To be glad triple lock going and hope they means test it too

[Randomamsi]

I have a multi millionaire senior relative who receives £1,400 from the state pension each month, in addition to 6k private pension.

He's not means tested and he's received that for 30 years. Yes, he paid into the system but he does not need it!!! He also had free uni, dirt cheap first house back in the 60s and retired aged 59.

Meanwhile the younger generation:

• thousands in student loan debt
• asset poor as can't get on the housing ladder
• means tested for child benefit, tax free childcare etc
• working until late 60s/ 70s

Why do pensioners have it easy while younger ones pay the price?

For vulnerable pensioners at risk of poverty, there should obviously be provision to help them, I'm not suggesting we let people starve. But multimillionaire pensioners or very asset rich pensioners do NOT need the state pension. It's about time things changed.

Dont forget to factor in that your wealthy relative will be paying taxes on their pension, probably pays for your free childcare and your god knows how long maternity leave

If the triple lock is unaffordable, is it also unaffordable for the government to continue to provide generous tax breaks for pension contributions, allowing salary sacrifice schemes, etc. for those who can afford to do so? People throw money into their pensions to keep within tax bands so they can avoid increases or still remain with the child benefit limit. I’m not saying it’s necessarily wrong, and I’d be changing tax bands and personal allowances anyway but loss of potential revenue is also important by way of balance.

I don’t care this man claims his pension. He is taxed. I would change the definition of pension benefit to pension entitlement. And he is entitled to it. All his income will be subject to tax no doubt, over his personal allows. Some benefits that don’t count as taxable income include universal credit, pip child benefit, housing benefit, maternity allowance. I wonder if that is also right.

That’s not how it works. The tax you pay today is spent on today’s welfare bill. Similarly the tax you paid in the first year of 35 would have been spent on pension and welfare payments made 35 years ago, that were substantially lower than today.

My parents are in their 80s. They are lovely people. They do not understand that, as a 50yr old with a massive mortgage and decent salary, I am struggling. They even said to me recently, ‘when we were younger we really struggled.’ They’re talking about being mid 20’s. I’m 50. I earn a lot but I am fucked. Older people are better off them most of us.

Interesting that no one so far has complained about the downgrading of the triple lock. I agree with it too, I don’t think it’s sustainable as it currently is. I just thought more people would be miffed. Maybe AB will win the next GE after all.

Sorry if I am really misunderstanding then but that then would be under the pre - 2016 rules. Sorry I am confused. My MIL whi is 94 gets much more than I would expect despite being a SHM and working P/T a number of years whilst raising children. I think she inherited some of late FIL pension but she still gets a lot?

Because those children may be wiping your arse one day.

Society needs children to function.

State pension is less thank £1K a month. How does he get £1400?

What your relative gets from a personal pension is irrelevant they paid for probably 40 years so are entitled to get a state pension. You sound jealous and spiteful.

Because your relative has presumably been paying a huge amount of tax all their life

and this means testing

There are some shocking comments on here

Basically, the people who are paying the majority of tax, you want them to get no result from that at all.

I mean fine maybe some of these people got lucky and won the lottery and so on

you’re removing all incentive from anybody to do any work. I don’t know maybe that’s what you all want. You just think rich people should pay a lot of tax get nothing from it and pay for all private service services.

I don’t know. I just don’t really understand how anyone can raise their kids with the idea that if you work hard if you create something amazing if you start a business and you’re really successful…. You get penalised.

Means testing is very very different from changing the triple lock

On Newsnight the editor guy was saying that if the triple lock was maintained until 2080, then pensions would be 100% of (GDP or government budget, not sure). Either way seems like too much so it's going to have to stop at some point, as painful as it may be.

I only get the government pension. We are not all like your rich relatives. Think on that while you gleefully talk about the loss of the triple lock. Could you live on the government pension alone?

I don't disagree with you OP, there are many rich pensioners out there that don't need a state pension, but I think what trick Labour are missing, why are they not going after the big non paying corporations. I run a small business, I paid more Corporations Tax than Starbucks last yr ...this makes me fucking fuming. Stop going for the easy targets, small Business, pensioners and benefits....let's start looking at the Big Boys 🙌

Agreed, they would likely means test me and my partner’s income.

Although the pension calculator is telling me someone needs a pot of £700k to get £40k pa.

SERPS. You’re referring to the new state pension amount. The old system didn’t have a fixed amount. Those that paid into SERPS under the old system get a higher amount. In some cases they get far more than under the new system.

Because those children will be paying your pension. The misconception of pensions is that "I paid in " . Yes you paid in and that serviced the generation before you. That gave them their pension. For your personal state pension you will be hoping that everyone having kids now,those kids will work, pay taxes and you should get your pension & they may also have to wipe your arse .... So don't knock people having kids 😁

So many people on here who are seriously lacking in brain cells. For all those like you who don't believe someone can get more state pension than the current pension rate, YES THEY CAN.

As lots of people have said, including me, if a pensioner is receiving a state pension under the old pension scheme, their state pension can be much more, depending on their earnings.

My 89 year old mother received around £330 a week state pension in 25/26 which equates to around £1400 a month. I've seen her DWP letter, her bank statements and her tax coding notice proving it.

He will be paying tax on that £6k, plus other taxes on his millions as well. Probably more than he receives in state pension.
And yes, you can receive more state pension. My mum is 85 and receives just over £1200 every four weeks.

As well as paying tax on his current income, probably more than the state pension part of it, think how much your relative ( or his estate) will pay in inheritance tax when he dies.

Ignore this use of quote. In error.

Its is possible that he does indeed get £1400 a month. If he retired prior to 2016 then he could be getting up to £415 per week. Made up of the basic old state pension of £186.00 a week and then SERPS/SP2 of up to £230 per week.
I dont think it is very fair of you to call OP liar when you obviously dont actually know what the facts are.

But we do. My mum was a child during WWII. Still alive and kicking. She probably saw more during those years in Coventry than you have seen during your fewer years. She and her many still living friends (mostly women) joke it was the war diet that has kept them going! Who knows. Probably some truth. Rationing continued until 1955(?) - she was 20 then so nearly all of her childhood was under rations. A much better solution than OP's - rationing - no more takeaways, Macdonalds, ridiculous coffees (I waited 10 mins in the hospital costa for a tea - the wait time - purely due to high calorie, cream laden coffee drinks that take forever to prepare), everyone eating all the time - why do adults need to constantly snack. So @OP I think your generation is frittering their money on crap. Perhaps stop your expenditure and invest in your future.

Were you working for 50 years before your SP kicked in though and paying for the elderly people who came before you in your taxes?

Sorry to be harsh but if you didn't spend a lifetime putting into the pot why should the next generation fund an above inflation pension for you now?

Thanks. I know my dad gets less than that. He took teachers' pension at 55 so gets 75% and he gets about £980 roughly every four weeks. (I had to look up SERPS btw)

The truth is that the triple lock is unaffordable now. Forget about what’s fair and means testing and blah blah - we cannot sustainably afford the triple lock and it had to go sooner or later, simple as that. This is because our state pensions are not paid in advance, they are paid by current working people. It’s essentially a social contract that you pay in for pensioners now and will get paid out when you’re a pensioner by working people then.

The trouble is, we have a top heavy ageing population increasingly reliant on a smaller population to fund their triple lock pensions. And yes, we should be funding people to have kids because those same kids will be the ones paying into the system to fund our state pensions one day. Although at 38 I think the state pension will be so reduced as to effectively be scrapped by the time I’m old
enough to claim (which will probably be age 95 or something ridiculous).

The govenrment is already encouraging payments into private pensions. That’s why we have an opt out scheme and why there are tax breaks for pension contributions. Because if we continue a trend of ageing population and no babies, we are fucked.