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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think the old style pensions should be capped.

618 replies

Blindering · 25/08/2021 16:17

ok, I am in Ireland so unaware of how UK pensions function but my neighbour who worked as a college lecturer but retired in 2008 in his 70s gets 600 euro a week in pension, equivalent to 513 stg.
This is on top of a 150k pay off he got when he left the job which I believe all civil servants here were getting.

But aibu to think a bachelor living in a house with the mortgage long paid off has no need for over 500stg a week? Like what would one need the money for at that stage in life?

OP posts:
Original poster
Blindering · 27/08/2021 14:08

''I don't know about Ireland, but I believe care home costs in the UK average £700 a week, more for nursing homes. So let's hope he's putting a bit by at the moment, to cover his costs should he need to go into a care home.''

I don't get why care comes into every single financial thread on mn considering the stats show less than 10 percent go into care if you check but people here go on like it's guaranteed.

OP posts:
pointythings · 27/08/2021 14:17

Hello there, Blinering,

Any update on that question you were asked yesterday? Here it is again, so you don't have to scroll:

OP - say you save into an interest-bearing account, how would you feel if someone came along when you were about to retire and said there was more money in there than you needed, so decided to take some to distribute to others. Would you be happy with that?

DroopyClematis · 27/08/2021 14:36

@pointythings

Hello there, Blinering,

Any update on that question you were asked yesterday? Here it is again, so you don't have to scroll:

OP - say you save into an interest-bearing account, how would you feel if someone came along when you were about to retire and said there was more money in there than you needed, so decided to take some to distribute to others. Would you be happy with that?

It's like pulling teeth, isn't it? 🙄
pointythings · 27/08/2021 14:53

DroopyClematis it's like pulling teeth but without the Tooth Fairy.

Honestly, OP. It's not a difficult question, is it? I'm starting to feel a bit like Jeremy Paxman interviewing Michael Howard here.

knittingaddict · 27/08/2021 15:15

@Blindering

''I don't know about Ireland, but I believe care home costs in the UK average £700 a week, more for nursing homes. So let's hope he's putting a bit by at the moment, to cover his costs should he need to go into a care home.''

I don't get why care comes into every single financial thread on mn considering the stats show less than 10 percent go into care if you check but people here go on like it's guaranteed.

And many never go into a care home because they use their funds to buy in care that allows them to stay at home. Any more weak arguments to send our way?
UserNameNameNameUser · 27/08/2021 16:28

OP it’s been a long thread, so you may not have realised, but you missed a question ….

OP - say you save into an interest-bearing account, how would you feel if someone came along when you were about to retire and said there was more money in there than you needed, so decided to take some to distribute to others. Would you be happy with that?

Gem176 · 27/08/2021 16:33

Why would you want to fight for everyone to have less than for everyone to have more? Instead of capping old style pensions, why not fight for current pensions to be at the same level? It's not a race to the bottom.

And yes, yabu.

ajandjjmum · 27/08/2021 17:34

@3478fhd883 Thanks - but that isn't answering the question that I asked on Wednesday, and has been repeatedly asked since - although it remains unanswered.

Thanks for reminding the OP again @UserNameNameNameUser Grin

I'm boring myself now!

MurielSpriggs · 27/08/2021 19:37

[quote ajandjjmum]**@3478fhd883 Thanks - but that isn't answering the question that I asked on Wednesday, and has been repeatedly asked since - although it remains unanswered.

Thanks for reminding the OP again @UserNameNameNameUser Grin

I'm boring myself now![/quote]
But @3478fhd883's post does kind of declaw your question.

Either @Blindering says yes, she would be happy with what you propose, in which case I'm not sure where your line of questioning goes then.

Or she says she wouldn't be happy at all, in which case you say: "Aha, hypocrite!". At which point she could use any number of reasons to distinguish the two situations, that given by @3478fhd883 being the most obvious.

ajandjjmum · 27/08/2021 19:45

But surely the fact that you are given whatever the rules say at the time - bearing in mind that at least historically salaries were lower than in the commercial world, but the balance was an excellent pension - means that the entitlement (like the savings) would be yours, and no-one has the right to take it away.

There is a reason that the OP has ignored the question.

NoSquirrels · 27/08/2021 20:16

But @3478fhd883's post does kind of declaw your question.

Either @Blindering says yes, she would be happy with what you propose, in which case I'm not sure where your line of questioning goes then.

Or she says she wouldn't be happy at all, in which case you say: "Aha, hypocrite!". At which point she could use any number of reasons to distinguish the two situations, that given by @3478fhd883 being the most obvious.

The “savings account” is not the important principle in the question by ajandjj - it dues t matter if it’s a savings account or a pension (civil service or state or private). The “savings account” is just to illustrate in the simplest terms to this particular OP, who seems unwilling/unable to understand all the different nuances of pensions, that you can’t just change the rules retrospectively at retirement based on an arbitrary “you’ve got too much” measure.

MurielSpriggs · 27/08/2021 20:35

@NoSquirrels,

Fair enough, I haven't followed all the twists and turns of the thread. I do have sympathy with both sides of this. I don't think it's right to alter pension payments at the last minute. But I do think that more financial burden should be shifted away from the young and onto the elderly. The better way to do that would be by taxation and other fiscal measures.

3478fhd883 · 27/08/2021 20:36

But the government absolutely does change state pensions retroactively and seeing as the state is also the employer of civil servants then potentially they could also change the pensions of civil servants retroactively.

governments can do all sorts of things retroactively - apply special taxes, reduce pension benefits etc etc etc

the biggest difference is political will - not whether or not it's possible or not

Sunak reconsidering the tripple lock is precisely changing pensions retroactively.

StatisticallyChallenged · 27/08/2021 21:54

I think the state pension is a bit different TBH - it has always been a political football and subject to change (both small and large). You can get projections and so on but really there is no guarantee. You don't take a job and pay NI with someone saying "and when you retire you will get a pension equal to 1/60th of your final salary for every year you work" or whatever. It's simply you pay your NI whether you like it or not and in theory there will be a state pension but how much is very much subject to change.

I think the legal position would also be significantly different as the various public sector pension schemes formed part of an employment contract.

echt · 27/08/2021 22:24

[quote MurielSpriggs]@NoSquirrels,

Fair enough, I haven't followed all the twists and turns of the thread. I do have sympathy with both sides of this. I don't think it's right to alter pension payments at the last minute. But I do think that more financial burden should be shifted away from the young and onto the elderly. The better way to do that would be by taxation and other fiscal measures.[/quote]
Pensioners above a certain income level do pay tax.

MurielSpriggs · 27/08/2021 22:29

Pensioners above a certain income level do pay tax.

I know. Not enough!

echt · 27/08/2021 22:33

It's 20% at 12, 501 - 50,000, the same as those in work.

RockingMyFiftiesNot · 27/08/2021 22:39

@MurielSpriggs

Pensioners above a certain income level do pay tax.

I know. Not enough!

And have paid tax all their working lives
MurielSpriggs · 27/08/2021 22:52

@echt

It's 20% at 12, 501 - 50,000, the same as those in work.
I think the thread is about Ireland.
echt · 27/08/2021 22:59

I think the thread is about Ireland

None of the discussion has been. It's all been about the UK. But it's 20% there, if that helps.

MurielSpriggs · 27/08/2021 23:10

Thank you, every day is school day!

Polkadotties · 27/08/2021 23:47

As someone who works for a public sector pension scheme I do enjoy a good pension thread

milkyaqua · 27/08/2021 23:59

@Blindering

''Not everyone that age will have a paid off mortgage.''

eh I struggle to think of anybody in their mid 70s still paying a mortgage.

People in their mid-70s can be still paying or trying to pay rent.

Are you also concerned he might use up all the air you breathe? Your attitudes are deplorable.

borntobequiet · 28/08/2021 08:27

I’m actually astonished that anyone can think that pension income isn’t taxed, like any income. (But it’s true that if on the state pension you don’t pay NI, for obvious reasons. Perhaps they’ve muddled the two.)

IridescentPurple · 28/08/2021 08:42

the stats show less than 10 percent go into care if you check but people here go on like it's guaranteed

Many, many elderly people pay for care in their own home because they don't want to go into a care home. Two of my elderly relatives have carers come in twice daily. My own brother is not all that elderly but still needs to pay a carer to come in and help him with tasks that he finds too difficult. It's all pretty expensive, and it's fortunate that they can all just about afford it because the state wouldn't provide it.