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.

Not entirely sure how my generation’s supposed to suddenly provide more for their pension pot with no warning on top of everything else we are having to pay for as regards our children and parents.

I'm not due my pension for well over another decade but I've been paying NI for a long time. If they means test it, I'll be wanting a decent percentage of my NI back.
Not because I'm deluded enough to think there's a little pot with my name on it, somewhere, but because up to 2016 there was an option to pay lower NI and have a reduced pension entitlement - and I didn't. The government set the precedent that paying full NI entitles you to a full pension - they have to stick to that, whatever the 'full pension' ends up being.

Some pensioners under Serps/ old system get in excess of £20k a year.
The ‘old’ SP isn’t a set amount.
He also will pay a shed load of tax on his £7500 monthly income a mix of 20% AND 40%.
He will pay approx. £23k in TAX.

Your assumption I had children in my 50s

If ypu dont think he deserves it then maybe the government could do a calculation on how much hes paid into 'the pot', and refund him. Would that make you happy?.

As long as we are prepared to give him back what he has contributed over the decades via NI

oh wait - he probably contributed far more than he will receive

what a strange way of thinking

I paid for a music festival but someone else decided that since I had plenty of music festivals already my ticket should go to someone else ? It’s scary what OP is considering. I paid for food in sainsburies but im fat so it will be given to skinny person instead ?

he’s paid for it already and its theft to take it away

Pensions are not benefits.

I dont normally swear but you can duck right off

Your relative is merely taking what he is entitled to.Means testing is just wrong everyone is entitled to a state pension. Why should your relative be excluded but those who have done sweet FA throughout their non working life get it at no cost to them having never paid tax or NI. Your relative will have paid shedloads throughout their life

that said, as a pensioner I agree the triple lock should go and one of the three chosen for future years

that said again my understanding is this will be done as part of labours manifesto for the next election so lots of time for a change of mind, and who knows if Labour will even get in

You really don’t need to worry about ‘rich’ pensioners over the next few years OP. We have an absolute ticking time bomb heading our way as the first people who lost their DB pensions (thanks to Gordon Brown imposing dividend tax on pensions) head into retirement on DC schemes.

You’d need a DC pot of about £1m to buy an annuity paying about £40k a year. The vast majority of people heading into retirement over the next 5-10 years have nowhere near that amount, so most people are going to have minimal private pensions. Obviously public sector employees have retained mainly DB schemes, but they’re not as generous as they were and based off lower salaries.

Ok so means test the State Pension and I’ll suck up that I’ve paid into the system for 45 years and had one NHS operation in return. But if we do that, why should I be bothered sacrificing hundreds of pounds of my salary every month into a private pension when I could not bother and just claim from the state?

I can only think that most people complaining about the triple lock being paid doesn't realise just how little it actually amounts to.
My state pension amounts to £780 a month since last April (part of it was opted out whilst I was working). Before this it was £744 a month. That's an increase of £36 a month. I pay 20% tax on it so come out with £28.80 a month more in my pocket. That's £345 a year- just £6.64 a week!
It really doesn't keep up with the cost of living at all.
I hate the way the triple lock has been used to whip up so much anti pensioner hatred.

He is paying the same amount of tax as 9 people on minimum wage.

We will go back to lowest state pensions in G20. The lack of growth is the issue, that won't be fixed by making a bunch of pensioners poorer.

@Sky1ark

because of your post below

I’m working until 67, had my CB means tested…. and will be retiring in a few years time. Why should my pension be means tested?

Did you mean you had some of your CB means tested?

Ahhh so it's not about protecting the most vulnerable to you then?
We all pay in for a fairer society, do we not? Not to take out exactly the same. I pay into my work-based pension and I feel privileged to be able to do so. My colleagues half my age can't afford to do that because they are trying to claw their way out of paying extortionate rents and get onto the property ladder. My grandparents couldn't do that because they lived hand-to-mouth. I work extremely bloody hard, but I don't think that entitles me to anything other than my own earnings, savings, and private pension.

Yes, I wish my state pension was that much!

Clearly

Yes it is but you need to have at least 35 years of NI contributions to get the full state pension. So you have to pay in to benefit, unlike universal credit, child benefit and PIP. New style JSA and Mat Benefit are linked to NI contributions. We could all do with some clarity about who gets what and what they have had to contribute to get it. The word "benefit" makes it sound as if it is just handed out like largesse or bounty

The sane people think they’re entitled to free care too because they ‘paid into it’ no benefit, not one single one of them, should be paid out without means testing. Ever.

He COULD be getting that much.
As I stated before, under SERPS, some pensioners will be getting £20-25k.
That’s what SERPS was, an additional payment out of pay for a higher State Pension.

Whether he needs it or not, he has earned it and is entitled to it, however much this annoys you. If he has 40 years of contributions, he gets a full basic state pension under the old system. As others have said the state pension is not a benefit.

Yes, pretty much the same as my public sector pay increase this year. Except we were subject to pay freezes and pay caps several times over the last 16 years.

Be careful what you wish for, OP, you're going to be a pensioner one day. Of course, you want to set the threshold so high that it won't touch you. It doesn't work like this, once it's in place it will get lower and lower until only people who have never paid in will get a pension.

All the millennials crowing about scrapping the triple lock....we're the ones who'll be truly fucked by lack of increase in our pensions. Tax relief on workplace pensions will be buggered soon too. Unless you are dink on two v high salaries it's going to be really hard to retire at all in 20-30 years. I don't expect to ever draw a state pension, my workplace pension is pants, so I'll be slogging away till I die in a crappy job some poor teen should be doing to gain experience. Really long sighted thinking all around here.

I make huge sacrifices to ensure I am able to pay enough money into my pension. If a person in a similar financial situation to me decides not to save the same amount of money into a pension, because they want to spend their money on stupid things instead, why does that make them more deserving of a state pension than me?

Regarding your young colleagues, how many of them go on foreign holidays? How many go to bars and clubs and buy alcohol? How many of them have cars on those weird "PCP" things? If they didn't spend money on those things, they would find more money in their pocket to save for a pension.