this job that long, and thats not taking into account that by the time I'm 50 or older they will probably have pushed the age back further.

I don't feel particularly ' lucky' to be a public sector worker, i worked and studied damn hard for years to get my now reasonably (not by any means highly) paid job. I will never ever get a bonus even if i do twice the 'reasonable' work, will also never get overtime payments. I'll never have a company car or private health care or any other perks.

Many's the night I've lain awake worrying about the people i get paid to look after Sad.

The pension was the one thing that made it 'wothwhile' long term and i am losing faith that I will ever see it, in payments alone i calculat I will have paid in somehwre in the region of 100k over a working life of 45 years not accounting for inplation. Should have just saved the money or better still blown it on stuff I could actually enjoy before i'm six feet under!

OP posts:
itisnearlysummer · 17/06/2011 22:21

Yes but I saw the young teacher on the evening news who said it was making her reconsider her career.

Unfortunately, if teachers/nurses etc start leaving the public sector the whole country will be in trouble.

Cyclops99 · 17/06/2011 22:22

Is you work in the public sector for significantly reduced wages, just to get a good pension, isn't that rather daft?

Whilst I accept we need to plan for the future, wouldn't it make financial sense to work in the private sector and save the extra?

As fivegomadindorset says.....all she wants is a job...... So stop moaning!

Original poster
whymumwhymum · 17/06/2011 22:22

Expat, whose to say what 'retirement' is meant to be.
As a society we have to decide whats valuable to us.
And the fact is, if we push retirement ages back too far then yes some peopkle will still be lucky enough to get 10, 20+ years but some wont even make it to retirement.
I like my job (sometimes love it) but it has and will continue to damage my health in a number of ways.
I need to know what 'end point' i am loking at so i can make decisions about how feasable it is for me to continue on in the job or go. the feeling that i might wake up at say 60 only to be told that now i have to work til 70+ makes my blood run cold!!

OP posts:
TheCrackFox · 17/06/2011 22:24

"As a society we have to decide whats valuable to us."

I agree, what is valuable to me is that my DC's generation don't get loaded with a shed load of debt just because my age group didn't fancy working past the age of 60. The Babyboomers have shafted us and we have no choice but to suck it up.

expatinscotland · 17/06/2011 22:25

'Expat, whose to say what 'retirement' is meant to be.'

Um, the government when it created the state pension.

And I think if you're around my age (40), the wise thing would be to assume you will need to work till 70 or until you're so near death you're no longer able to because that's looking like how it's going to go for all of us.

There's what we value, and what we can afford.

I've always felt that living longer and longer is a poisoned chalice.

This is one of the reasons why.

expatinscotland · 17/06/2011 22:26

x-post with TheCrackFox.

itisnearlysummer · 17/06/2011 22:26

No Cyclops it isn't daft. It's just a different decision. When people apply for/accept jobs they base their decision on a number of issues that is just one of them.

The pension is why people are prepared to accept the lower salary, knowing that it doesn't matter they won't be able to afford a private one because they're paying into the LGPS.

But once a job offer has been made and accepted on a set of terms and conditions, the employer shouldn't be able to change these on a whim.

expatinscotland · 17/06/2011 22:27

'But once a job offer has been made and accepted on a set of terms and conditions, the employer shouldn't be able to change these on a whim.'

They do it in the private sector all the time. Remember Enron?

x2boys · 17/06/2011 22:27

i,m a nurse completley agree have been working as one [ including my training] since i was 19 now nearly 38 i could live with the fact of having to work 40 yrs before i could claim my pension but no more i work in mental health i dont think i will be physically able to do the job at 66

itisnearlysummer · 17/06/2011 22:28

Yes, but 'knowing' that the public sector won't do that is another one of the reasons people are prepared to accept a lower salary.

trixymalixy · 17/06/2011 22:28

Most private employers have got rid of final salary pensions. Why should public sector workers be exempt from the latest economic conditions?

TheCrackFox · 17/06/2011 22:28

I have had loads of jobs where the company has been sold and a new set of T&Cs issued (usually for the worse). Not fair but that is just the way it is.

itisnearlysummer · 17/06/2011 22:29

Because the security of knowing that you have a secure pension and a job where the T&C are protected is the payoff for earning less!

Original poster
whymumwhymum · 17/06/2011 22:29

Exactly its nearly summer.
I think thats what feels so crap, it feels like you cant plan or rely on what you have been told/signed up to.

DP pays into a private pensions scheme, he earns a lot more than I do and pays in a lot more. But as far as he is concerned the money he is paying in is his. He can take some of his benefits AT 50 FGS wjilst i will still be hauking my arse out the door when Im on my zimmer frame!!

OP posts:
mdowdall · 17/06/2011 22:30

itsnearly summer - what is this thing about accepting lower salary in public sector? That is just a fallacy. There are many ways of measuring this and many say that average earnings in public sector are actually higher than private. Not everybody who works in the private sector is a banker you know.

itisnearlysummer · 17/06/2011 22:32

Private employers also (often) pay for their work parties, provide company cars, pay bonuses...

The public sector doesn't.

My ex had a job in the private sector that paid a clothing allowance (don't know how common that is) but the public sector doesn't do that.

Some private companies give their employees shares in the business. The public sector doesn't do that and you sometimes have to buy your own stationery. And if you teach, you do buy supplies for the classroom from your own salary and you can't always claim it back.

Cyclops99 · 17/06/2011 22:32

Maybe I can't see that far down the road, I can't imagine making a deciosn, based on a pension I can't guarantee that I'll live long enough to collect.

Ok, keep one eye on the future, but live for the here and now, surely? I work, save, have a very small private pension, but who knows what the future has got in store for us? I don't see the point in getting worked up about it.......chill!

Original poster
whymumwhymum · 17/06/2011 22:33

It just feel like we are being hit every possible way.
We are already saving for out two DC's to go to university if they want as its the only way if they are to have a chance.
We will probably 'downsize' when they have flown the nest in order to release some equity to enable them to buy a flat or something as well.

OP posts:
trixymalixy · 17/06/2011 22:33

But whymum, your DHs pension is basically a gamble on the stock market whereas final salary pensions are guaranteed. there's no way he can know for certain what return he will get one his pension savings.

expatinscotland · 17/06/2011 22:33

'Private employers also (often) pay for their work parties, provide company cars, pay bonuses...'

Often? LOL.

mumnotmachine · 17/06/2011 22:33

Like the posters above, am too a public sector worker of nearly 20 years.

I was a bit of a prophet of doom when I heard, my mum died in her early 70s, and assuming theres a remote chance I may follow suit, I may enjoy a whole 5 years of my pension!!!

The Civil Service is not all its cut out to be- all the so called "perks" are slowly being depleted

expatinscotland · 17/06/2011 22:34

'We will probably 'downsize' when they have flown the nest in order to release some equity to enable them to buy a flat or something as well.'

I'm crying a river . . .

And your husband sounds a right wanker if he considers it all 'his' money. A divorce court or probate would beg to differ if you split or he dropped dead.

mdowdall · 17/06/2011 22:34

The average public sector worker was paid £23,660 a year, compared with private sector workers who were paid £21,528 a year, in the three months to the end of November 2010 (source Office for National Statistics).

itisnearlysummer · 17/06/2011 22:34

Well I can only speak for my DH - my job only really exists in the public sector.

He earns £33k.

In the private sector his peers earn around £45k+.

Of course not everyone in the private sector is a banker and I know that not everyone earns megabucks

trixymalixy · 17/06/2011 22:35

Public sector workers get loads of perks!! The only people I knew that got full pay for 6 months on mat leave are public sector workers. They got their Christmas party paid for and numerous jollys as well.

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