What are all pensioners getting another £300 this winter??

[F0RBIDDENFRUIT]

They are amongst the richest people in the country, yes there are poor pensioners but a lot of them are way richer than anyone else.

£300 more for energy, none of the old people I know need this, they all have more money than their children.

Just because they vote, that is the only reason they can be doing this.

She lives on £1200 per month and would freeze without the fuel allowance.

And my DM lives on £1000K a month. That includes some of my late DFs pension.

Agreed and I am a pensioner.

Also, the triple lock nonsence needs to stop. Unfortunately, there a too many selfish pensioners who think that they have "paid in all their lives" when most have taken out much more than they have ever paid in.

Anybody in the UK right now aged 60+ has no valid reason whatsoever for being classed as 'poor' and requiring any form of state welfare.

The opportunities available to this generation throughout their adult lives to give themselves financial security were more varied and widely available than any other generation before or after them.

Anybody of that generation who really is now living in "poverty" only have themselves to blame and they must have been feckless and irresponsible in the extreme to find themselves in this position.

Sounds like you are suggesting contributory lifetime accounts?

I mostly agree with this (as it is fair) but I would also expect howls of protest from the "I paid all my life Brigade" who want more out (vs they paid in).

It's not just the fuel allowance though. What about free prescriptions, free bus passes, etc? In fact, what about the state pension itself. OAPs with very high incomes (i.e. investment portfolios, gold plated pensions etc) simply don't need it at all. I don't think anyone is talking about means testing at low income levels. As I've said previously, I'd do it at the same £50k threshold as used for child benefits!

The richest ones will be paying a lot more than £300 in tax each year anyway, and for the poorest, it will mean the difference between being able to have the heating on in winter or dying of cold in a freezing home.

I don't begrudge that.

Because our government couldn't run a bath, much less a country.

Why would I accept money from people who abused me in childhood? Bizarre. But hey you do you.

When us oldies get cold, blood gets thicker and we have heart attacks.

yanbu
it should be means tested

Trouble is we've had contributory state pension schemes in the form of contracting out, SERPS and S2P, which took a great deal of public/taxpayer money to set up, only for the politicians to scrap those schemes a few years later. Before those, I think there was also another from of earnings relate state pension, called something like "graduated" pension. The fact is that successive governments have screwed up pensions and it's the taxpayer facing the bill, and unfortunately, most of the burden is falling on workers, not wealthy pensioners!

No "woe is me" story but just the truth. Many many many pensioners have certainly not taken out more than they have put in.

Lots certainly worked far more years than most younger people will have when they retire. Lots taken far less time off to have children, not had anywhere near as much in child benefit.

All the benefits around now were not around when me and DH were younger let alone our parents.

I worked from 17 till 65 with no breaks whatsoever. DH started work at 17 and is still working at 67.

I would far rather money went to pensioners than the lazy who won't work but claim benefits.

So you think that people who save towards their old age should be punished for this?

My ils never saved into a private pension and just let the country pay for them when they retired. My own parents, on the other hand, really struggled financially when my siblings and I were young. However my df always put into his work pension, so they could have some extra money when they retired.

Unfortunately my df had a stroke when he was in his 50’s and couldn’t continue at his work. Because of his private pension, he wasn’t entitled to any dss help at all. All those years of doing without to pay into his pension, to find that it had been a complete waste of time. He couldn’t even enjoy his last few years, as he couldn’t afford to. He served his country through the 2nd World War, had had 1 day off sick in the 15 years prior to his stroke and didn’t even live long enough to get the State Pension!

The U.K. isn’t broke because of people like my df, but because of people who don’t want to work and live on benefits and those like my ils, who just thought (in their own words) “no point in saving, we might as well spend all our money, because if we do the country will bail us out.”

Whilst I agree, you can say the same for every government for the past few decades. We're being governed by incompetents - that's why so much is going wrong. The failures/mistakes of past governments usually take a fair amount of time to manifest themselves.

We love giving money away in this country. No wonder so many asylum seekers rock up on our shores.

Yes, a lot of people forget that it was May who wanted to introduce a lot of the reforms people are asking for (stop to the triple lock/means testing the £300 etc) and it was Jeremy Corbyn and a hell of a lot of posts on here who had been anti-tory all during the election calling it cruel.

People have short memories when it comes to politics and just play the partisan role.

Come out of your ivory tower and have a look around. Have you seen how much state pension is? Most pensioners haven't paid into a private pension because they would have rather fed the kids then think about how they was going to get fed when they was older. Jealously really is an ugly trait.

Last time they spent it on a luxury holiday.

Must have been an amazing luxury holiday for £300.

My parents get it and donate it on to a charity that helps local people in poverty.
However I know many pensioners for whom this makes the difference for them deciding to put some heating on. Thing is as well, they wouldn't complain-simply sit at home in the cold with blankets round them, so it's not surprising people don't realise how much it's needed.

Again, absolute bullshit rubbish.

You certainly have NOT seen the evidence sent to me because apart from 1 letter I never received any notification that the age had been changed a second time.

So according to comments from this thread old people don’t deserve the following:-
The homes they’ve bought
The right to vote
The right to a state pension
The right to bus passes/warm homes payments
It is also all their fault for climate change and the economic state of the country
Remind me, weren’t a certain other minority demonised in exactly the same way 80 odd years ago?

Whilst I agree, trouble is that those who've never worked, or never paid NIC, or worked only part time, etc., so not built up any NIC credits for state benefits, will always get pension credits (or similar) plus help with housing costs, etc etc. No politician would ever suggest no benefits at all for OAPs - they have to live!

Trouble is that those who've made modest provisions for their own pensions are penalised because they don't get the pension credits, so just get state pension plus small private pension, which is often the same as what they'd have got if they hadn't paid into a private pension, so just what was the point? They may as well have just spent the money instead of paying into a private pension and at least had some enjoyment for it.

The whole thing is a mess. We desperately need some intelligent, decent politicians to start to deal with all the problems we're facing at the moment. The current main parties are both incompetent and incapable of dealing with the problems.

I agree that there is a sub-section of the pensioner population who never saved (by choice). I have never seen data to this effect though because it would obviously be very difficult to collect (most people would probably just lie if you did a govt survey).

I don't really have a "solution" for that one because unless they own their house (asset) they will likely be completely dependent on the state until death. If they own their asset, they would need to sell it for their social care.

Beyond that, hands would be tied. I do agree that it is unfair to those that worked and saved though.

Thats actually 100% because of Brexit.

While a member of the EU, those same folks would get shipped back out to the country they entered in.

Its another huge own goal by the Tories and their supporters.

Yes we particularly seem to love giving to the lazy workshy who can't be bothered to work but still have children.

In my street of 30 houses there are 2 couples who have children and don't work because they don't want to. One have 2 children and one have FOUR!

The ones with 4 also have 2 dogs, 2 cats and run 3 vehicles. They get help with so many different things like water and broadband. The money they were given last year to help with the cost of living was ridiculous. They are both perfectly capable of working and yet neither have worked for over 8 years.

Again?

1. Many pensioners are living very close to the poverty line

1. As has been explained countless times it given to all pensioners be ause that is cheaper than means testing, which tells you how expensive it is to administer any scheme

So how about you set aside your innate ageism and just get your head around the fact that the majority of pensioners need the payment.