State Pension

[JollyPollysjolly]

my Husband is sure that by the time we reach state pension age (me 45, him 49) that it will no longer exist - or maybe when we reach 100 ha! Anyone with any knowledge that can add to this idea so I can argue back?

TLDR. But fully expecting pension age to be 70 for me (born 1980) and probably means tested too.

What annoys me is the link between other pensions and state age pension. My colleague is retiring early at 55 with his (albeit reduced to cover the extra years it must pay out) occupational pension. But I'm younger and my state pension age has risen, so I won't be able to do that until 2 years later (or 3 / 4 / 5, depending on what they settle on changing it to.)

So both state and occupational pension are working against me.

I'm so glad to be able to take my NHS pension at 60 in a few years time. It's the thought of being able to retire a few years early that is keeping me going ! I feel for those who don't have that option especially with state pension age rising as well. I worked for over 35 years as a Nurse, my physical and mental health has suffered and I hope I can have a few years of just working part time before reaching state pension age.

which is exactly the point. Just because SP age rises to 70 doesn’t mean people can physically or mentally keep going.

This is not true.

My State Pension started last month. I didn't have to make a claim. I received a letter at the end of 2023 telling me the date my pension would start and asking for my bank account details to input online.

Then in February I had letters telling me how much I would get every 4 weeks.

It depends on their circumstances. If they're renting they could qualify for some help with their housing costs, if the younger partner has limited capability for work related activity or is a carer, that would increase their entitlement too.

I am in my late 40s and i don't think anyone under 53 will get a state pension, no one should be relying on it and should have private/work pensions. Obv this does not include those on disability benefit etc who will still get a state pension

@katedan A pension pot of half a million gives you £15k a year. You need a lot of money to replace the state pension. More than most people can save.

Noisysnail - I thought the general rule was that a pot of £100,000 = £5000 a yr so £500,000 would be £25,000 a yr

A lot for people to put away on the current low incomes.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow yes, unrealistic in my view for most

That is the current arrangement but that won't exist for anyone under 53

@katedan i don’t think you can be right about that. I know 1971 has been talked about a lot recently as a cut off year but people at 52 and less are still working and need to - if their pension is axed, there would be riots

NoisySnail

You do not need to claim state pension. They write to you informing you when it will commence and the amount to be paid.

Nonsense, these are people who should be in work, reducing migration, paying taxes plus their treatment costs and benefits will far out strip any savings plus of curse they will go on to claim SP... & of course mean either far higher spending on the NHS/Social care and longer waiting lists for everyone else.

I don't think you've thought this through?

Sorry, you are wrong. You have to claim your pension . You can delay claiming your pension and receive an enhanced pension as a result.
https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/how-to-claim

Many things have changed since the state pension was intrioduced in the 1940s.School leaving age was 14, with only a small % going onto further education. Life expectancy was 64, now it is 81. If you worked in industry, mining or factories, you would have been lucky to see retirement at all. Now, many people go onto further education and don't start work until they are 21 or 22. Life expectancy has risen to 81. I think the state pension needs a sliding start date. If you started work at 16, you get the pension at 66, if you start work at 22, it seems logical that you receive the pension later. 71 or 72. Couple this with the amount of years NI is paid. Then look at the loophole Gordon Brown introduced. If you are self employed, you can register as a limited company, pay yourself just over the NI threshold so you pay a tiny amount of NI, then take the rest of your income as dividends, reducing the amount of tax and NI you have to pay. The increasing costs of pensions and health care fir our aging population is a real dilemma for any government. My advice would be to make sure yo pay into a private pension.

Life expectancy for men now is 79, it was actually 70 (overall) in 1950.

Our economy is far larger and we haven't just come out of a world war, introduced the NHS and built 2m houses.

This idea we cannot afford a decent pension is just right wing bollox, its all about spending priorities, scrap NI and fund it by slashing public services or have a decent and fairer society?

The vast majority of workers in this country will never get a pension pot of 200k or 300k, which would be just enough to get an equivalent amount of the SP, double that if you want a reasonable retirement.

Remember too that private pensions are not guaranteed, they are invested in markets, property bonds etc all volatile, bad news if you had to take your pension in 2008, 2020 or after Truss wrecked the economy.

I am just about to start taking from my private pension savings. The last few years tgey have automatically gone into a 'safer' pot, more bonds. 2 of my pots didnt drop by too much over the Truss cock up, the 2 smaller ones did. However although the size of the pots is smaller, annuity rates are much better, so if I go for annuities I will get much more that I would have done just a few years ago. If I go for drawdown, I will only take a fraction this year with the remainder staying invested. So its not as catastrophic as portrayed in the media.

"If you’re applying online, you’ll also need the invitation code from the letter about getting your State Pension."

The DWP write to you to inform you you can claim your pension. You need to confirm whether you want it paid from the start date or another date.

@OddityOddityOdd And if you do not respond you do not get your pension.

There would be riots on an unimaginable scale.

I’m in my 30s. We do have work pensions. We also have high housing costs, high childcare costs and high student loans and repayments. We pay above the minimum contributions but even on decent salaries we’re looking at pensions worth around £10k and we can’t afford to put much more in. There will be a huge problem for many if the state pension is stopped, and it will be the younger generations being hit the most (again).

@Overthebow most older people can not manage without the state pension either.
The median pension pot is £32,700.

The problem with that age of 53 is
For those in the private sector employers did not make it easy for you to transfer your private pension from one scheme to another
ie
job 1 you pay into a pension for a few years then move to
job 2 employer states they will not pay into your previous pension and you have to take out theirs. So you have to have a new p pension at your new office. You pay into your new pp but can’t afford to pay into the old one as well. It sits there mounting up admin charges, You change jobs
job 3 Same as job 2only now you have two pensions idling doing nothing
job 4 New office says they will pay into your old pension but you will lose lots from your old pension in doing so. You either idle pension 3 or lose money and transfer.

And on and on and on it goes.

For someone of that age this will have happened most of their career.

It’s also worth noting private pensions weren’t compulsory until 2012, ie whilst an employer might want one a company didn’t have to pay anything into it which means you’d have to pay a lot more to allow for the cost of management fees.

Two of my pensions are completely empty due to admin fees and cost of transferring.

So if you were born on or after 1994 ( assume working age starts at 18 yrs in 2012) you have been in a system where having a private pension is a requirement of all employers and of course assuming you are in a contract whilst working.
Therefore that’s people age 28 now, not 53.

No they don’t. You have to claim it.