Is living on the state pension really that bad?

[cateringday]

I mean, if you own your home then you’re getting around £250 a week just for bills and spends.
i have a tiny pension and DH has none. I am always worrying about this but then realised that we will have no rent or mortgage to pay.
im just wondering if it would be as awful as people make out? I hear stuff saying you need £300000 in pension pot to have a comfortable retirement, why would you need that much?

Depends on what you want to do. If you’re happy not having holidays and spending most of your time at honeymoon- then you should be alright.

I see. Yes it's infuriating when they take the mick and he's not the only one.

And to think DWP fraud team don't care.....

Is this not just semantics ? Someone has been accepted as disabled enough to receive benefits.

Only lucky that he chose a job that pays a good pension. I'd call that wise.

if someone is receiving benefit because of their disability this will be noted on a computer system somewhere. Hence registered as being disabled. The poster isn’t actually saying there is a list somewhere. As I say, it’s semantics. Your posts are verging on harrassment.

I believe that by law now, companies of a certain size must enroll their employees in a pension scheme and with company schemes, the company pays in too. This was not the case with people who are either currently claiming, or about to claim the state pension. Years ago there was nowhere near the emphasis on paying into a pension and people genuinely believed that state pension would be there to keep them from poverty in old age. And for people living hand to mouth who can’t afford savings, there isn’t the money available to put into a private pension scheme.

Often where there is a SAHP in the family, this enables their partner to become a higher earner as there is always going to be someone there for childcare so they are able to apply for promotions and jobs at a level that wouldn’t be available to them if they had to be around to share school pick up - so it’s not as simple as them not contributing because they aren’t working outside of the home.

You just have no idea do you? Such a position of privilege.

Well I lived alone. Was more " freelance" work and lost a couple of good clients during COVID after their business went down.

However this was a reply to someone who was speaking about it " expected" ( may not be exact words) to suffer anxiety over cancer and get benefits

And sometimes the working partner does as few hours as possible and claims top ups

Or works all the hours God sends and still doesn't earn nuch

You really can't base everything on middle class family with good chance of career progression

SSP is nowhere near the amount of money most people need to live on, given people’s outgoings tend to be based on their normal salary. And for those whose employer’s pay their sickness pay, this is not time unlimited.

You could have joined a police force too.

I was responding to a poster suggesting that SAHPs had not contributed to the state. I was saying that wasn’t necessarily the case as many were enabling higher earnings through their partner.

I am quite aware that all SAHPs are not middle class. Most of the ones I know simply couldn’t afford to work whilst their children were young due to the cost of child care. But they did return afterwards as they couldn’t afford not to.

What are you on about?

Is it wrong what I believe in personal responsibility and taking responsibility for your working life and saving for your own retirement.

Yes we all pay into NI to fund current pensioners. How about a system where we phase this out and people just pay and save their own money? No need to pay NI so can privately save it ?

Most people who have large outgoings might also have had the type of income throughout their lives that made those large outgoings possible. They probably had the opportunity to save in other pensions. If they did not,they really should have.

My post wasn’t about pensions. It was a separate conversation to do with someone not claiming sick pay.

You know what I’m talking about. You appear to have absolutely no idea what life is like for a lot of people working in minimum wage positions. There have been several posters on this thread responding to some of your earlier posts and trying to explain things to you. You obviously have absolutely no comprehension that some people do not have the capability of gaining promoted posts, or that the posts you think they should apply for are not there.

It’s not clear to me whether this is from a position of privilege, whether you just lack intelligence, or whether you are being purposefully goady.

Thing is I think sick pay is actually lower than state pension. So how they'd expect people to live on it I don't know

My aunt is on the state pension, and has money leftover each month. Not lots, but a bit. She doesn't drive and uses public transport. But as far as I'm aware, she's doing ok. She goes away once a year, and lives quite simply. I think, if you are careful with budgeting and your mortgage is paid off, it is absolutely enough to live on.

True, I know, but it didn't appeal to me.

Every country in Europe has a state pension. Uk is ranked 11th.
Any govt that abolished it would be hammered at the next election
It simply won’t happen
Means testing would hit public sector employees so you can forget about that

What about one where people get a lump sum equivalent to what they "paid in"?

It would need to be adjusted for inflation.
And there’s the issue of people blowing it - maybe manipulated - and then being destitute
And unlike with private pension govt has duty of care to ensure people understand consequences of single payment
Maybe tax issues too - I’m not a tax specialist by any means

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