UK PENSIONERS. A BURDEN ON THE STATE.

[ivanhoe]

It is clear that many of you on this site believe that the UK's elderly people are a burden on the State.

So, what you anti- elderly people are doing is descriminating against basically the old in our society, and our country.

You are saying that our elderly people are unaffordable.

That they must endure a low State pension and means tested handouts.

And while you are descrimating against our elderly people, you are full of yourselves to the point of banality.

I read somewhere recently on the internet, that the people living in the 30's and 40's were more mature and sophisticated than the people living today.

This I can believe.

Anyone seen 'Soylent Green'? Great movie. Don't tell Cameron, though.

Yes, lets not give him any ideas. He is very keen on green issues.

You have a noble cause re pensioners Ivanhoe but if you carry on like this in real life you don't have a cat in hell's chance of getting elected to anything - you do realise that, don't you? Unwarranted rudeness combined with an inability to debate aren't generally noted for getting people into positions of political influence. Though I suspect this isn't being read & a new thread is being prepared..

Soylant Green, brilliant film, says it all.

////You have a noble cause re pensioners Ivanhoe but if you carry on like this in real life you don't have a cat in hell's chance of getting elected to anything - //////you do realise that, don't you?///// Unwarranted rudeness combined with an inability to debate aren't generally noted for getting people into positions of political influence. Though I suspect this isn't being read & a new thread is being prepared//////

Yes I realise that.

um, so why carry on in this odd manner on here?

ivanhoe - in practicing as a rhetoritician, it's bad form
( and silly) to slag off the people whose minds you are wishing to influence.

If that is what you are wishing to do. IF not, then a blog is prob. the best way forward.
hth

2shoes, No, I just want to tell people what I know.

Uncle Cliff? Is that you?

ucl and SCR - very goood!

Personally I think I might prefer to be turned into sausages or something when I get past my sell by date, than clutter up the planet whilst the pills keep me going. I reserve my right to feel differently about this in 40 years.

would it be bad form to start a thread saying the op is a drain on mumsnet?

But seriously, my gps are in their mid 80s. My gd is fighting fit and walks the dog daily, has lots of little hobbies and the garden. My gm is in constant pain from osteo-arthritus, is getting increasingly immobile and is very frustrated and sad about it.

However, far from being poverty stricken, they have a good life all in all. Too young to be called up in WW2, they were given fantastic council housing when they started their family which they remained in until nearly retirement age. Then then exercised their right to buy under the Thatcher govt and benefitted from rising house prices. This gave them enough profit when they sold up on retirement to buy a smaller house OUTRIGHT.

They only had a modest income, but have managed fine the last 20 years on their state pension/savings. The council has offered to put in a stair lift/wetroom. They benefit from free transport, free prescriptions etc etc
I am sure that there are many WORSE off, but there will also be many better off - they are a purely average couple.

They don't NEED more cash - more community support maybe - but not money taken from others to suit this cause.

It is MY and younger generations I worry about. We will be fucked.

But seriously, my gps are in their mid 80s. My gd is fighting fit and walks the dog daily, has lots of little hobbies and the garden. My gm is in constant pain from osteo-arthritus, is getting increasingly immobile and is very frustrated and sad about it.

However, far from being poverty stricken, they have a good life all in all. Too young to be called up in WW2, they were given fantastic council housing when they started their family which they remained in until nearly retirement age. Then then exercised their right to buy under the Thatcher govt and benefitted from rising house prices. This gave them enough profit when they sold up on retirement to buy a smaller house OUTRIGHT.

They only had a modest income, but have managed fine the last 20 years on their state pension/savings. The council has offered to put in a stair lift/wetroom. They benefit from free transport, free prescriptions etc etc
I am sure that there are many WORSE off, but there will also be many better off - they are a purely average couple.

They don't NEED more cash - more community support maybe - but not money taken from others to suit this cause.

It is MY and younger generations I worry about. We will be fucked./////

Just how will your generation be fxcked ?

I had occasion to go through my pils finances for IHT planning late last year, as pil has terminal cancer. I was astounded at the amount pil receives in pensions (both state and employers), it is about £40k plus per year net. Not all pensioners are hard up at all, and thanks to saving and investing in an employers pension, my pils have a good income.

Our generation and younger will be fucked because we can't afford a house AND a pension even on average salary the retirement age will no doubt be raised several times if not scrapped entirely so it's likely the state pension will be even worse or won't exist, because people are living longer therefore it's just not affordable to pay a state pension when you're likely to live on another 30 or even 40 years!
On top of that my generation are unlikely to benefit from house price or share price booms!
Only the very rich from the generation below me will be able to go to university making social mobility much less likely.
Even private/company pensions now aren't worth very much!

I am 25yo btw

Scary, my Mum has a little over a quarter of that :(

My Mum too Solo, so we help her out where she lets us do so. My fil is almost 80 so he has two final salary pensions plus state pension, and he was careful with his money and saved and invested. Good on him that he did; early retirement planning evidently works!

Ivanhoe - Against my better judgement, will try to engage you on something you've said as fact: it's rubbish to say that most local services are paid for by local taxes. See Directgov:
"Local government spending is about a quarter of all public spending in the UK. Local authorities are funded by a combination of grants from central government, Council Tax and business rates."
And there's more here explaining that Council Tax provides about a quarter of Council funding.

But, judging from your attitude on this and other threads, this is probably just a great falsehood perpetrated by someone sinister and you will be right anyway.

jkklpu, Since the 80's there has been a reduction in income tax revenue to all local communities UK wide.

While at the same time council tax has increased due to this income tax shortfall re- right wing low income tax trickle down economics.

Politically this "shift" in tax policy represents a devolution of the role of the state, putting onus on local taxes to fund local services more and more.

The Tory lead coalition are continung this devolution of the role of the state in favour of privcatisation and charities.

The is comically refered to as David Cameron's big society.

When in reality David Cameron's Tory's are taking us back to victorianised Britain, thanks to Nick Clegg.

I would cancel the bus pass, winter fuel etc.. and pay people a decent pension so they can decide how to spent their money.

Pensioners themselves should be able to decide if they want to spent their money on high fuel bills or a few months in the Canaries and if they wish to travel by bus not the state.

My granddad is lucky enough to have retired on a final salary scheme, he is 92 and still takes of to Spain in January and doesn't return until the end of April. Believe it or not but he actually saves money that way. Go Granddad!

Well, what all you elderly people keep doing is voting in governments who attack us single parents and our young disabled friends. Hardly surprising we don't like you much, is it?

Which government attacks single mums and the disabled and who are the elderly people who voted them in?