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.

Most working age people can work more hours or look for a second job.

I’m so sick of people saying this or that people can ‘get a better paid job’. People on minimum wage aren’t doing those jobs for shits and giggles it’s because they’re unable to apply for better paid work, usually because they lack the qualifications or work experience. And thank goodness. We need people to work minimum wage jobs, as the pandemic showed us. They quite literally keep the country running.

A huge number of working age people have children of an age that they can’t be left unsupervised while they work an 8 hour shift or an evening. What do you suggest? Paid childcare, so it cancels out anything they earn? Never seeing their children because they work 45+ hour weeks then weekends on top?

Nobody has the time for a second job.

It should be means tested. I look at my parents (80 and 85) and financially, they don't need it, they don't consider £300 much money at all. Their joint income per year is a lot of money and would spend that in a day without thinking, if mother wanted some jewellery or something for the house.

Fair play to them for having cracking occupational pensions and also investing wisely, but they shouldn't be given the money "just because they are old".

ita simply unfair that there is no means testing for pensioner benefits when there are for those for working age people. Pensioners also pay less tax than working age people

the pension you receive is based on what you have paid in taxes over many years of working so of course it shouldn’t be means tested.
Pension credits ARE means tested in the same way working credits are.

Child benefit is means-tested. I don't get it any for my 3 children. I'm not complaining, but I understand where op is coming from. My parents use their fuel allowance towards a cruise. With a country that is broke, some things should be means-tested so more can be directed at those that need it (and I realise me and my family would miss out under this).

@TheThinkingGoblin

Do you generally find that your abrasive rude style is persuasive and encourage people to consider your point of view? Or do you just enjoy it?

I agree with you it needs to be means tested. My own grandparents used to say this too as they openly admitted they had too much money and didn’t need the government help for things like winter fuel allowance etc.

Tory bribe for pensioners, nothing new.

The fact the Tories are absolutely fucking over working age people is quite new, working age people are extremely stretched now

It isn't allowed. @GCAcademic is confused.

The winter fuel allowance is paid per person not per property.

The £400 fuel discount on bills that all of us received had a loophole that meant if you had a second home you got the deduction of the fuel bills for that as well as your main home. Nothing to do with being a pensioner.

But hey, don't let facts get in the way of a good old pensioner bash.

Should be means tested. That's fair then. This blanket giving everyone £300 is a total waste of tax payers money. Happy for poorer pensioners to get it.

And these "millionaire" pensioners have paid into the system all of their lives to have a pension when they retire.

Also as others have said they may be asset rich and cash poor, they will have most likely bought properties when they were a lot cheaper and 3 times a single working wage and now due to house price inflation find themselves through no fault of their own having an expensive asset.

Means testing for the £300 for each pensioner would actually cost more. They will have done a cost analysis and it will cost more for these yearly one off payments than child benefit and UC etc...... as they are regular monthly or weekly payments. Not a yearly one off.

Yep. What benefits even are there to working now? Feels like there aren’t any. Skint, tired, being told you’re ‘lucky’ by everyone else

That’s nice but why, when we have a government deficit (we are borrowing money to pay for things like pensioner benefits) are the uk government giving out universal payments to people who don’t need them? The nhs is on its knees, schools are broke and kids are living in poverty. Yet government resources are directed into giving universal payments to pensioners, a fifth of whom are millionaires. Something wrong there imo

Every single one of these applies to those with disabilities (or caring for those with them).

And yet they’re expected to live on max of £129 per week (ESA) or £76 per week (carers allowance). How do they manage? I honestly have no idea.

It’s not a race to the bottom but it’s clear that there is only one kind of poverty that matters in this country.

It might cost more to implement a means testing system for ONLY this benefit but if you implemented it to all benefits people receive it would be money well spent. Why do very wealthy pensioners get a pension at all? It's ridiculous. We don't get child benefit because we earn too much money, that's fine, I support that because it means there is more money to support people who need it more. Your point about not paying tax doesn't make sense - no one is suggesting you should be getting FEWER benefits than working age people (which might justify not paying tax, under your odd suggestion) we are merely suggesting you shouldn't get extra benefits, which relate to being a pensioner, if you are similarly well off than a working age person. Also, while we are on the subject of tax, you might pay tax when you get your state pension but you won't pay NI (which is a decent chunk in % terms up to the high rate tax band).

What amazes me is the mental gymastics people do to justify "they all deserve it".

Lack of knowledge and education is a likely driver of this, alongst with a good dose of self-entitlement. It seems to be downright pervasive in the UK amongst the older demographic.

now due to house price inflation find themselves through no fault of their own having an expensive asset.

Sell it then? Nobody should be getting freebie money from less well off taxpayers while sitting on a £600k house

Most working age people can work more hours or look for a second job.

This is always such a shitty thing to say. I can't imagine saying that to someone who was struggling.

"Why don't you just earn more?"

"Oh gosh! What a good idea, it hadn't even occurred to me, thanks!"

Par for the course.

I hope they all REALLY enjoy spending it, even more so knowing that ForbiddenFruit is wishing them well! What a saddo post, bitter or what? And of course the OP is fully prepared to back up her comments with statistics showing how wealthy 'a lot' of pensioners are. Oh, I forgot.....ForbiddenFruit doesn't know any poor pensioners.......well, that's the 'reliable' statistics then.... 😆

Let's just abolish everything except the very basic state pension. I am sure you will all be glad of this when you are old.

Also as others have said they may be asset rich and cash poor, they will have most likely bought properties when they were a lot cheaper and 3 times a single working wage and now due to house price inflation find themselves through no fault of their own having an expensive asset.

Through no fault of their own is such a weird way to phrase it when you're talking about the luck of having an asset worth a lot of money.

I work in the City in a globally competitive fielf and have precisely zero time for people who are not competent in what they are arguing about.

I prefer the American way of doing things. No BS.

That sum it up for you?

Get educated and then we can have a proper conversation.

Until then, don't expect me to enable your lack of knowledge.

Yes I've read the thread - but I am answering the OP's question........

No private pension because he was self employed and we were very poor. Hand to mouth poor. A lot of people are, shockingly, although you wouldn't think it with threads like this.

MN at its finest

How incredibly short sighted to think you don’t benefit from these things. Do you never ever benefit from the services of people that have received a state funded education and do you not feel safer living in a society where dangerous criminals are kept off our streets? Taxes are generally used for either services that benefit us all or support for the most vulnerable in society. £300 for wealthy pensioners falls into neither of these catagories.

Not necessarily. Certainly contributions the existing pensioners made wouldn’t go anywhere near paying for their pensions. Also yes, many of these people did make a fortune out of rising house prices- entirely unearned money. If they’re assets rich they can sell that asset or do equity release.

Means testing would not cost more- they could add it onto pension credit for example. There are many low cost or no cost ways to means test.