£610 a week pension demand is insane

[Thisismyfinesthour]

Just read that there is an online petition doing the rounds for a £610 a WEEK pension demand to the government.
WTAF? Is the heat melting some peoples brains? It seems over 5000 have signed it.
Where do they think the money is coming from?

Many older people didn't have a choice.

Everyone has choices. Stop infantilising people.

Stop trying to police my posts.

I chose not to have children. I also chose to fund my own pension. I’m not expecting a state pension by the time I retire. People with significant independent income don’t need a £13k per year per person bung from the government and it’s not a good use of public funds to give it to them. I will definitely fall into the group that don’t need a state pension and at some point that entitlement will disappear between now and when I retire. It is what it is.

Trying to shout about how it’s unfair and not what we were promised or all the fault of the tories might be comforting, but ultimatly you are Canute trying to hold back the tide. This is inevitable. Maybe not this year or the next but in 20 years the state pension as it currently exists simply will not.

People who have no other income will need to be supported, but I wouldn’t bank on receiving £25k per year of state pensions on top of a household income of nearly £40k indefinitely.

Where did I say it was unfair? I have a private pension hence why I’m retired.

I don’t begrudge the people who weren’t as fortunate as me the pittance that is the state pension.

No skin off my nose.

Is anyone saying that those pensioners shouldn’t get that?

For me it’s really about whether this should be universal. There’s no reason why the likes of you and me with private pensions and significant savings should receive the same amount as a person for whom that is their only source of income. We need to better support vulnerable pensioners and that means that we need to be honest about the fact that keeping state pension as a universal entitlement isn’t realistic, regardless of what the narrative was when we started paying NI.

I disagree.

You can disagree, but means testing of some form will be coming. Supporting the less well-off pensioners is going to get a lot more expensive over time because of the lower rates of home ownership among people currently in their 40s compared to current pensioners. The costs for pensioner housing are going to balloon. At the moment, most pensioner welfare spending is on state pension, but as the need to support with housing costs increases, a bigger chunk of the pensions pie will need to go to the poorer pensioners. That means there won’t be state pension to top up the income of people like you and me who have enough money of our own to keep a roof over our head, food on the table and bills paid.

I honestly don’t know many people of my sons’ generation (30/34) who aren’t home owners.

Quantify ‘significant independent income’.

https://ifs.org.uk/data-items/homeownership-rates-working-age-adults-age-group-1995-2022

That’s not surprising. Home ownership among 25-34 year olds is on the up. It’s the 45-59 and 35-44 year olds that are looking like they will retire with far lower rates of home ownership than previous generations. Most people still own a home but the proportion of pensioners who don’t is about to increase quite drastically. The difference between 80% owning homes and 70% owning doesn’t sound a lot, but that’s a 50% increase in the proportion of renters.

One of my aunts, who would now have been 119, was predicting the demise of the state pension when I was a child in the 1960s. Yet here we are and I’m collecting mine. The answer lies in your hands, all of you who think it will cease to exist - don’t vote for any party that even hints at abolishing it.

One is 35 next month.

I mean, I think this is where a debate should be had. For me, if your household income before the state pension is equal to or greater than the median household income, then that feels like a reasonable cut off point. There would need to be something in place so that it’s not a cliff edge and there is some tailing off.

I’d be happy to be convinced that it should be a bit higher or lower depending on the economic arguments and costings.

I wonder why they missed out 8 years of working age adults?

Ok?

That data actually only comes up to 2022, so what I should have said is “the generation who were between 35 and 59 years of age in 2022 are much more likely to retire without owning a home”.

Great!
We would certainly still be getting the state pension in that case without a doubt.
Incidentally, I hope all the ones complaining that their grandparents/rich boomer parents have had loads given to them during their lifetimes and receiving SP etc, will be paying any inheritance they receive from said Gp and parents back to the state.

I wonder why?

I plan to do exactly the opposite. I neither need nor want the state pension.

And fuck everyone else.

Which is your choice. Everyone is entitled to choice. A GP friend of mine made the same one.

I won't be.

And also Differentforgirls, when you were working, did you have any spare time to post stuff all day the way some of these lot who are working full-time/ more than that even to pay for pensioners pensions ? I bet not. I certainly didn't

I'll be taking mine if available. I don't want to see it means tested. While NI contributions not ringfenced to provide a state pension, I feel that the social contract entitles me to a state pension eventually.

What I want to see though is an end to the triple lock and ensure that entitlement is not granted to any non-UK citizens,

No. It’s exactly the opposite. I want more generous support for the people who need it. I will be happy to pay my taxes until the day I die to provide it.

Giving government money to already wealthy people is the problem, not supporting poorer pensioners. I’m bowing out now. Enough pigeon chess for today.

The thread is (thankfully) about to end anyway.