To think 71 is too old for state pension age?

[winterwonder1]

This isn't just for people who are 21 now - that's for people born after 1970 - so 55 now. I can't imagine being fit enough to do my job at 71.
DWP State Pension age will have to rise to 71 says report | News Shopper

@CurlyhairedAssassin New builds at that time meant you were amongst the better off working class families. But you are right a lot of mums worked part time because there was no financial help with childcare. It was financial help with childcare costs from the government that was a game changer.

What's the age breakdown of those mothers, though. You can be a mother of a baby, you can be a mother of a 7 year old, you can be a mother of a 15 year old. All of those are "mothers" but will probably be at different stages of their working lives. I did different hours at all of those stages.

Not in my parents' case. They had to move out of their city as the housing was too expensive. There were a lot of cheaper new builds being built on rural land outside towns and cities at the time.

In 1981 41% of people were in rented housing. If they owned a house they were better off.

Thank you. Notice how they always backtrack "well I didn't mean you"?
I've been on a plane once what used to be called a charter flight so was cheap, which my parents paid for me to stay with a relative so no other costs.

Privated rented or social housing? Don't forget about Maggie's huge sell-off of council homes around that time. Many people in rented homes lived in social housing with VERY low rents. Then were able to buy it very cheaply, and sell it at a massive profit a few years later, moving the property over to the private rented sector.

Interesting to see this article on the BBC News website this morning. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2egl17pvldo

The terminally ill one minute, elderly people who've outlasted their state pension next?

It says they were renting, but not from who.

Well many high earning workers benefit from the low income workers!! Have you been shopping,had your bins emptied,have a relative cared for,have a child at school with a TA supporting the teacher ???

It’s already too high, having been put up by 7 years, agree this is ridiculous.

I know of schools which employ supply teachers that age...but I agree that a full-time job would be too much.

Everyone needs to plan for no state pension and pay for their own as soon as work commences, not the minimum either, put in as much as you can if you want a half decent retirement.

My MIL has been receiving SP for nearly 30 years which is crazy when you think about it, she probably didn't work that many years after qualifying as a nurse back in the day.

There are so many industries where people suffer from physical or mental burnout - in industries where they are employing older workers you will find workers constantly being put on disciplinaries because they are having too much time off sick - if you are comfortable and have benefited possibly from inheritances please don’t advocate draconian measures for the masses of people who struggle to live day to day - remember we are in a period of austerity, higher food costs, electricity, gas and council tax, rent !
The Uk has seen the amount of working families relying on food banks grow to heart breaking numbers , homelessness has increased - hospital waiting lists too - people are struggling and students start life with excessive debts - so some posters on here need to remember that not everyone lives on household incomes above £40k and costs differ across the country

My parents (late 60s) haven't lived in the UK for 30 years. They are relatively wealthy (net worth probably about 3 million), and want for nothing.

However, they are both now eligible for, and claiming, a UK pension. My Mum also gets her teachers pension from when she worked in the UK (for 10 years). They also both get a generous full pension in the country they currently live in. Mum admits they don't need any of this money but is happy to take it. I've broached just...not...but she is just doing what 90% of people would do in her situation.

Its madness and totally unsustainable.

The thought of working in my job for another 30 years is really depressing and, I love my job.

still doesn’t answer how we would pay for it. There aren’t enough high earners to pay for everyone else, and there are fewer high earners everyday under Labour.

Well for a start the government could stop organisations like this stealing taxpayers money.

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/24918279.academy-trust-stops-running-schools-sussex-amid-backlash/

see above

That doesn’t solve the pension shortfall, though, unless you are suggesting we stop educating our children so that everyone can retire early?

The money that went to this academy trust still needs spending on education, I think the hope is that it would be spent more effectively.

It's a pissing joke and it needs to be lowered to 60/65 IMO. That way the ones retiring can have some nice time off being in retirement and the young ones can get themselves into jobs/careers and people can move up in their respective roles should they wish to.

Agree.

How did they manage to accrue the requisite 35 years qualifying NI contributions if they haven’t lived in the UK since they were in their 30s?

All that will happen is an increase in the number of claiming sickness benefits, as the inevitable health problems of middle-to-old-age are exacerbated by the strain of having to hold down full-time work, and eventually people have to get signed off.

Yes, some people love their jobs and are fortunate to be healthy enough to work well into their 70s, but the original retirement ages of early to mid 60s were chosen for a reason. Employers will not want people who are mentally and physically exhausted dragging themselves in

Alternatives.

The pension is means tested - discourages low earners from savings, makes those not getting it at all resent paying for it and look to reduce it (see this thread). High income people already pay 40% of it back through tax.

The pension age is raised - people have to work longer or save for the 4 year difference

The pensions value reduced- people can't live off it, so have to save to top it up or work longer

We tax high earners more - they are leaving in big numbers

We tax wealth through different land taxes and inheritance taxes - not popular with voters

We tax all earners more - has anyone got spare money, would you rather a compulsory private pension or tax and a future promise?

We increase productivity - how

We build retirement homes in rwanda (joke)

These all have issues. And realistically low paid workers are going to come out worse in any system.

You are being obtuse.

The point is that a vast amount of taxpayers money is being mis-spent when it ought to be funding, our children, the unwell and the older generation.

If one academy trust is embezzling almost £3 Million from 1 school alone, every 2 years - how much more taxpayers money is disappearing like this?

There are 1150 academy trust in Britain running 10,200 schools.
That's a lot of money potentially being stolen if they are all running themselves like the Brighton Academies Trust are (soon to be 'were').

No-one is monitoring this spending of taxpayers money.

It's criminal.