To think we can't afford the triple lock

[paddleboardingmum]

Things seem very weighted against young people right now in terms of tax, student loans, and then there's the cost of mortgages and childcare. I know there are some older people struggling and I do feel sorry for them. But plenty are not and I think we just can't afford the triple lock at the moment. AIBU

People keep on mentioning foreign aid as an easy fix but this will not fix the huge provlem

Fotecasts even with higher state pension ages are as follows

2024 5.0% of GDP
2030 roughly 5.5% of gdp
2040s around 6% of gdp
2050s 6.5 to 7% of gdp
2060s around 7%

It might not seem like much but with the aging population healthcare costs go up too. We can’t afford it now - we’re getting more in debt and debt costs are going up. Even without the triple lock it will still be a huge problem, although not so much

foreign aid only accounts for 0.3% of gdp by 2027 and there are soft power reasons and other reasons for this spend

so what shall we do to pay for it, more taxes? Young People are already leaving,

I assume you're in Scotland?

Yes.

You lose out by having to work another 7 years.

You don't lose out financially & it was inequitable that women should receive their pension 5 years earlier than men.

You’ll get housing benefit too, council tax reduction, then all the usual pensioner benefits.

Well no. The state pension entitlement is based on NI records, but you don't pay contributions. NI receipts form part of the take from general taxation.

Personal pensions you receive tax relief on the contributions, benefits beyond the 25% tax free cash entitlement are subject to income tax.

Then it should have been changed to 63 for all.

Same thing. People pay NI in part to be able to claim a pension later on,

I still don't understand why you think the state pension should not be taxable, any more than my salary should be unburdened by tax.

People talk a lot about the housing wealth pensioners have, but when those houses are sold that wealth is either going to go on care (saving the state money) or be passed on, mainly to millennials. They're not going to be taking it with them.

https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2024/nov/16/middle-class-millennials-set-to-gain-most-from-unprecedented-wealth-transfer

I'm not a pensioner yet, I've got some way to go. I'm not sure how I feel about the triple lock personally. Maybe just using CPI alone makes sense.

Means testing could also make sense, but with generous thresholds to avoid accidentally discouraging saving too much.

I believe my generation may be set to be poorer on average than both the millennials and the boomers (who will end up having a lot of the same wealth but each owning it at different times). Treating all pensioners as a block as having had it too good and needing to be taken down a peg or two, which always seems to be the message from some people on threads like this, doesn't seem fair.

They’ll still get it. It will be paid for by though currently of working age who know they won’t be entitled to similar pension in the future.

Name a usual pensioner benefit? I'll get neither of those mentioned by you.

Cut expenses, budget better. You pay a bit a few % and then your employer matches (which is great is of no cost to you)

They gave that AND THEIR OTHER SAVINGS. It’s not our fault some of the older members of society thought they could retire without making adequate provision. And the state pension was never meant to be anything other than about enough to scrape by. Anything more than that is savings / occupational pensions.

It's not fair to say that all pensioners are rich.

But it's not fair to say all pensioners are poor either.

Policy shouldn't be based on either of these extremes.

Are you very young?

Free prescriptions, free bus travel, winter fuel allowance. Cheap fish and chips at the garden centre on a Friday.

66 and they would still have another year to wait before they get a pension. Many will be unemployable and eating up their savings.

I think I saw somewhere that in order to give everyone £1k a month the income tax rate on those working would have to be 80%. UBI isn’t going to happen. The sums don’t add up at all.

Oh well don’t worry I’m sure we’ll be fine, I mean we don’t get as much as those who are unemployed but we’ll manage somehow 🤷🏼‍♀️

In England you don't need to be a pensioner to get free prescriptions which are in any case free for all ages in the rest of the UK. You don't need to be a pensioner to get free bus travel in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Only 13% of pensioners receive the Winter Fuel Payment.

So ignore the fact that tax is not payable on universal credit! Why the hell should I pay tax just because I am slightly over the tax allowance and yet someone on universal credit can be well well over the allowance and not pay a penny in tax

I only "get", if I apply, which I won't, free bus travel. But that's also available to under 22's. I get free prescriptions but so does everyone and the last time I got one was during lockdown for a tooth abcess. Have no clue about the cheap fish and chips as I don't frequent garden centres though I have never heard of it. Too young for the winter fuel allowance but isn't it buttons?

Some will still be 65.

75% get the WFP according to the BBC. Certain people on benefits, or pregnant /post-partum women, buggered if i know the intricacies of welsh travel freebies, but its only pensioners that get the £5 fish and chips at my local garden centre.