To think the old style pensions should be capped.

[Blindering]

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?

@Wooollffff

I’m in the UK civil service. During my interview I was told that the pay was lower than I was getting in the private sector but the pension was effectively deferred pay.

Of course successive Governments have pulled the rug from under us and it’s worth a lot less.

OP. It’s none of your business anyway.

I worked in private sector. We were led to understand we would have higher salaries, but lower pension. And then the salaries were frozen, or we were made redundant. I think it's become harder for private and public sector employees

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

''The schemes the previous generation had set up are not sustainable for future generations. So they’ve been changed. Doesn’t mean we rob the previous generation of what they worked for all their lives. That they were given a more generous deal than us is just how it goes.''

And so alternatively we rob the younger generations so they can sit on over inflated pensions?

Never have I read an OP oozing with so much envy and jealousy. You need to mind your own business.

@NashvilleQueen

It's absolutely none of your business.

This

The later you draw your pension the bigger it is when you do.

He carried in laying and working into his 70s.

And how do you know that some of his pension isn’t a private pension that he paid into?

GF post.

UK stats - albeit a few years old - suggest about 75% of over 65s own outright, about 5% have a mortgage - and the other 20% are renting.

Pensions have undoubtedly worsened for current workers compared to those who are now retired or who have benefits accrued under older schemes. The classic old DB schemes are basically unaffordable now without enormous contributions and the writing has been on the wall for that for a very long time. But you can't take away the pension which people were guaranteed and which they have already accrued - that's kind of the point of defined benefit schemes, the risks are with the scheme and the sponsor not the individual.

YABU
Governments should not change pension rules resulting in a lower pension for anyone already retired or less than twenty years to retirement. This is because the people have no way to then work or save to make up the shortfall between what they were promised and what the government now thinks it can afford.

I agree to that the race to the bottom isn’t something to be encouraged. State pension in the U.K. should be going up, not down.

I also think that £500/week is a low total pension amount to cover all your costs. He may not have mortgage, but he still has income tax, Council tax, utility bills, transport, any private healthcare, all DIY costs, probably cleaning costs....as you age you need more and more help for just day to day things that we young people do ourselves without a second thought. But there comes a time where you are too old for DIY, gardening/landscaping, and deep cleaning.

''Never have I read an OP oozing with so much envy and jealousy. You need to mind your own business.''

ok so I will wait until the next ''I / my adult son can't afford a house despite working full time with a phd thread'' or the ''pension age is too high'', ''landlords buying all the houses'' threads to start and I will link this thread on all those who say things should stay as they are.

@Blindering

''The schemes the previous generation had set up are not sustainable for future generations. So they’ve been changed. Doesn’t mean we rob the previous generation of what they worked for all their lives. That they were given a more generous deal than us is just how it goes.''

And so alternatively we rob the younger generations so they can sit on over inflated pensions?

No. You are either not listening, or fundamentally misunderstanding.

No one is ‘robbing’ us. We haven’t reached retirement age yet - there’s nothing to rob, we still have choices. Continue to pay in at current terms - even if they’re not as favourable as previous iterations of the scheme- or opt out and amass savings for retirement another way.

Those already retired do not have options. To retrospectively change their terms, give them less or means-test their entitlement to the money they paid in over their working lives would be robbing them. As they do not have a choice to opt out or earn more or retire later. They made their decisions based on the scheme they were offered.

No one is robbing the younger generations to pay for the already-retired.

You might get old yourself, and you can have a fine old time with a load of money when you are an oldie, so you can look forward to this !

'' He may not have mortgage, but he still has income tax, Council tax, utility bills, transport, any private healthcare, all DIY costs, probably cleaning costs....''

no council tax in Ireland, healthcare all free for him, he cleans himself so far since his retirement nearly 15 years ago. He lives in city centre like myself and rarely travels or ventures too far that he needs transport.

He paid into his pension. There was a contract between him and the college/government that he would receive a certain amount when he retired. Can you not see that you can't go changing contracts unilaterally? Whatever about the agreements in place with new entrants, it CANNOT be applied retrospectively.

My Dad worked for the council back in the 90s. The pay was fairly low and my parents struggled financially sometimes. His pension is relatively high in comparison to that so I do think it makes more sense to pay a bit higher when younger and you have dependents. But I don't think people who were paid low salaries in anticipation of an ok pension should be made to suffer so they never feel comfortable!! (My dad's pension is still not 24k per year tho)

Also pensioners have often care needs that are not met by the NHS

@Blindering

''Benefits to pensioners are means tested.''

clearly not if he owns a property in Dublin worth millions amongst other assets and still received a 150k pay off at the end along with a golden plated 2500 euro a month. It's just madness.

You think private pensions are state benefits 😂

I love a good reach on MN

@Blindering

'' He may not have mortgage, but he still has income tax, Council tax, utility bills, transport, any private healthcare, all DIY costs, probably cleaning costs....''

no council tax in Ireland, healthcare all free for him, he cleans himself so far since his retirement nearly 15 years ago. He lives in city centre like myself and rarely travels or ventures too far that he needs transport.

And when he goes into a care home he'll be paying for it himself. Unlike those selfish fuckers who made no pension provision and have their care costs paid for by the tax payer (which includes your neighbour).

ok so I will wait until the next ''I / my adult son can't afford a house despite working full time with a phd thread'' or the ''pension age is too high'', ''landlords buying all the houses'' threads to start and I will link this thread on all those who say things should stay as they are.

Not being able to afford a house isn’t because pensioners are being paid according to the schemes they signed up for.

Landlords buying all the houses isn’t anything to do with pensions.

The pension age being ‘too high’ is nothing to do with currently retired pensioners - what do you propose, that we ‘un-retire’ some of them to make it fairer?

You think private pensions are state benefits 😂

I know right!

@1forAll74

You might get old yourself, and you can have a fine old time with a load of money when you are an oldie, so you can look forward to this !

No, we won't. Read the thread - the generation that benefitted from final salary pension has retired and living long lives, so we are paying for it with our increasingly shitty pension. No load of money for me when I retire.

I’ll have a good pension when I retire, I’m due to be mortage free in my forties and able to retire between 50-55 depending on whether or not I have a second child.

OP, do you understand that if I don’t pay into my pension I still get the money I would have paid in contributions. If you are choosing not to pay into a pension you are simply spending those contributions now rather than in retirement.

Agree, GF post, he may have a occupational pension and paid for this.
It really is none of your business, you sound very nosey, bitter, jealous and angry. Why should someone not have a good pension in their later years.
Get on with your own life, and stop being so begrudging of other people.

''No, we won't. Read the thread - the generation that benefitted from final salary pension has retired and living long lives, so we are paying for it with our increasingly shitty pension. No load of money for me when I retire.''

Head North I agree with you but people here are just labelling this another age bashing thread rather than looking at the facts or the points you and I are making.

Basically the TL:DR version of OP:

"my neighbour saved their entire life and now has lots of money. Waaah it's not fair he should have some of his savings removed."

All those pesky, filthy- rich, greedy pensioners that you're banging on about, OP, will be paying "whopper" ( your word) tax bills.
If indeed your musings are true.

Ageist, unpleasant claptrap.

so we are paying for it with our increasingly shitty pension

You’re not.