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

[itsadlibitum]

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?

Actually I read the other day that millennials are likely to end up as the wealthiest generation ever thanks to what they'll inherit from the boomers

Only for those that inherit & the vast majority of that wealth is tied up in housing. I think the government will come for that wealth tbh as there isn’t really anywhere else to go.

My parents have worked since they were 16, and there were only about two people a year who went to uni at our school so they were working from about that age as well

It's terrifying. I'm 51 and about 15 years ago I was fortunate enough to blunder into a role that still has a final salary pension and I'm planning on staying put and watching the guaranteed retirement income tick up in my Excel spreadsheet every year.

If I keep working to my mid-60s I should be able to retire in reasonable comfort and even fund a basic care home (should I ever need one, God forbid) from my pension income, keeping my house and assets untouched for the kids to fund their retirement when the time comes.

DH on the other hand has paid into defined contribution pensions all his life and I struggle to see him ever having enough for a decent retirement if it wasn't for my pension being enough for both of us. I honestly don't know how most people relying on private pensions will manage.

We need to transition to having no state pension at all. You save privately when you work and that's it. Personal responsibility.

What we can do now if give people back what they've "paid in"

DH and I are mid-40s, saving as much into private pensions as we can. The state pension isn't really factored into our calculations.

I can't give any detail as DH has done the calculations and I don't want a 2 hour lecture (he's an actuary).

Well you seemed to be saying you don't regret it because they were a generation of works who paid NI.
that is the same of the current generation, who will get nothing which you seem to think is perfectly fine.

With the cost of living I doubt that many young couples with children will be able to save as much we were able to

One reason so many aren’t having dc or having fewer dc

Hopefully people will start dying sooner.

If we could decide when we wanted to die then there wouldn't be a care crisis.

And yet this has never been how the state pension worked. It has been a massive Ponzi scheme right from the start. People thinking this need to look at how the system works.

@Whyhaveibeencutoutofmamsnot my mum left school at 14 and worked. But she didn’t have a career and had huge gaps for dc, very common amongst my friends.

You asked if we regret paying pensions for today's pensioners. The answer is no.
The fact that I may not receive the same in 25 years does not change the answer

I certainly want the same, they should defo stop the triple lock now.

And I don’t support trying to up the birth rate. Assuming Gen X won’t get a pension, I don’t see why they should have to support people having babies. Everyone pays tax for healthcare, education, in and out of work benefits (which I know are often parents who aren’t paid sufficient) etc so the idea of paying out more for others to have babies while not getting anything ourselves is a ‘hell no’.

I’ve worked 34 years so far and have well over a decade left to go before state pension kicks in, it better exist when I get there !

I should hope the ££££££££ paid in taxes over my lifetime should cover it. If it doesn’t there will be pitchforks at dawn.

I think this is fine if you are in a relatively good financial position and know about it early enough. Which is my misselling point - I am also in my forties and pay into a private pension, but I wouldn't be surprised if I don't get my state pension (I am also an EU immigrant, so despite living and working and paying NI here for 20+ years I am sure Reform would happily remove my state pension right now if they could) and I am in a position to contribute quite a lot to it. I still do not expect to be well off in old age and to an extent am relying on downsizing.

That’s not something I saw growing up. Both parents worked and didn’t have massive gaps for maternity.

Exactly - evil circle. They aren't having the kids that will pay for their old age, and at the same time can't afford to save for it themselves. Those boomers better start passing down all those paid off houses....

No country has managed to increase birth rates once they are below replacement rates so incentives won’t make a difference.

Surely those inheriting from the boomers will be Gen X? Where did you lose an entire generation? I am an early millennial, I don't expect to inherit anything until I am well into my 60s and quite possibly 70s. My granny is still going strong at 87, my mum is next in line and she is 64.

That’s all good then.

I’m stunned that anyone is choosing to reproduce especially when we’re already seeing poor outcomes for young adults (e.g graduates unable to find jobs in their chosen industry and even struggling to find minimum wage work). Add that to the cost of living which means their chances of owning a home is ever diminishing, plus the state of the climate and real risks of climate migration and food shortages, why would anyone want their child to experience that kind of life?

Even if you don't get a pension, you will need people to pay for your NHS and care. The country needs children.

So it's all the fault of women who have not had children, whether through circumstance or choice?

@LiviaDrusillaAugusta but you can google statistics to see how many more mothers work now vs the past…

Only if the parents have money. Contrary to MN assumption, there are a lot of baby boomers who struggle for money.

But, like you, even if they inherit, it won’t be until much later in life hopefully