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.

You are barking up the wrong tree here.

I have a very large DC pot because as a global professional in the life insurance and pensions field I know the demographic time bomb that the UK is facing which is also being exacerbated by its tax structure.

I am an "expert" when it comes to these things, and I rely on facts and 20+ years of knowledge regarding long-term costs.

I have been doing this for a VERY long time.

You rely on what...

Feelings?

And THAT is precisely the problem in the UK.

You have non-experts (like yourself) who think their "opinion" is worth more than the actual objective facts.

Facts you simply do not understand because you lack any kind of specialised knowledge.

I see this all the time in the UK and it is pervasive.

Public policy in the UK is a mess because of this.

And yet the government do apply rules to the fuel tax because Brits abroad no longer get it depending on the temperature of their home country.
The two most popular countries for retirees are France and Spain and they’re not eligible.

According to the Intergenerational Foundation ( and I assume they have a point to make ) there are over 3.5 million pensioner millionaires. That’s up 3 fold from 2012. As I say, presumably they have an agenda.

I think I agree with a previous poster that said they would rather all got it than someone missing out. But I do think it shouldn’t be beyond the wit of man to find a way we can means test these things, fairly. My PIL get this and do both people get it if you are both over 65? They definitely don’t need it.

It's cheaper for them to just pay everyone than to means test

People have tried to return it and their state pension if they have enough money and that's what they're told

Wonder if OP, with their whole six posts on MN, is going to bother to come back to enjoy the frothing.

Unfortunately all you ever get when proposing increased inheritance taxes on completely unearned wealth is :

"We paid in all our lives!"

"It's a tax on death""

"We are being taxed twice""

"We deserve to be able to leave it to our kids!"

etc etc etc while at the same time the country runs up massive debts.

In addition there are people outraged at having to sell their home to pay for care. But the bottom line is, if you don't pay for your care, someone else is going to have to. So who exactly is that ?

@TheThinkingGoblin

ok teach me, my 98 year old mother has a partpension from my late father and a state pension, she pays tax on everything above the current allowance of £12570 at 20%, exactly like everyone else who has income above that figure

so why exactly am I wrong in what I said

This! Loving your work, DinnaeFashYersel...

How the bloody hell do you work out that current pensioners have taken out more than they’ve put in? Please post links referencing your statements.

Let’s add up how much the future pensioners will take out in comparison shall we? Not forgetting there was no such thing as free nursery hours given to current pensioners children - hell, there were barely any nurseries let alone free hours. Then let’s consider maternity pay and the amount of maternity leave you can take shall we? Now tell me which generation is taking out more than they’re putting in.

Should I stop the comparison now or will I carry on? Wind your neck in OP, you ought to be embarrassed with your narrow, naive thinking.

Glad you edited this (maybe you took your own advice and 'looked it up' 😂)

It’s disastrous for social mobility- it means in the next generation the only ones who can afford property are those who inherited money, not those who are most skilled or work hardest. We are already seeing that in a lot of areas of the country

Sick to death of all these race to the bottom pensioner hating threads. We have some of the lowest pension rates in Europe. We haven't eradicated pensioner poverty and yet we have nasty twats wanging on about how prosperous old people are and how they should have everything cut back to fuckery. Fuck off.

Clearly nobody is going to begrudge the 100 year old lady on a state pension, or the majority of pensioners on modest incomes for that matter. It seems to me the op is talking about people like my neighbours who own their 5 bed house outright, run 2 brand new range rovers and have, by their own admission, a few 100k in savings. It does seem somewhat bizarre that they are entitled to the same amount as someone who is still private renting on a state pension for example

I have done a bit of very superficial research about this online.
People who get the State Pension and who get the normal Winter Fuel Payment will get an extra £300 COL payment. I think it's per household, not per person, but I'm not certain.
I've read the whole thread, and as far as I can tell, neither OP nor anyone else has mentioned the fact that there are other groups of people who will also get this £300 - people who are on certain benefits and/or tax credits, such as Universal Credit, Child Tax Credit, Income-based JSA, Income Support, and more. And another payment in spring 2024.
This puts a very different slant on things, and the OP has been rather disingenuous by omitting this fact.
But we haven't had an old-people-bashing thread for some time, so I guess we we were due one, and why let the facts get in the way of an ageist rant?
So, to conclude, being old is not the only qualifying factor for getting this £300, many younger people on certain benefits will also receive it.

Maybe we should means test the free nursery hours...after all I know lots of parents who could easily afford not to have their nursery fees subsidised by the tax payer.

Works both ways OP.

@TheThinkingGoblin
know what, that other op was right, you are rude. And actually I feel very sorry you anyone who works with you, or indeed your family members and friends, even acquaintances with your abrasive and rude attitude

i am not a non expert , just as you are not an expert, however much you believe you are

look forward to you refusing both your state pension and the £300

One in four pensioners has assets in excess of £1m. Over half of pensioners have assets i excess of £500k. As a whole they’re not a hard done by generation, and I’d hazard that less than half really need the £300 top up payment.

https://www.if.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/pensioner_millionaires_FINAL.pdf

this

How do you know that I don’t do those things? I’ve voted in every election since I was 18, I’ve protested and marched, and I will vote to strike it the ballot moment comes. I’ve had so many arguments with entrenched Tory voters over the years. I’ve also written to my MP many times, including on Brexit, the working poor, asylum policy, etc.

I’m not about to start rioting because I’m not in France.

None of the above has made a blind bit of difference in the last 13 years, but I will continue to do these things because I’m a citizen of this country and I want things to improve.

But no amount of it will help to ensure that there’s money left for millennials/Gen Z/the future gens if we continue to rack up debt by supporting a large and wealthy demographic using the resources of a small and less wealthy one. And neither of the two main parties is going to risk upsetting the former, because of their voting power. Please tell me what I can do about that.

It's not that much. And a lot of them have worked all their lives. There are a lot of older people who need the money and are not wealthy. Unlike a lot of Mnetters struggling along on £150k plus a year wondering how they will manage. Ridiculous.

@GCAcademic the payment your parents got for both homes was the £65 a month universal payment everyone got last winter. The extra winter fuel payment is paid alongside the state pension - ie both your parents would have received a payment via this. The payment is for a single pensioner is slightly more than what two married pensioners would receive

You sound lovely.

Yeah, let them all freeze and starve. No matter that they worked hard all their lives and many are now on a fixed income.

I completely agree. Ludicrous. Should be means tested.