Page 16 | To not have realised that my pension age has gone up?

IIdentifyAsInnocent · 2024-03-27T18:51:26+00:00

I'm 45, 46 this year. Checked online 2 years ago and my state pension age was 67, which I thought was bad enough, for some reason checked again today and it's gone up to 68!! I knew that the govt were thinking of doing this but I have no recollection of being told it had actually happened. This affects my work pension which I now can't take until 68 too as it aligns to state pension age. Annoyingly, my brother who is 2 years older can still retire at 67! Have I missed some huge public announcement?

GoldenSpraint · 02/04/2024 17:56

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valjane · 02/04/2024 17:58

Oh come on. I'm in my late 50s and have been using computers at college and in the workplace in some form for 40 years. I have friends and colleagues who are in their 60s and 70s who are very IT literate.

I have been a higher rate taxpayer although I changed careers and am freelance so now keep just under the higher rate tax threshold. I have never had a problem paying tax and I believe it's our social responsibility. Yet as I get closer to 60, although I don't want to give up work I find myself considering my options. I have already paid 43 years of NI contributions. By the time I get my state pension at 67 if I carry on working I'll have paid more than 50 years of contributions. Yet I cannot increase my state pension. If I stop work now I will get it in full when it is due, but it isn't good for anyone if I give up work as I will pay less tax. And it doesn't feel fair that you can't increase your pension or stop contributing once you have the required number of contribution years, in the same way as so many on here who are younger than me feel it isn't fair that the state pension age may rise further. I know people of my age who will get the state pension and have had hardly made any contributions or only made just enough. Why should we work to pay the pensions of those who haven't bothered? And there are people in that situation.

I don't pretend to have an answer but I do think we need to move to some sort of contribution based scheme where those who contribute more get more out. The current scheme just doesn't work and I never thought I'd be considering giving up work and drawing my private pension early. But in some ways it makes sense to do so.

GoldenSpraint · 02/04/2024 18:01

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Fernticket · 02/04/2024 18:08

decionsdecisions62 · 02/04/2024 16:36

@AnyDayAnyWay oh my god! Please! I'm mid 50s and I can't think of a single friend who doesn't use a computer daily in their work; we are employed in universities, NHS, schools. What planet do you live on?

This.

GoldenSpraint · 02/04/2024 18:08

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Theinjuredcleaner · 02/04/2024 18:15

Lol at the oldies not being able to use computers! 🤣🤣 Bill Gates is 68. Steve Jobs would have been a similar age if still with us. Does that poster think people in their 60s fought in ww2? 🤔

Runnerinthenight · 02/04/2024 18:18

taxguru · 02/04/2024 15:32

I think it's another "hump" we need to work through.

A lot of the problems at the moment with so-called age discrimination is lack of tech skills, as many people in their 50s and 60s didn't grow up with computers and so aren't really fully up to speed with modern workplace requirements as regards technology.

The following generation(s) will be more accustomed to "clicking" and apps for everything, so in 10/20/30 years as they approach retirement age, they'll be better equipped for dealing with the ever changing tech.

What I'm saying is that it's easier for someone, say, accustomed to using software on a laptop, to get used to apps on a smart phone or tablet. A lot of today's 50 and 60 year olds may not have been accustomed to using computers and other modern tech, so struggle to adapt to a modern workplace. Or, say a secretary or administrator having spent 20/30 years of working life dealing with paper and filing cabinets, etc., may struggle with the concept of a paperless office (i.e. the stereotypical person who prints and files all incoming emails!).

Obviously, not saying all older people will struggle in the same way, some will easily adapt, but what I am saying is that we've gone through a technological seismic shift over the past two or three decades, which has been hard for today's older people, that won't be quite so hard for the following generations.

Similarly with job applications as a lot of older people are accustomed to printing off a CV and sending it with a covering letter, whereas more and more employers are using online application processes where you have to enter data in online forms, followed by online aptitude tests, etc., all of which is alien to a lot of older people who can't navigate automated online application processes.

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God you don't know much do you?! All that tech must have addled your brain.

I'm early 60s and have been using computers/emails/software since 1987. I wfh and I don't print any documents.

So please take your ageist stereotypes and educate yourself a little!

RaininSummer · 02/04/2024 18:30

Ha ha . Yes I am early 60s and taught myself to use computers around 1990. I even taught IT at level 2 for 10 years with no formal IT training. With respect, the people who dont keep up are often stuck in their ways in general and do not have a growth mindset. There are loads if free courses for people who need or want to upskill

RaininSummer · 02/04/2024 18:30

Ha ha . Yes I am early 60s and taught myself to use computers around 1990. I even taught IT at level 2 for 10 years with no formal IT training. With respect, the people who dont keep up are often stuck in their ways in general and do not have a growth mindset. There are loads if free courses for people who need or want to upskill

Singlespies · 02/04/2024 19:13

You may be able to take your pension early and just not get as much. Could you start saving into a private pension now, so that you have something to use in the years before state pen age?

I intend to use my private pension (OK, it's a DC pension) between 60 and state pension age.

Julimia · 02/04/2024 19:23

Just be glad if you make it to 67/8 for starters.!

suki1964 · 02/04/2024 20:01

I was told, start work at 16, retire on pension at 60

So I started work at 15, and the fuckers changed it to 67 for me

A huge jump from 60

Ill health stopped me working last year aged 59 and I had no option but to collect my NHS pension. Its tiny

However I luckily recovered and have now got a 16 hrs a week job, waitressing, 40p above NMW, and now I pay £60 a month tax and £2.50 a day for parking - it near wipes out my pension

And now having to pay silly tiny amounts into a WPP which for 7 years is a total waste of time

trainboundfornowhere · 02/04/2024 20:34

I am a millennial (1984) and at the moment my pension age is 68. I don’t know how long I will be able to continue working for as I have twice had accidents (yes whilst sober before anyone asks) where the result has been me splitting my lower leg open down to the muscle. My job requires me to be on my feet all shift but otherwise is not physically demanding and we do have people past retirement age working with us. Here’s hoping I can carry on for the next 28 years.

Timeturnerplease · 02/04/2024 21:16

MrsMurphyIWish · 27/03/2024 19:05

I’m 45 and a teacher - I’m sure teenagers will be listening to me at 68!

I’m not so much bothered about the state pension but the Teachers Pension can not be claimed now until state pension age. I guess there will be loads us in ill health working or on benefits.

Yes! I can’t see me herding a bunch of eight year olds through the woods on a school trip at almost 70. Teaching them forward rolls will be interesting.

iolaus · 02/04/2024 21:37

IIdentifyAsInnocent · 27/03/2024 19:02

I'm laughing at the thought of lifting patients down stairs and jumping up and sown on their chest at 68

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As a colleague said (we're midwives) our mandatory ALS training is more likely to end up being used on colleagues with the way the pension age is rising than on those we are caring for

echt · 02/04/2024 22:30

@MrsMurphyIWish

I’m 45 and a teacher - I’m sure teenagers will be listening to me at 68!
I’m not so much bothered about the state pension but the Teachers Pension can not be claimed now until state pension age. I guess there will be loads us in ill health working or on benefits

Well I made it to 67 and the teenagers had no problem listening to me. Having said that, I taught in Melbourne for the latter part of my career, and what I hear of the goings-on in UK schools, not just the students, might very well have changed my mind.
In addition, for me what was job-extending was being able to pay off my house, go back to mainscale teaching, going part-time and being in good health.

These don't apply to everyone.

Boxachocs · 02/04/2024 22:55

Timeturnerplease · 02/04/2024 21:16

Yes! I can’t see me herding a bunch of eight year olds through the woods on a school trip at almost 70. Teaching them forward rolls will be interesting.

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Also a teacher and it’s the change in teacher pension rules that hurts the most. Not the scheme I signed up for and I won’t get the lump sum that teachers older than me got - the one that was advertised when I signed up.

decionsdecisions62 · 03/04/2024 04:05

@Boxachocs I don't really understand what you mean 'the one you signed up for'? Either you were in the pre 2007 lump sum scheme or you became a teacher later and were not. Your post implies you were somehow given the wrong pension scheme.

Trez1510 · 03/04/2024 04:59

@decionsdecisions62 I could be wrong, but I read it to mean in regard to the ability to draw the pension at a certain age having been changed?

In the same way the vast majority of women signed up for their pension at 60, the rules changed so it's no longer for what we initially signed up.

take10yearsofmylife · 03/04/2024 05:14

taxguru · 02/04/2024 15:32

I think it's another "hump" we need to work through.

A lot of the problems at the moment with so-called age discrimination is lack of tech skills, as many people in their 50s and 60s didn't grow up with computers and so aren't really fully up to speed with modern workplace requirements as regards technology.

The following generation(s) will be more accustomed to "clicking" and apps for everything, so in 10/20/30 years as they approach retirement age, they'll be better equipped for dealing with the ever changing tech.

What I'm saying is that it's easier for someone, say, accustomed to using software on a laptop, to get used to apps on a smart phone or tablet. A lot of today's 50 and 60 year olds may not have been accustomed to using computers and other modern tech, so struggle to adapt to a modern workplace. Or, say a secretary or administrator having spent 20/30 years of working life dealing with paper and filing cabinets, etc., may struggle with the concept of a paperless office (i.e. the stereotypical person who prints and files all incoming emails!).

Obviously, not saying all older people will struggle in the same way, some will easily adapt, but what I am saying is that we've gone through a technological seismic shift over the past two or three decades, which has been hard for today's older people, that won't be quite so hard for the following generations.

Similarly with job applications as a lot of older people are accustomed to printing off a CV and sending it with a covering letter, whereas more and more employers are using online application processes where you have to enter data in online forms, followed by online aptitude tests, etc., all of which is alien to a lot of older people who can't navigate automated online application processes.

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I hope you are not the hiring manager, I don't know any 50s 60s years old who can't use online systems.

MrsMurphyIWish · 03/04/2024 06:25

decionsdecisions62 · 03/04/2024 04:05

@Boxachocs I don't really understand what you mean 'the one you signed up for'? Either you were in the pre 2007 lump sum scheme or you became a teacher later and were not. Your post implies you were somehow given the wrong pension scheme.

@Boxachocs The Teachers Pension changed in 2014. It means anyone teaching now who was teaching pre-2014 has two pension schemes. Those who are still teaching in their 60s have a majority in the lump sum scheme. I’m 45 and if I collect my lump sum pension at 57 (earliest it can be taken now although may change) my pension is 7k a year with a lump sum of 23k. Majority pension for me will be the new one which is career average and tied to state pension age.

LittleWeed2 · 03/04/2024 06:31

I wonder how much it would cost to live for a year with no income. ie you retire before due your pension. If you had no mortgage and bought vital stuff only.

Boxachocs · 03/04/2024 07:14

MrsMurphyIWish · 03/04/2024 06:25

@Boxachocs The Teachers Pension changed in 2014. It means anyone teaching now who was teaching pre-2014 has two pension schemes. Those who are still teaching in their 60s have a majority in the lump sum scheme. I’m 45 and if I collect my lump sum pension at 57 (earliest it can be taken now although may change) my pension is 7k a year with a lump sum of 23k. Majority pension for me will be the new one which is career average and tied to state pension age.

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Yes, exactly what I have. My lump sum is 21k. Pains me when I see older teachers with lump sums of £90k.

Kathryn1983 · 03/04/2024 07:27

Boxachocs · 03/04/2024 07:14

Yes, exactly what I have. My lump sum is 21k. Pains me when I see older teachers with lump sums of £90k.

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Pains me when I see people retired from my company at 55 on final salary pensions and we're now defined contribution after 3 years of phased retirement earning full salary whilst working part time!
unfortunately though some of these more generous schemes are to an extent unaffordable for companies and thus the only vaguely generous schemes now are public sector and yes despite them being a fraction of what they were they're still extremely more generous than a private industry one!
for instance at one point it was costing my company more to pay pensions than ot did actively working employees 🤷‍♀️ I can only imagine it was the same for teachers and the nhs etc it's unsustainable-always was
work out how much pension you'd have on Similar pay if you had a defined contribution of 3% employee and 5% employer (this is btw now the standard auto enrollment pension) and compare that to what you'll get now in public sector you'll realise it's still relatively speaking a pretty good scheme to be in compared to most people

Kathryn1983 · 03/04/2024 07:32

https://neu.org.uk/advice/your-rights-work/pensions/defined-contribution-pension-schemes/comparison-tps-career-average

comparing options here

I know it stings but it stings for us all