To worry that the conservatives are going to target pensioners next

[Sjdorset]

Have anyone else noticed the anti pensioner stuff out this week? Firstly about getting rid of the essential tripple lock (2.5% so not a huge increase) and the talk that pensioners are supposedly getting more than working age people (why shouldn't they after all they have worked their entire life and don't have options available to increase their earnings).

I'm worried they maybe next on the target list, quite frankly I think this is a worrying trend building up.

www.express.co.uk/finance/retirement/445956/Fears-for-pensions-as-government-s-crucial-triple-lock-guarantee-faces-axe

today's pensioners are generally from the "housewife" (woman not working after marriage) generation so huge numbers of them haven't paid any/ little tax. I think you are a little out of date. My mother and mother in law were of that generation. Most of my contemporaries (early 60s) did work, many of us full time. Some of us managed some years out of work while we had children (in my case 8 years) but had plenty of time to work afterwards.

This is of course, why auto enrolment was brought in, the state pension will be phased out, its just a matter of 'when' not 'if'.

I also have a rather cynical opinion that the government plan to seize and plunder borrow from the private pensions pot later on...

Of course they are going to hit private pensions. It's one of the reasons I have avoided returning to the UK. I'm quite happy with my US pension. It's a fair system and while I don't expect a generous payout of social security I do expect that my 401k will be enough of I can continue working until I am 70.

My DH on the other hand has zero intention to work until he is 70. He expects to stop working at 65. While it is possible for him to do this I don't think its a healthy approach. I would like him to continue working in some capacity until he is 70. Our life expectancy is so much longer now. I think 15-20 years in retirement is plenty.

It really does depend on the type of work though, doesn't it Want2bSupermum?

I don't see how there are that many jobs that are impossible for someone in their late 60s to do. Obviously the role of an infantry soilder isn't going to work but there are plenty of jobs which someone in their late 60s can do. I see it all the time here in the US where people are working much longer. Our builder has a brickie who is 72. DH has a wonderful assistant who is 69 and he has said she can continue working for as long as she wants. No pressure on her to retire at all.

Who cares if they do? They've gone after anyone else reliable on the state in some way, why not pensioners? After all, we're all in this together aren't we?

Serves the silly buggers right for voting Tory

Serves the silly buggers right for voting Tory

Charming. Never voted Tory but the venom and ageism on this thread has certainly made me think.

It is sad to read threads that divide generations . More so these days .
I am a baby boomer . My DH a war baby . So we have children facing the appalling unfair future and it angers me also .
The winter fuel allowance must be means tested . Easily done by linking to pension credit details already held ,so presumably not much extra cost to DPS. Bus passes are a huge asset to the poorer able pensioner but could have a reasonable charge that could be used to give under 18s or those on benefits the same reduction. On reflection that is a must.

Don't believe that all of us oldies are living a life on cruises ignoring our children's future . Not me for sure .
Both DH and I have life limiting illness. These things happen as you age .
So I am unlikely to get my state pension . Hey ho . The govt moved the goal posts.

So yes to pensioners getting the sanctions along beside you .If you need pension credit then that to me is the baseline to work from .
But please mumsnetters don't think we are all rich . Ha ......wish we were .

Mythical plenty of pensioners have voted Tory thinking they would be safe and to hell with the young, the poor and the disabled, but they didn't care about that. Didn't they also think that after going after everyone else it was only a matter of time till the Tories went after them?

I don't really get all the 'they had children so they were working even when they weren't earning money' argument. Unless they had children and 18 and still had small children at 60 they weren't raising children the entire time. There was plenty of time they could have been working.

It's about time they felt some of the cuts. There are wealthy pensioners who have no need of winter fuel allowance and bus passes.

I think the elderly need to be taken care of and some of the comments on this thread are a rather sad reflection of how older people suffer from ageism.

Patrick Many women back then were married by 18 and the vast majority had started a family by the age of 21 or 22. Family sizes were much bigger so having 3 or 4 kids would see you out of the workplace for at least 20 years. The income earned from someone with no experience at the age of 40 is going to be minimal and I fully understand why so many women of that generation didn't go out to work once they finally had the time to do so.

Patrick, you're pushing at an open door. I know loads of comfortably-off pensioners who are actively embarrassed to be getting goodies over and above the basic state pension (which was the implicit "contract with the state" when they started paying tax/NHI 45+ years ago).

Time we had a knock the pensioners thread again I suppose. Must be all of two months since the last one.

I'm one of these selfish pensioners - in my 70s now. And I don't think pensioners should be exempt from the cuts. Mind you after 52 years full time work as well as raising a couple of kids, I did drop to part-time work at 70. Lazy, that's me. And so dilatory I wouldn't even know how to go about getting a bus pass. The fuel allowance goes to charity - how selfish. And blow me, I forgot to book my cruises this year. Seemed a bit over the top to have a holiday this year seeing as I had one three years ago. Could be something to do with us funding our children to get a house each….

When you are knocking these "silly buggers", spare a little thought for the times we were raised in - post-war austerity - real austerity such as food rationing, petrol rationing, not to mention little inconveniences such as walking several miles to school and back, polio epidemics in the summer, health and safety that cotton wools our youngsters conspicuous by its total absence.

My degree was done as an external degree in my spare time at evening school because the universities serving our privileged generation had room for just 8% of students. Didn't matter a bugger how clever you were.

As for such things as maternity leave - dream on. That was one of the things my generation fought like buggery for and never benefited from ourselves.

I am totally sympathetic to younger people's problems (wouldn't be spending thousands helping the children otherwise). I think it is very hard that they cannot get on the housing ladder and all the other difficulties they are suffering.

Again, pensioners should not be exempt from the cuts.

But I wish to God that sarky uncalled for vitriol that runs like poison through some of these threads would stop. It is fucking unnecessary and unjust.

Untitled arses are untitled arses and they come from all age groups.

As you can tell I am pretty at some of these posts.

grimbletart I agree.

I think the point is that most women of that generation would've had at least a couple of decades with no child rearing duties. Especially as the average family size was about 2.5, so those who were having 4 kids weren't typical. Certainly caring for children is hard work and important, but however we want to slice it, women who didn't work at all or barely would generally have had a couple of decades where there was no real impediment to them doing so. I'll argue that you're paying in when you're raising the next generation, less so when you're being a homemaker once they're grown up. It's not as if work was particularly difficult to come by for a lot of the working life of many of today's pensioners. There was an option for many women to pay in that they chose not to take, and they certainly weren't all doing charity work or caring on the side instead.

Ha ha. Untitled should entitled of course. I really mustn't rant - it screws up the spelling

lieselvontwat I may be untypical but we have a school reunion every few years and about half of my classmates attend. There isn't one among them who has not had a full-time career, and as I say, we are in our 70s.

I suggest all pensioners perks are got rid of - which would hopefully stop the sniping and venom
I personally would miss the winter fuel payment as it is a big help to single pensioners on about £12k - to restrict it to pension credit recipients would be very unfair as they already get full CTB, cold weather payments and discount on their utility bills and many pensioners are just above the PC level having paid into small personal pensions.
Also scrap the bus pass and just let people using the buses pay half price after the rush hour so the buses do get used and the services will remain - or have a senior buscard (like the senior railcard') to get discount offpeak.
And of course the Christmas box (still at £10 after decades) should go for everyone!

washed did you read my post ??
I have an income before tax of £12K - yes I pay income Tax
I also pay full council tax, TV licence, Utilities, Insurance, transport cost, food, clothes, replacement of household items, the odd weekend away

I can never understand how many of you cannot realise that just because one has no mortgage, the rest of the income is there to spend, spend,spend (I wish).
And I did say pensioner perks should go - or did you not read that. I would manage without the WFA but it would mean economising in other areas. I certainly don't waste it on a case of wine or use it to put £200 towards a luxury cruise.

And your hypothetical family on £12k would get tax credits, housing benefit, council tax benefit of course.

Never voted Conservative in my life!

I really don't understand the venom directed towards the elderly. It's vulgar and I please ask you to consider how you are presenting yourself. If it helps you to see what I read from your posts try to change the words pensioner or elderly to disabled person or even 'black person' and see how it sits on you.

I think an income of £12k a year for a couple is very low and it is right we provide assistance to households in this position because they won't be eligible for benefits directed towards those who are of working age. I wonder if there is a known benefit to the NHS for keeping homes of the elderly warm? I'm not able to find any evidence of the cost of the allowances exceeding the cost of care provided for those who need extra care because their home isn't warm. It would make sense that it would be cost effective.