Gutted about NI rise

[CarryOnNurse20]

I know we need it and we have so much money to pay off. But we have been scrimping and saving after a hard couple of years. Every penny is accounted for from pay day to pay day. I’m a nurse and my pay has been capped/below inflation my whole career. And now the NI rise means any savings etc we have made will now be gone. I’m gutted.

a wealthy person with cancer gets free treatment, a person with dementia doesn't.

That’s because there is no treatment for dementia. It’s a terminal disease.

@Peregrina, the UK was the "sick man of Europe" in the 1970s. I studied for my A levels by candlelight, because of the first oil crisis and the ensuing winter of discontent (1973/4). I don't think we are the "sick man" right now. Unemployment, especially youth unemployment across most of the EU is far higher, and our NMW is among the highest. Last time I looked we were still clinging on to the position of world's 5 largest economy.

I still agree that well-to-do pensioners in need of care should self-fund, as my DMIL does. But in recognition of her doing so, and paying £1k per week for the privilege, it's only fair that she should pick the care home. If she were unable to exercise that choice, then it would be the choice of the LA, and she would have preferred to toss herself from Beachy Head...... except someone would have had to help her to the cliff-edge -- thus becoming complicit in assisted death.

@thegcatsmother

Realyorkshiretea I stayed at home for a year because I didn't want to catch Covid, not to protect anyone else. Had the Tories been really mean, they would have encouraged the elderly to mingle with others and then die of Covid to deal with the pension and social care issues. Perhaps you would have approved of that?

They would never have done that because they need to keep their voting base alive

Homes as assets to boost income & pensions is what's caused some of this problem as kids need inheritance to get on the ladder & interest rates are kept low because otherwise the market collapses but then no one can make money saving so they turn to property & it's a vicious cycle.

Tell the owners of the castles and the country retreats that their houses are not assets. When did the royal family last sell a house to fund their care?

@Feelingoktoday

Tell the owners of the castles and the country retreats that their houses are not assets. When did the royal family last sell a house to fund their care?

Err, never ?

I think that all of us pensioners should probably just shuffle off, and leave the world to the young ones who don’t seem to think we’re worth anything, and from what I’m reading here I don’t think I want any of them looking after me in a care home.

Said as someone who worked, and paid tax and NI from aged 18 - 60 as a hands on nurse, not university trained, just good old State Registered Nurse training, where we worked and got our hands dirty 45 hours a week on the wards, more if needed, and studied for exams in our “free time”. I now volunteer, I’ve volunteered for Covid, I volunteer in a local arts trust.

My NHS pension was a mere £1000 a month until a month ago, thanks to working part time on nights for 10 years to work around childcare, and then shifts and weekends of my ex husband’s job. When I went back full time, I still worked one night a week to top up our salaries. Our mortgage interest rates were over 15% at one point. Having just received my state pension aged 66, a majestic £156.74 a week, my NHS pension has been taxed over £100 a month.

Presumably, according to mumsnet wisdom, I should have put the children into non existent wrap around childcare, arranged childcare from my mum (dead) or MIL (6000 miles away) or dragged my Junior doctor husband home mid operation.

The Tory government are enjoying this “divide and conquer” game, setting the young against the old, it suits them to play us off against each other.

Health and Social care needs sorting out, and I’m very happy to pay my share, but I’m not sure that chucking money at private care companies (probably big Tory mates) is the answer. Nationalise care, much more cost effective and (hopefully) better care.

Be careful what you wish for, you’ll all be old one day.

@Feelingoktoday

Tell the owners of the castles and the country retreats that their houses are not assets. When did the royal family last sell a house to fund their care?

The RF don’t tend to get the kind of illnesses that require that sort of care. The jammy devils aren’t prone to dementia.

I think it should be higher but from age 35 onwards

@thegcatsmother

Realyorkshiretea I stayed at home for a year because I didn't want to catch Covid, not to protect anyone else. Had the Tories been really mean, they would have encouraged the elderly to mingle with others and then die of Covid to deal with the pension and social care issues. Perhaps you would have approved of that?

I think people on here would have approved of that because the overwhelming opinion seems to be that all pensioners vote Tory so their deaths would be welcome.

I do hope this will stop “normal” people voting Conservative. They always shaft these people

Too many don't see themselves as "normal" & aspire to more which means they don't vote for things they think may penalise them if they achieve these aspirations. The trouble is they make it harder for themselves.

Because it’s overwhelmingly the elderly that vote for the Tories. How many times?? They’re not blameless onlookers merely taking what they’re offered

@Realyorkshiretea You really have it in for older people don't you?

@lllllllllll very much the other way round. I wouldn’t vote for a government that treats elderly people as badly as the tories treat us. It’s cruel.

@Slingsanderrors I don't understand your point. Do you think younger generations are paying less tax & NI then you did? Do you think young people aren't nurses who work hard? do you think young people don't volunteer? do you think NHS staff now aren't facing similar pension shortfalls? Mortgage rates at 15% ignores cheaper house prices & better savings interest.

Be careful what you wish for, you’ll all be old one day.

This. I'm really quite staggered at how short-sighted and selfish some people are.

@Slingsanderrors
The Tory government are enjoying this “divide and conquer” game, setting the young against the old, it suits them to play us off against each other.

This doesn't make sense. Surely what the Tories, indeed any party wants, is for the entire to be happy with the govt. There really aren't mass conspiracies going on...except in a paranoid mind.

Millicentsparty Quite. I hope when I get my pensions ds isn't waiting to bump me off.

@Millicentsparty

If my mum had a physical illness, she'd have all her medication paid for and community nurses coming round to her house. All paid for by the NHS. But because she has a cognitive illness, she is entitled to nothing. How is that fair? My mum isn't poor. She has enough money to cover her day to day living and some savings. I have no objection to her contributing to her own care. But the system is not equitable in that care. On top of that the council provides no care system that she can access, even to self fund. It's a nightmare ringing round to organise everything. How on earth are elderly people supposed to be able to navigate through all this without help? The whole system needs overhauling and it needs money to do it. People paying in now will reap the benefits in the future.

@Millicentsparty but it isn't just people with cognitive decline that are expected to pay or contribute for home care. There are many people who have no cognitive issues at all only older age means they need home help/carers for cleaning/shopping/personal care/meals/medication management... all comes under the social umbrella.

@Millicentsparty not at all, I would just like it if they stopped voting in governments that neglect the poor and disabled. Is that wrong of me?

Be careful what you wish for, you’ll all be old one day.

I think the issue is the younger working population are fully aware they will get old one day. They're just aware it's going to be shit for them.

@Slingsanderrors

I think that all of us pensioners should probably just shuffle off, and leave the world to the young ones who don’t seem to think we’re worth anything, and from what I’m reading here I don’t think I want any of them looking after me in a care home.

Said as someone who worked, and paid tax and NI from aged 18 - 60 as a hands on nurse, not university trained, just good old State Registered Nurse training, where we worked and got our hands dirty 45 hours a week on the wards, more if needed, and studied for exams in our “free time”. I now volunteer, I’ve volunteered for Covid, I volunteer in a local arts trust.

My NHS pension was a mere £1000 a month until a month ago, thanks to working part time on nights for 10 years to work around childcare, and then shifts and weekends of my ex husband’s job. When I went back full time, I still worked one night a week to top up our salaries. Our mortgage interest rates were over 15% at one point. Having just received my state pension aged 66, a majestic £156.74 a week, my NHS pension has been taxed over £100 a month.

Presumably, according to mumsnet wisdom, I should have put the children into non existent wrap around childcare, arranged childcare from my mum (dead) or MIL (6000 miles away) or dragged my Junior doctor husband home mid operation.

The Tory government are enjoying this “divide and conquer” game, setting the young against the old, it suits them to play us off against each other.

Health and Social care needs sorting out, and I’m very happy to pay my share, but I’m not sure that chucking money at private care companies (probably big Tory mates) is the answer. Nationalise care, much more cost effective and (hopefully) better care.

Be careful what you wish for, you’ll all be old one day.

You've got an income of £20k pa, on which you pay normal income tax (but obvs not NI). I'm assuming your mortgage is paid off, and you obviously don't have dependent children any more. If you are still with your DH, your household income will be much higher due to his pension too.

I fully support your right to a decent pension and healthcare etc. in older age (and am happy to pay income tax to fund this), but surely you can see that an NI rise that doesn't affect you, but will affect working age people on a lower income than you, isn't the fairest way to do this?

NI was the worst and unfairest method to use to raise this money.

@lllllllllll very much the other way round.

Eh? I'm very happy to pay more tax to help older people get the better social care they deserve and to improve the NHS. Are you?

Weresouth The 15% mortgage rates precluded being able to save. You paid the mortgage and the bills and hoped to have enough to get through the rest of the month without going too much into the red.

People who are anti this tax are not acknowledging that it will pay for those with disabilities to receive better care either.

Will it? Because I’ve not seen much about improving care in this proposal. The focus has been on the financial cap.

The 15% mortgage rates precluded being able to save

They also RAPIDLY inflated away the mortgage debt.