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.

I think the posts like this reveal how predominantly middle class the MN demographic is - so many people on here only seem to know wealthy older people so think its the norm.

I agree, all these threads do is shitstir (to be blunt) and I notice that ForbiddenFruit has buggered off and is probably gleefully watching from a distance.

I can't help but wonder if these people are from Tory HQ trying to get a feel for the mood. Some of the bitterness and jealousy that comes out in these threads is amazing.

OK, then, you are going to means test, give us the details.

OP YANBU. People can criticise child benefits without getting accused of hating all children, but suggest any minor reform like a £300 handout being means-tested and there are shrieks of ageism. I love my Dad. He does not need the winter fuel payment but his young grandkids are very much living in poverty.

For example, I suggest linking the state pension to public sector pay. Teachers, doctors, nurses are all at least as deserving and this would surely be fair that changes in pay reflect the cost of living to all. But I expect that suggesting pensioners get the same increase as a teacher would be met with howls of outrage and claims that I am ageist. Why? Those in work with young families are much more likely to be in poverty.

Has it occurred to any of you, that many of us pensioners were struggling when we were young parents too?

It couldn’t have been very luxurious. The foodbank got ours. I was delighted to put the money to better use than the government would.

I'd expand entitlement to pension credit and uplift it a bit. Too few people get it IMO.

It isn't right that wealthy pensioners get additional funds.
It also isn't right that too many pensioners are in poverty.

There's still the issue some don't claim all they are entitled to but that does have an individual responsibility aspect, can be addressed through targeted outreach (never get everyone though).

Meanwhile I see my hardworking nhs colleagues of all ages struggle to pay their bills and their cars repairs needed for their community visits. Why on earth is my millionaire great aunt getting money over them?

Look I broadly agree benefits and tax in this country should be overhauled but, if the £300 was taken from every pensioner who is deemed to not need it, do you think this government would give every NHS worker a £300 bonus? They wouldn’t. Your rich Aunt is not the enemy of your NHS colleagues. The government is. But making sure everyone is at each others throats certainly benefits them. Divide and conquer.

Well said, but the obnoxious ‘anti-pensioner’ brigade wouldn’t like that would they!

What a moronic post.

What are you an expert in? (That sounds rude typed on screen but it is a genuine question).

Didn't Greece used to have mad retirement policies making it possible to retire very early? I don't think its financial downfall was caused by £2bn per year being paid to help pensioners pay their fuel bills,

It’s also useful to know that the state pension is now £11k per year, not £8k as misreported above. This is due to the triple-lock diverting proportionately more money to pensions each year, so that other areas of public expenditure need to be held down or cut to fund above inflation rises.

There was a justification for the triple-lock when the state pension was low, but it has risen rapidly and is simply unjustified and unsustainable.

Well, yes, I'm getting mine, and very useful it is.👍

The poorest are also getting another Autunm handout, so why begrudge pensioners?

This urban myth of all boomers/pensioners sitting about, counting their money, is a bit tedious now,🙄

To be fair, I think that's the whole point of the thread. People of pension age and beyond are certainly not one homogeneous group, yet the policy being discussed acts as though they are. Some older people have absolutely no need of this money. Others due to substandard housing and health needs may need much more. Then there are the other vulnerable and disadvantaged people in society also in desperate need but who lose out because they're not of a certain age.
I'm strongly against this payment in its current form. Its nothing to do with ageism (I'm no spring chicken!) and everything to do with a criminal waste of money that could be redirected to those who really need it, whatever their age.
However I do agree that some of the comments venting frustration on the players rather than the game are inappropriate and offensive.

Could you live on £11k a year?

@Lifeomars I’m so sorry this thread has distressed you. There really are some narrow-minded and envious people around.

The lack of respect for other people is a bit sickening.

Some PPs had better hope they are old one day. The alternative is worse.

Those of us who were contracted out don't get 11,000. Do I get a reasonable amount from my public sector pension? Yes, I do, but I don't get the full state pension despite 40 years of contributions.

I’m getting pretty tired of having to clarify this pedantry - they spent it on the luxury holiday, yes. It went towards it. It didn’t cover the entire cost of it.

I didn’t think that needed to be clarified once, let alone multiple times.

I’m shocked by your bitter and entitled response! Pensioners generally are not the richest people in the country. You need to give your head a wobble!

It's all very well for the OP to declare that one in five pensioners is a millionaire. Looked at the other way up, that means 80% are not. Disproportionately, most of the poorest non-millionaires are likely to be single women, widows and women divorced before the rules on marital assets were reviewed. This group especially were among the poorest in society before the triple lock, and the 2.65% annual uplift was intended to avoid them falling behind average earnings in a long period when inflation was under control. Pensioners can't take industrial action for more money, so they use the ballot box as the means open to them. There's nothing preventing the less engaged younger cohorts from casting their votes, yet significantly fewer turn out to vote.

I haven't got kids. I am sick of paying for all of them to be educated until age 18. There should be IQ testing to weed out those who will only have the ability to work in a non-professional capacity or in the trades. They can leave school at 14 or 15 and get into the workforce, just like many of today's pensioners.

I agree that this money is much needed by many pensioners, but I don't understand the upset over people discussing 'pensioners' as a group.

Children, students, working people, pensioners - all get discussed as groups, because they are groups.

No, it doesn't. Apparantly, this generation of young parents are the only ones to have ever suffered financially. They invented poverty...🙄

I have little doubt that I make more money than most people on here so I am amused at the "they are jealous" comment.

The UK is broke. Thats the reality. No ifs, no buts, no maybes.

Do you know how much debt service (national debt) we payout each month now?

£8-10bn/month (Gilts are now at 4.8%)

Thats close £96 to £120 BILLION per year in interest alone.

The bungs that were given to the pensioners are now partly financed by borrowing at that 4.8%

So the country is effectively borrowing at 4.8% to then hand money to pensioners, while saddling the rest of the taxpayers with the bill.

So once again, do you understand this?

Even if it costs more to means test it than to just pay it out by the same mechanism as pension is paid?