Tories and Labour mooting possible means testing of State Pension

[Turmerictolly]

www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jan/17/kemi-badenoch-pensions-triple-lock-means-test-alarm-tories

I would be so gutted if this happened but there's noise from both parties about this recently. I think it might be inevitable. What will happen to those of us nearing 60 who have made plans that include the full state pension we've paid contributions for?

Spot on.

I logged in today to do my Self Assessment and I idly browsed the pension bit while I was there. It said clearly "This is the amount you would get under current rules but it is NOT guaranteed and the law could be changed"

Surely the state pension is already means tested through the tax system. Any pensioner with any other income will pay 20% or 40% or 45% back in tax.

Well they can fuck off with changing it. I hate the Tories, I hate labour. I hate the elite classes who couldn't give a fuck about those people in this country that work their arses off in the NHS, in education, in the prison and probation services. We keep the country running, we are already paying for those who can't or don't work, who needs our support.

When will.we get our reward? People working in the NHS and prison service used to be able to retire and get a full state pension at 55. It's moved to 67 and now it seems we may not be given a state pension at all if we have assets we've worked bloody hard for, or if we have not been unemployed our whole lives

This is shit. I hate it. I hate all
Politicians. It's fine for them with their billions in the bank. Hate the lot of them

The triple lock is completely unsustainable, but everyone should continue to receive a state pension - but with just an uplift for inflation.

Labour bringing in Torsten Bell as pensions minister though is quite frankly, terrifying. He wants to add NI to employers pension contributions and reduce the tax free lump sum to £40k.

www.resolutionfoundation.org/comment/how-wealth-taxes-can-raise-billions-more-without-scaring-any-horses/

Yep. I just don't know how much more they think they can take from the tax payer.

DH and I both pay 40% tax, eye watering sums every year... DH's bonus was £15k last year and we got to keep £8k.

I know that is part of living in this country and I accept it but there has to be a limit on how much the net contributors are expected to fund, particularly those on PAYE who don't dodge any tax. Coming for our pensions (our pension age is already 68) would seem to be something of a tipping point.

I agree. They send people letters asking if they want to do so.

I checked mine the other day. I have years left but luckily my child benefit covers it all.

Exactly. Why the fuck are they screwing over the working people who are already paying for all the services for everyone else. I've had enough.

Tax the billionaires more instead. Get rishi to hand over his millions to support the poor. Why make the rest of us keep having to pay out.

The squeezed middle we definitely are.

Here's my prediction. They do away with the state pension for all but the poorest with the promise that the money could (they love that word) pay for a better NHS, better education, etc. They'll continue to collect the same tax and NI and nothing will change. The NHS will still be a shit show, kids will still be leaving school illiterate. Nothing will change. Nothing.

The state pension was means tested when it was introduced and life expectancy was only two years. I'm in my early 40s and since I started work have assumed I either won't get one or the age it is payable will be quite old, and anything will be an added bonus.

The cost of providing the state pension is immense and unsustainable, especially when you take care costs into consideration and the fact that there will be so many more renters and people still with mortgages in old age. I see a ticking poverty time bomb even with a state pension.

I don't really have a problem with means testing. The government will just need to work out how to ensure they still incentivise people to save for retirement and do a hell of a lot better than they did with the winter fuel allowance cut off point.

And I might sod off to another country. I've had it. Absolutely had it with politicians. This is the final straw for me from this incompetent bunch of toffs who look after only themselves. Hate them all

I can log into my government gateway account, and it tells me how many more years i need to pay NI, how much my pension would be, and when I am to receive it

I mean it even gives you the option to pay top-up contributions to ensure you receive the full amount.
Imagine paying those and then getting told sorry, we're pulling the whole thing. Money you could have put into a private pension.

Somewhat bleakly, i suspect that sooner or later, they will find some way of clawing it back from middle earners whose private pensions are above some notional basic income eg national minimum wage x 39 hours a week - and give the clawback a creepy Orwellian name like ‘the youth support premium’ or similar to try and change the political narrative around it. The first step will be to give people aged 16 and over the vote to neutralise the pensioner vote.

You have paid NI contributions, but you haven't technically paid into a pot. The government can choose what they do with those contributions. I'd imagine you'd be fine anyway as they'd have to give a good amount of notice so that people can start saving.

But if you look at the pay back amounts - up to £900 ish a year. That’s £17 a week, a working person on a median £35K salary pays NI of £35 a week. But State Pension is £220 a week, the numbers don’t add up. It IS a benefit.

People always bang on about having ‘paid in’, but it’s a fraction of the amount they expect in return.

They had better bloody not. Less than 5 years to go now and will have worked and paid NI for around 48 years.

This already exists but with lower minimum contributions than you suggest. It is called auto enrolment. However, people can opt out. 10% would also not be enough.

There’s a limit to how much you can use people as cash cows before they emigrate/change their behaviour. I have more than 30 years of NI contributions and am nearly at a full pension entitlement (I’m under 50). I have even paid voluntarily partially full years (eg worked in summer of uni but not enough for full year). Every year since I was 16 is fully contributed. Do the right thing in this country = get fucked in the face.

The point is we’ve had letters advising us to pay in in order to get the full state pension. Therefore we expect to get the full state pension.

Im not saying that it’s not a good investment. Backpay £800 for a year now to receive £880 a month in 20 years time - that’s a fantastic return on investment. The point remains that we were/are asked to pay in to ensure we get the full amount.

And Where will you go? Brexit put paid to us freely travelling/moving around Europe.

What incentives are there for people to work in this country?

None.

If you don't work you can have free prescriptions, free education, free sight care, free healthcare, free rent, free private school places if you really want!, free everything. When you get old you will get a nice pension, free social care support and nursing home provision.

If you work you pay for everything and you pay for all these benefits for everyone else. And now it seems there's a possibility your home which you paid for may have to be your pension since the government may be means testing pensions and not be giving them to you, but instead to the people you've already paid to support your whole working life

It makes no sense to be a working person in the UK anymore. It really doesn't.

Quite frankly I might as well quit my job and spend time with my loved ones. The government will.provide me a pension when I'm older and the taxpayer can give me everything else I need until then.

Ridiculous

It only applies to employees though. Millions of workers aren’t eligible.

Exactly this

Those approaching pension age should be treated maybe differently.

But in the great scheme of things, I can see no reason at all why i, on an occupational pension of over 2,500 pm should also get £700 every four weeks from the state and that increase be triple locked. Last year my occupational pension increased by 10.5%, my state pension the same. How many people can say they had around 15% increase in their income?

It's obscene when I live in a society where some children haven't even got a bed each, let alone enough to eat.

The triple lock was brought in when most pensioners were amongst the most poor. That's not always true now.

But let's not argue about how much of a sliver of cake each of us have, how about looking at those with multiple cakes and Pay little tax? Amazon (Bezos) and his ilk.

Oh yes, I'm trapped in this Tory created hell hole