Who is going to pay for your state pension/ care in old age?

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Apparently birth rates are falling, and this is putting future pensions (and I would imagine general tax income) in jeopardy as the population will proportionally age.

What's the solution? Should we just write off our paid for "right" to a state pension and state support for care in older age?

Does this change your view on public investment in supporting people to have children if you otherwise thought this was a personal choice and you should support/ pay for your own children?

AIBU to think that NI contributions for "pension" is essentially government mandated mis-selling and state pension will go out the window in the next few decades?

If it was brought 15+ years ago, the three bed in London or Guildford probably cost a small percentage when it was bought compared to what it’s worth now. Of course than unearned wealth should be taxed. Houses in the north haven’t increased in value as much as those in the SE have.

A couple leaving their estate to their children or grandchildren have an IHT threshold of £1million before any tax is taken. Let’s not pretend that’s a small amount. And even then, it’s only taxed 40% of anything over that, not the whole lot.

For various reasons, lots of people will inherit nothing. Forgive me for not having sympathy for those whose parents have more than £1million so they have to pay a tax on the money over that. IMO the thresholds are quite generous, no one is entitled to anyone else’s wealth. Inheritance should be seen as a privilege, not a right.

They’re all different though.

But you don't have to "pay" for 35 years. You get years of free "credits" when you have young children, or when working for low wages, or unemployed, etc. There is no link between the NIC you actually pay and the state pension you receive. Someone who's paid thousands in NIC every year gets the same state pension as someone who's paid nothing. It's just another tax.

I retired at 60, but won’t get my state pension until I’m 67. I’m not paying NI. Don’t know why!

You would only be paying it if you are in paid employment, it won’t be deducted from private pension.

Why are grown adults still affected?

Thank you. Tax still is though!

Sometimes you can’t just ‘get over’ something, once it hits it’s hard to shake off. The isolation and unpredictability of Covid/ lockdown caused a lot of problems for mental health. It also meant it was harder for people to access support at any early stage.

You would have to ask them. My eldest son went through a break up during covid and also his uni was then by zoom. He ended up deterring his final year. It was awful. However, he recovered, went back to do his Masters, got a distinction and is happily working. However, it affected him and obviously affected others worse. I don’t think we should judge tbh.

Exactly. My son's entire Uni "experience" was marred by the lockdowns and the extra unnecessary restrictions/limitations enforced by the university. He missed out completely on "Freshers week", the club/society fairs, the "getting to know your course mates" events, etc - all of which were cancelled as were the Uni bars, social events and even common rooms that stayed locked for the first full two years!!

None of that "initial" meet and greets and "get to know you" was repeated for his intake when the restrictions were eased - it was all just forgotten and the following Septembers, the new intakes had a more "normal" introduction to which the prior year (worst affected) weren't invited/involved. The result was he didn't join any clubs and societies, barely made any new friends at Uni (besides his immediate flat mates), and barely even met any of his course mates in person.

You can't "get over" missing out on the potential of learning new skills/sports, making new lifelong friends, and the fact that all his end of year exams were online for the first two years (and him not doing A levels), meant he really struggled in year 3 for the final exams which were in person due to lack of experience/practice of in person exams at that level. That lack of experience/practice has also affected his professional exams once he left Uni and started studying for professional exams, which are all in person. It's bound to have a "knock on" effect, especially missing out on things that can never be repeated.

Me

Lockdown ended nearly 5 years ago. It was tough for everyone and during it yes MH was horrible during lockdown. Arguably lockdown wasn't needed. But why are people still "traumatised" by it?

My DS goes out and has fun with friends.

It’s not lockdown itself that still traumatises people, but it may have triggered issues that are now hard for some people to get over. Thats how mental health issues can start, a single event can be the catalyst for lots of problems, for example bereavement, bullying, witnessing a traumatic event, assault, job problems, etc etc.

Lockdown caused loneliness and isolation for some people , which can be a perfect recipe for depression and/ or anxiety to start. Those issues don’t just ‘evaporate’, some people need treatment or therapy to find a way forward.

I know people who developed OCD about germs, contamination or health due to covid and now they can’t get rid of it, once your mind fixates on something it’s difficult to get out of it. There are also reports that eating disorders increased during covid - eating disorders are often caused by someone wanting to seize control, and so many people felt helpless at that time.

I think perhaps you are confusing mental health issues with short-lived feelings - for example you can feel depressed but not be clinically depressed, you can feel anxious without suffering from an anxiety disorder. If you have a mental health issue the issue won’t have evaporated just because lockdown finished, it can be hard to shake off.

My son was 2019-2022 UG and 2022-2023 for his masters.

My son had fun until March 2020. His second year was shit but he absolutely thrived in final year. In 2021-2022 he ran two societies, participated full in both. Did a lot of public speaking and debating. Did a charity fundraiser. Went to some balls (and returned horrendously hungover). He developed the passion for his current job is now. He also has online summer exams for the first 2 years (did well in 1st year, flopped 2nd year) but then in 3rd year it was back to in-person and he smashed all his exams (and really loved his modules).

There were some restrictions with testings and masks but it was a decent year. The "clubs and pubs" were open again.

And in his master's year (2022-2023) everything was back to normal. He hated the course but spent plenty of time going out, socialising, having fun and doing societies. He got his masters and is now doing well at work.

Your DS is 2020-2023.

Are you telling me he found no joy/fun in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023?

Good for your son. But you realise people are different and don’t have universal experiences don’t you?

You can't just buy your way out of this if there's nobody to do the physical work of caring. Private pensions are also exactly the same as state pensions in that they depend on younger people to work and fund them.
For what it's worth I think falling birthrates are a good thing despite the fact they'll create a lot of problems for older people. I'm late 50s and will very much be at the sharp end of this.

@mycatwearsahat Yes, but it still needs to be "paid in to" before you can qualify for a pension.

You know...instead of all you women frothing at the mouth thinking of pensioners getting about £1k a month to live on, why don't you reroute your anger at all the men arriving here on boats ilegaly and doing damn all and getting everything handed on a plate to them.

Much, much more than any pension will ever get.

It will be interesting to see what they do with the young men arriving on boat on the basis that let’s assume their processed and they’re given the right to remain or whatever they call it these days
Then what when they’re expected to go to work and move out of any hotels and sort themselves out as a citizen would what happens next ?

@Kendodd ”Private pensions are also exactly the same as state pensions in that they depend on younger people to work and fund them.”
Eh?
How do you work that out? My PP fund is mine. No one will contribute to it once I start to take it.

The poster is incorrect and is probably getting confused with some public sector pensions.

I'm not confused.
Private pensions are not just piles of cash in the bank sitting in a bank and dribbled out each month. Think about where the money actually comes from and trace each step back, you will arrive at working people.

Looking at my pension contributions over the years, I will have more than paid for it myself.

Whether it’s the exact same money is irrelevant. I don’t plan the system.

Too late to edit, but just to make it clearer when I said 'you will arrive at working people' I don't mean people working decades ago, I mean people working now. If a pension fund invests in businesses and then collects dividends to pay pensions, younger people are working to create the profits to fund the dividends. If the pension funds invest in property, it depends on younger working people paying rent to fund the pensions. This is a simplified explanation but I'm sure you get the principle. That's what I meant when I said private pensions are pretty much the same as state pensions in that they depend on younger generations working to pay them.