Fuming that they are talking of taking away pensioner bus passes and the triple lock

[jdoe8]

I'm still 40 years before I will get these, but I think we need to fight to keep these for future generations.

For many people they will have left school at 16 and worked until they were 65. Now after all those years of paying their taxes they aren't getting much back so the very least we need to do is allow them to travel and guarantee that their income will rise every year.

Bus pass is only really valuable if you live in a big city (think London) as many areas have very few buses and so the bus pass in these areas is of minimal value /cost to the Govt.

Well, I live in a medium-sized town, and there's a bus every ten minutes from the end of my road, and between 9 and 4ish about 90% of the people on those buses are pensioners. The bus pass is especially useful in London and pretty useless in very rural places but there are plenty of places in between where it's a pretty big asset.

What we pay as taxes simply isn't enough to meet all government expenditure. Taxes would have to be hiked by a huge amount to bridge that gap.

We are the generation that doesn't elect governments who promise to increase taxes. So in effect we're saying that our kids can pay for our current expenditure. On that basis alone I think that we will get what we deserve when we're pensioners. Nothing at all.

Means testing is not just expensive to administer, it is also unfair. People who just spend, spend, spend get more that those who are responsible and save for their future.
So, no, leave the triple lock and the other so called benefits for pensioners. You will all get them in the end.
If anything end child benefit for more than 2 kids and end all benefits for all immigrants for the first 10 years they are here.

i wasn't necessarily suggesting people had to move from their homes to pay for things. some form of equity release scheme - but one that wasn't as bent as the ones in the news - would potentially help. then pensioners could decide if they wanted to fund their extra home help, or the family might decide to share this around themselves if they didn't want to take equity from the property and wanted to inherit instead. they could also pay for their own bus fares or the family might decide to give lifts instead.

this would enable property owning OAPs to pay for their own costs, rather than expecting me the taxpayer to.

rather than expecting me the taxpayer to. Well... erm... OK! That makes sense!

All the bashing of old people on this thread by sweeping nasty generalisations and straightforward prejudice is terrible.

So many of Maggie's and Tony's children - divide and rule - take a look at the real villains - they aren't a few pensioners on a cruise or a bus.

Have a word with yourselves, really.

It isn't fair that one sector cops it while another is protected. We're all in it together remember?

However we have to face the fact that austerity is a farce.

MrsGuy here's an article which answers your question (though I haven't checked the maths ) link

I am not pensioner bashing.

I do however bash the successive governments that have failed to make changes which are financially necessary in the long term but will be unpopular in the short term.

That's not just on pensions, it applies across the board.

It's all very well to complain about paying taxes for pensioners. What do you think they spent the last 40 years doing?

As for 'downsizing', there is still a little matter of stamp duty. If they don't get you one way, the catch you the other.

If you're 40 years off state pension, I doubt you'll get much of one the way things are going. We can't save and once I'm off benefits and the kids are in school, I expect we will both be working until we die. Really things like bus passes etc should at the very least be means tested, as there are plenty of pensioners with jobs and nice houses and private pensions who could afford the bus fare.

viques You do realise that pensioners with an occupational pension pay income tax on that pension?

I keep seeing this. OK, so you'll pay tax.
But you get an £11,00 tax free allowance like everyone else, right? So no tax payable there at all. And some pensioners will get an increased Personal Allowance and/or Marriage Allowance on top too.

If you have an income between £11,000 and £43,000 you'll pay 20% of that excess over the first £11k.

(But most people of pensionable age have significantly lower living costs than working age - mortgages paid off, no work commute/season ticket etc. OK your heating bill might be higher, but unlikely to be to the tune of hundreds/thousands of pounds it costs a lot of people just to get to work a year. You can also claim benefits such a council tax reductions if applicable, not to mention heating allowance, free prescriptions and various other freebies already mentioned)

But if your income is £43,000+ and you're moaning about having to pay HR tax, then, frankly, get a grip.

jaxhog - but thats one of the things i find a bit galling - many of them haven't paid any taxes because they haven't worked. And if they have its been a PT job with minimal stress/travelling/pay and therefore tax. Whilst i understand the argument that they weren't expected to work, if they are sitting on a load of cash it would be good for it to be released so they can pay for themselves. Otherwise they are expecting a younger generation who are probably working FT, bringing up kids and living in rented housing to pay for it

It isn't fair that one sector cops it while another is protected

How old are you? Lots of stuff isn't fair - this isn't where I'd start and it's hardly massive "protection"

Pensioners costs have gone up with the rest of us.

We're all in it together remember?

Well that was a soundbite from a now resigned politician whose party I didn't vote for and who is a total git so pardon me if I don't take that too seriously. If you really think that's true and you voted Tory, you voted for the triple lock etc.

As I said before... I really hope some of you lot grow up before you reach old age. It will give you time to acclimatise to your new station in life: Reviled by your kids and grandkids!

And don't kid yourselves on. No matter how much worse you foresee yourselves having it than the current crop of Golden Boomers, the next generations will see you as The Enemy Who Has Taken It All!

It's nothing new - she says having passed that stage and moved from communism to conservatism as her bank balance steadied at above 0

many of them haven't paid any taxes because they haven't worked

How many?

I think hating "others" seems to be the new narrative.

It really suits politicians because it deflects attention from their failings.

Just get people hating the old, young, boomers, benefit claimants - whatever, and off you go.

It's very sad.

I just don't see how "retirement" is going to work, with fewer people able to buy homes the care home bill will be huge, the housing benefit bill will be huge. That's before a bus pass has been given.
It's a ticking time bomb.

Ooh! It'th not FAIR

''taking from the system'' Seriously?

1. They paid for the system.
2. Whats the point of the system then?

I dont want to live in an American style culture where people can die or be bankrupted by medical bills, where homelessness is accepted as normal, where people are blamed for being less well off and where life is grim for anyone other than the wealthy.

Too true wasonthelist

The greater sadness is that whilst the distraction works nobody is doing anything that might make a difference!

Nor do we look/listen very hard when it comes to information that sets policies... short termism will do bugger all to start putting some of the problems right!

I would far rather free bus passes go to a wider group of disabled people than to a group of people elligiable just because of their age. I find it awful that there are disabled people who are not classed as 'disabled enough' to get free bus passes but a perfectly fit, healthy, non disabled person may get a free bus pass just because of their age.

Many older people would still qualify for a free bus pass but that would be because they needed one.

Worth noting that I think eligibility of schemes like the blue badge scheme are far too medically model based and miss out lots of people with genuine disabilities so a broader definition would certainly be necessary but it would be a lot fairer than a system which misses out lots of deserving people but accounts for huge numbers of people age 60+ for no other reason but their age.

The easiest way to means test elderly benefits would be to link it to Pension Credit . A small sum if criteria are met and checked annually .
All the info of people receiving it will be already on database . The proof is there for need /financial hardship . Surely it could be matched up ?

DH and I don't have bus pass as more or less housebound . No pension for me . They changed the goalposts by 7 years . Too late for us to put plans in place . You just don't realise how quickly health problems can manifest when ageing and work becomes impossible .
We don't claim anything else .

What is happening to the generations behind us is truly shocking . What sort of work can people do into their seventies ? Some may but more will not . How can you save with childcare costs and housing /commute Etc ?
My heart truly goes out to you all struggling and worried .Renting with all the crap that goes with that . Then what happens when you are elderly ?
It is a complete farce .But the govt don't usually have much time in power so can put in action any austerity measures ...leave the mess created to next party leader . And so it goes on and on . Does any politician have integrity and a care and vision for your futures . Think sadly not .

Sorry for rant .Am a babyboomer and yes we did have it easier . But not all of us are comfortable at all money wise . Life sure does throw some curveballs that you didn't see coming .
So yes from me to means test the bus pass,winter fuel allowance . Those who need it are already on pension credit with all data recorded already .

And, by the way, I don't think our kids will see us the way we see current baby boomers. Our kids are a lost generation - much like the ones between 1918-1930. They will struggle even more than we do, and that disgusts me. I do not want to live in a world where my kids will have it even harder than I have.