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.

@WinTheNight. You're saying as a higher earner you won't be impacted. So how much do you think you'd need to pay to be impacted. And how much would you be willing to pay to support social care.

Paying for your own care is one thing but something needs to be done about the cost of that care. A friend has a family member in a relatively low level care home paying £900 per week!! How the hell does it cost that much for one person?

@BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand. But you weren't talking about govt policy, you were talking about your own, carefully laid plans for your future. I'm just saying that those plans that you make when you're younger, don't always seem sensible when you're older. Age changes your thinking. The govt can't change that.

I can’t understand why everyone is just saying this only benefits the Rich? They still have inheritance tax to pay for a start.

My uncle worked all his life and was in the forces . He than ran his own company and employed people .

He paid taxes and national insurance on all his earnings all his life and owned a modest house with a small mortgage when both he and his wife fell ill and had to go into a care home . £7000 per month each in a council care home and then to add to the illness he had the stress of the family having to sell the house to pay for his care .

He did not resent using some of the money but he dearly wanted his hard work to result in an inheritance to a few family members and neighbours .

This does not just affect the rich . And from what I can see the higher earners will be paying more national insurance so personally I think it is a step in the right direction.

Sorry that should read £7000 for both of them in care home .

The very rich are not "high earners "
They have wealth , not income
They are unlikely to have employment that attracts NI

@Whycangirlsbesonasty

All of those pensioners that come on moaning about how they didn’t have a telly for years / slept on the floor for the first 10 years as they couldn’t afford a bed / 14% interest rates - you have been more than compensated by house price inflation.

Only the ones that can afford be to buy a house have.

Many people think that the country is made up of high earners and low earners. No, it's made up of wealthy landowners with/ or inherited wealth, and then earners who have to "follow" the rules. The working people are shafted. The super rich have all the machinations to avoid it.

I can’t understand why everyone is just saying this only benefits the Rich?

I’m not sure either - do people on this thread think a pensioner who owns a modest two bedroom home outright is “rich”?

@weresouth

What does it matter why the govt did it, if it was the right thing to do?!

I think it was a good thing, I just don't agree with the common narrative that they are the new benefit scroungers.

On furlough people hot paid 80% of their wages and saved on different costs.

There was a cap though & plenty would have seen a significant drop. Plus costs varied. The people who benefited from no rail travel, expensive lunches & saved £££ were not necessarily furloughed hospitality workers but people who had high paying jobs & simply worked from home.

Glad we agree furlough was a good thing. Obviously only being paid 80% was a drop but most will have had some savings from not going to work and people who fell under a certain amount could claim UC. My friends son is a chef, he got laid off with a newborn son so was fortunate enough to get a second job as a delivery driver. I accept not everyone could do that but there were opportunities available to people.

@Annoyedanddissapointed

And now the NI rise means any savings etc we have made will now be gone.

Isn't it something like £11 a month on about 25k?

Well this is similar to my income as a single parent - I will lose £100 in universal credit from next month and then after they will deduct this £11. The £11 is a lot to me - when I am on tight budget. In addition looking at statistic being poor and with all the mental, and physical health issues I am likely to suffer because on a low income I cannot afford dentist care for example, regular vitamins, and pay for regular medication it is unlikely I will reach the age to benefit from the payments I am forced to make but my contribution will go towards caring for those who are wealthier, statistically likely to have a healthier life, less stress, better mental health and consequently a longer and fuller life!

[quote Rosehip10]@threecee No, this is the issue, those of state pension age and above don't pay National Insurance (whatever their income), so any rise in NI has no impact on them.[/quote]
This new tax rise changes that. All workers, even those over pension age will be paying NI.

Passing money down the family later in life isn’t helpful or conducive to a well working society

It would be conducive to me.

@lllllllllll

No it isn't. There are various equity release options available.

@BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand I don’t know much about those - are they ethical and fair to those who take them out? Or do they come with a nasty catch?

They're a lot fairer than they used to be, but you need to do your homework. I helped some friends get theirs sorted - no children - assets in their property. The few thousand extra they draw each year enables them to more than scrape by.

The winter fuel allowance and free bus passes should be cut for pensioners above a certain income bracket.

I'm tired of the "You work all your life and pay in blah blah blah" - there isn't a pot to pay into government spending is ongoing.

The savings made could be used to increase pension credit, and put back into social care.

I can guarantee when people of my generation retire (mid thirties) we will not be able to claim free bus passes etc - the population is ageing, we can't use state money to subsidise rich people just because they happen to be old.

@twinningatlife
"Problem is it's going to unfairly affect the "younger" working population who have already born the brunt of the covid crisis financially - we all knew there would be a long term price to pay but it needs to be across the board and crucially all age groups including pensioners who largely financially haven't been affected in the last 18 months the same way the tax paying working population has but also it needs to be means tested

No, they just died instead.

@Lunaduckdrop

18:56Badbadbunny

Lunaduckdrop

Yes, NI is a regressive tax because the threshold is so low. But people voted the Conservatives in. Conservatives will always shaft the low to middle income earners in favour of wealthier and older people who they perceive to be their voters. If you don't want this sort of measure, don't vote for them next time.

What would Labour have done? Considering the last time they were in power, Blair/Brown increased NIC twice, i.e. hitting mostly the low to middle earning workers!!

Who mentioned Labour? Not me. Blair wasn't that far from Thatcher anyway.

You were the one blaming the Conservatives, hence me asking what the only viable alternative, Labour, would do differently. Answers please!

This new tax rise changes that. All workers, even those over pension age will be paying NI.

@PlanDeRaccordement I could have misunderstood but I don’t think that’s right. They will (from April 2023) be paying just the 1.25% that makes up this new “levy”.

They could have set up an insurance scheme like they have in Germany and people who had assets to protect could use it rather than forcing young people to pay for wealthy pensioners now in the full knowledge that there will be nothing for the young people when they need care.

@Benjispruce5

Paying for your own care is one thing but something needs to be done about the cost of that care. A friend has a family member in a relatively low level care home paying £900 per week!! How the hell does it cost that much for one person?

Because it’s a profit making enterprise. The care workers will be paid peanuts, the company will be cashing it in

The very rich are not "high earners "
They have wealth , not income
They are unlikely to have employment that attracts NI

Exactly this.

We need more taxation on assets and large companies, not taxing income to pressure points which a population can only withstand to a certain degree.

Asset rich and tax shell schemes aren't affected by anything here.

Labour wouldn't have handed money over to their party donors.
Plus they would be completely torn apart if they were introducing this new NI hike.
I don't know how they would have handled the pandemic spending , but i would like to think it would have fairer somehow? Maybe included many who couldn't claim any benefits at all ?
We will never know though because they were not in charge last year.

[quote Millicentsparty]@twinningatlife
"Problem is it's going to unfairly affect the "younger" working population who have already born the brunt of the covid crisis financially - we all knew there would be a long term price to pay but it needs to be across the board and crucially all age groups including pensioners who largely financially haven't been affected in the last 18 months the same way the tax paying working population has but also it needs to be means tested

No, they just died instead.[/quote]
Wow all pensioners died in the last 18 months, goodness how on earth you made that leap.

I agree that the big companies should pay more taxes. Everyone says this, but it never happens.
Why?

Absolutely sickening. I hope all the NHS and council workers follow the example of care workers and leave in droves.