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.

Because we paid in for it! You have not paid in all your working life for CB!

We have paid our dues into the system and deserve what we were told was the deal.

You paid tax. You get a benefit.

If he receives 1400 a month from the state , he'll be heavily taxed on it.

I agree OP - the triple lock needs scrapping. It is outdated and I struggle to believe that recent annual increases are in line with the original intent behind the policy. A fairer mechanism needs to be put in place for covering annual increases - in line with working people.

On a separate note, I think it is disgraceful that high net worth individuals can claim state pension - they have no need for that money. The difficulty is however, where and how is that line drawn? As with all means tested benefits there are individuals who fall around the line who genuinely need the support. No one wants to see impoverished pensioners struggling. But I do struggle with the implied narrative that only pensioners matter - those who are in genuine need should be able to seek support - the disabled, students, low income families AND pensioners. I don't accept that pensioners are the only group of people who deserve support in a triple lock protected manner.

I wouldnt worry OP - it isn't going to be enforced until 2030 and Labour won't be in then

How can he have had £1,400 state pension a month for 30 years.

Life isn't fair in many, many, ways. We just have to get on with our own lives and not worry about what others are getting/have. You can complain of course, but it won't alter anything.

Your relative's situation is not at all typical of most elderly people. But he must be 95 by now so you won't have to feel resentful for very much longer and may even inherit when the time comes

Why means test it? Why shouldn’t people who pay in get something out? I’m fed up with the view that if you work hard and plan for your future you therefore deserve no return!

Me too OP , although slightly different as has £1800 a month private £900 state pension and £7500 a month interest - I kid you not he also has a tiny grotty council flat in a not very nice place and has never bought it. Mean as they come. Brexiter, begrudges anyone getting anything , unless it’s him - no doubt will be apoplectic about this - whereas my really lovely and comfortably off FIL of similar vintage will thoroughly agree with it -he would love to give money away and at the moment darent do so due to his age.

You know the older generation were the younger generation in the past. No one got any paid child care or child benefit, very few got to go to University because most people couldn't afford to. Most people had no chance of buying a house because they earned too little. In many ways it was no different or worse.

And no one gets £1400 a month in state pension about £12000 a year.

Every single person who lives long enough will benefit from the triple lock. We should all be defending it, and I say this as a labour voter.

SRP is a benefit. It's a benefit paid to live off when you are old enough to not be required to work. It's not a reward. If it were spouses who've never worked wouldn't get one as those born before 1953 do; and it would be significantly higher than the amount you'd get on PC, instead of just £3 more.
What it is, is a contributory benefit meaning you need to have contributions to get it. Just like new style ESA, new style JSA and maternity allowance.
I don't think it should be a means tested benefit any time soon though, as that's moving the goalposts considerably from what people have been led to expect. If its going to be means tested people would need decades of warning in order to plan.

Same…struggled out of a household of poverty, worked a job in some way shape or form since 13, never claimed a penny in benefits and now because I have some savings and have gone without over and over in low paid, public sectors jobs to get a roof over my head, some sectors of society are lobbying to ensure I won’t even be able to draw a state pension despite working throughout raising four children. Meanwhile those who’ve never worked and have brought up whole families at the expense of the taxpayer can. Make it make sense!

Well you’ll be delighted to know that since the New State Pension came in the amount is not as high as what your uncle gets.

And that some of us, for example:
had our kids before there were any free childcare hours
Worked for most of our lives at a time that it wasn’t compulsory for employers to contribute to our pensions
And the gender pay gap was much bigger than it was now
And our mortgages, on our cheaper houses, were often at 15%.

Many women are living frugal lives on state pension. Be careful what you wish for because if it goes now it will. Never come back.

I have a wealthy aunt: she chooses not to claim her state pension because she doesn’t need it. It would be better if the wealthy did that, rather than make everyone suffer.

😂 Your relative paid into the state pension. Why on earth shouldn’t they get their pension? You sound like a bitter person who’s less annoyed about the SP and more annoyed about the fact that they’ve got a £6k a month private pension.

You can't means test something that someone has paid into for their whole lives with the expectation of receiving a pension. I'm 56, I've worked for 33 years - if you told me now that I wasn't getting a pension because I'm too rich, how would that be fair? (and by the way, I have also suffered means tested benefits, at least 3 recessions and will be working until I'm at least 70.

And the fact that the youth are struggling with means tested benefits, student loans and all the rest, doesn't justify taking a pension away from other people. They lived through the recession of the 70s, through post-war austerity, without technology, childcare or employment rights laws (for example). You don't restrict pensioners now because you think the youth of today need it more. That's just a crazy argument.

AB will call election much earlier than 2029.
We'll have a chance to vote accordingly.

You do realise that by the time you get to retirement age you will find that you are classified as the well-off who needs to means tested on their pension.
Be careful what you wish for.

Whatever we end up doing I hope we make a decision and stick to it. The unknown makes planning very hard. If state pension will be means tested I will stop paying 45% of my salary into my pension and start living for now.

YABU - he will have paid so much money into the system over the years so why shouldn’t he ?!

What a lot of people fail to realise on Mumsnet, is that as well as contributing a whole heap of tax, (most) wealthy people also spend plenty of money too - cleaners, eating out etc etc which all helps the economy.

Also if you start means testing the state pension then you are punishing people who are financially responsible and save for their pension. Where would the incentive be to save for retirement ?!

He chose to pay into his pension, he has more than likely never claimed or been entitled to anything off the government and has paid a lot of tax.
My husband is throwing everything into his pension for the next ten years, any spare money, bonuses etc. We are sacrificing things now in the hope of having a comfortable retirement, why should there be a chance we don’t get a state pension if it was means tested, or maybe we should enjoy the money now and rely on the state in our old age.

Triple lock going is an unequivocally good thing. Not with you on the means testing.

It’s interesting that you think it’s unfair for your uncle to get a pension that he contributed to for decades. But, you thinks it’s fair for you to get a handout.

Things won’t hold together, if we keep discouraging the productive and lionise those who consume more than they contribute.