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Original poster

The state pension won’t suddenly stop, will it?

237 replies

TeapotCollection · 18/10/2023 14:12

I’m 51. We were talking about pensions at work and someone who’s about to retire said there’d probably be no state pension when I retire

This can’t happen can it? I can imagine the government saying in a few years that anyone born after <date> won’t get it but surely it can’t suddenly stop?

OP posts:
boobot1 · 18/10/2023 14:14

Nothing would surprise me with this lot! But I doubt that would go down well!

megletthesecond · 18/10/2023 14:14

No. Not without decades of warning. They'd be picking up a right mess if they did.

Maybe they'll bring in universal basic income first.

Changes17 · 18/10/2023 14:16

People have been saying that for as long as I can remember (I'm a little bit older than you). I'm assuming I'm going to get it at this point.

RigorMortisRadio · 18/10/2023 14:17

No it will be tapered off or replaced by something else, I can't see it changing for at least 10-15 years yet so at 51 I wouldn't worrying about it in the slightest, even if changes do happen I think you will be over the minimum age not to be affected.

RigorMortisRadio · 18/10/2023 14:18

On the other hand I'm 27 and accept it will probably look very different for me so really try to save into my private pension!

NotesApp · 18/10/2023 14:19

No but it will be gradually pushed back.

plumtreebroke · 18/10/2023 14:20

It will probably lose value if they choose not to increase it with inflation, but I don't think they could throw half of the elderly population into poverty on a whim.

NoSquirrels · 18/10/2023 14:34

Extremely unlikely, verging on impossible for any government. You’re 51. It might happen for the generations below you one day, but I wouldn’t worry on your own account.

AllegroConMoto · 18/10/2023 14:38

I think it’s more likely they’d change the age / number of years to qualify for a full state pension than to stop it.

It’s not impossible they’d bring in an element of means-testing, but I think if they did it would have to be at quite a high level and there would be so many ways round it and such an uproar that I don’t know if it would be worth it!

The other realistic possibility is that it would be announced that anyone currently under, say, 15 would never qualify for a State pension.

FLOWER1982 · 18/10/2023 14:40

NotesApp · 18/10/2023 14:19

No but it will be gradually pushed back.

Most sensible and realistic answer.

PenOfTentacles · 18/10/2023 14:43

Nobody knows what will happen in the future but everyone knows the current system is unsustainable. It’s prudent to make as much alternative provision as possible for your retirement. There are other ways of saving but none are as generously tax-advantaged as pensions. Unlike ISAs, pension assets are safe even if you become insolvent and don’t affect your entitlement to means-tested benefits should you be unable to work.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 18/10/2023 14:44

AllegroConMoto · 18/10/2023 14:38

I think it’s more likely they’d change the age / number of years to qualify for a full state pension than to stop it.

It’s not impossible they’d bring in an element of means-testing, but I think if they did it would have to be at quite a high level and there would be so many ways round it and such an uproar that I don’t know if it would be worth it!

The other realistic possibility is that it would be announced that anyone currently under, say, 15 would never qualify for a State pension.

That would be age discrimination though.

Lottie4 · 18/10/2023 14:45

It wouldn't surprise if they upped the age when you can receive pension, but they should be well aware people in their 50s have understood that they'd be receiving £150+ pw on retirement and there's no time left to make plans for that deficit of income.

LegendsBeyond · 18/10/2023 14:46

It will get put back, probably 70 or 75. I’m pension planning without the state pension & if I get it, that’s a bonus.

camelfinger · 18/10/2023 14:47

I’ve heard this ever since I started working 20+ years ago.

GCAcademic · 18/10/2023 14:49

NotesApp · 18/10/2023 14:19

No but it will be gradually pushed back.

To an age at which the majority of us are more likely to be dead than to claim it.

AllegroConMoto · 18/10/2023 14:49

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 18/10/2023 14:44

That would be age discrimination though.

Show quote history

Probably allowable, though - you could argue an increase in pension age is also age discrimination, but wouldn’t get very far

Ionapussy · 18/10/2023 14:51

I can't see any government abolishing state pension other than in a worldwide disaster.

Means testing is complicated as is trying to absorb it into UC as there are too many loopholes that would need to be dealt with (atm you can access private pensions 10 years before retirement and blow it all if you wish so if state pension was means tested this early access would have to stop and annuities would have to become compulsory again. Laws regarding downsizing would have to be introduced if lump sums of cash would affect entitlement to state pensions).

It is much easier for any government to keep raising the entitlement age and keep payments static for a few years and/or means test elements like free bus passes/prescriptions etc.

Muddle2000 · 18/10/2023 14:51

Most people are now working 40 plus years so giving it to people who have only worked 30 /35
is ridiculous Politically this is also palatable

TheSummerITurnedChubby · 18/10/2023 14:51

I believe somewhere there was a pledge that any major changes to the state pension would have a ten year lead-in time, or something like that. I’m 53 and I fully expect the age that I can claim it to change a few times, in the intervening years

Guavafish1 · 18/10/2023 14:52

Never say never.... With Tory cronyism anything is possible.

I can't believe the pension age is now 68 for some.

menopausalmare · 18/10/2023 14:52

The WASPI (women against state pension increase) were financially shafted by the government massively moving the goalposts overnight and increasing their state pension age. It wouldn't surprise me if it happens again but any government that scraps state pension completely wouldn't last long.

AllegroConMoto · 18/10/2023 14:57

menopausalmare · 18/10/2023 14:52

The WASPI (women against state pension increase) were financially shafted by the government massively moving the goalposts overnight and increasing their state pension age. It wouldn't surprise me if it happens again but any government that scraps state pension completely wouldn't last long.

Some of them were. The ones who thought their pension age was still 60 had been living under a rock since 1995…

TheYearOfSmallThings · 18/10/2023 14:57

No it won't - unless there were total global mayhem, in which case whatever fund your colleague is smugly planning to rely on instead would also be swept away.

rookiemere · 18/10/2023 14:57

I can't see it stopping, but I think it will cease to have the triple lock for annual increases within the next few years, and those who need it can claim additional benefits.

I can't see that they can increase the age people receive it any more than it is already. It would be massively unfair for the working population to work more years than they already do. Nobody genuinely wants 69 year old teachers and bin collectors do they ?