No fun being old under Andy Burnham .

Why has the train service gone so bad in the last few years It's usually no driver available don't they get overtime or do they just not need to work Sundays

I'm old l like Andy Burnham but it's no fun on trains on Sundays It's no fun for anyone old or disabled getting trains from Blackpool on Sundays still loads cancelled today No buses provided in their place I thought Blackpool had illuminations on and needs visitors Also still a lot of empty buildings at Preston Station rooms for the homeless ?

..and the health of ones loved ones and whether we have found a degree of learning to live with what is, not what might be "ideal'.

Whitewavemark2

MaizieD

Whitewavemark2

eazybee

I'm beginning to go right off him! ??

I have been off him since he forced his way into being Prime Minister.
His aims are deliberately divisive: North against South, old against young, working against middle class, feckless against responsible.
A true Marxist.

😄😄😄

It’s comedy gold on N & P this morning.

An H & M thread in full swing and a Marxist PM!

We just need a thread about those “immigrants” and we will have a hat trick.

😂 I'm sure we can find more than that, surely?

As regards what is a marxist, the understanding of Marxism is somewhat totally out here. shall I do the routine again?

Marxism means that there is no private ownership whatsoever, no one can own a business or own a house, or a farm, the state controls all, including pensions, health care, nursery care. It was a theoretical idea of the end of capitalism from 1867 when Karl Marx wrote Das Capital and has actually never really been put into practice.

The workers would all rise up and overthrow capitalism and.....what we have is a more active state involvement towards a more equal society,

but really given early announcements it's all about sorting the care system out and measure to ensure more houses are built, whereas the Right (broadly) favours low involvement by the state in the belief that allowing earning riches benefits all and magically the poor will benefit......

personally, I think the state of ones health as we age has the greatest impact of them all as well as having 'enough".

Browncow1

Sorry Casdon. I misunderstood what you were trying to say in your post, and assumed that you were on the old state pension and having a moan at the higher rate of the NSP for newer retirees.
Yes, some older pensioners can get much higher amounts on the old state pension as Doodledog has stated in her posts.
Thanks to both of you 😀

No worries, Browncowl

Give it a few weeks and there'll be another thread moaning about the discrepancies, though.

I do understand that it must be hard to get by on only the OSP, but very few people do, as PC kicks in to uplift it if that is all someone gets. If the husband who supposedly 'paid their contributions' is around, then he should pay for their retirement as a couple. If he is not, then he should have provided for it, if the couple had decided to risk his being the sole contributor.

I suspect that it is women who get a lower rate because they had lower numbers of working years, or because they made lower payments when they worked, and now regret it who object the most. I get it. I regret financial decisions, but the difference is that I don't expect others to finance my regrets.

If their household income is above the threshold they won't get PC, but that is because of exactly the same argument that said it was ok to base payments on a household (so a man could pay tax and NI for two, and a woman could pay less NI because her husband's contributions covered hers). If that is the case, I have little sympathy - you pay your money (or not) and make your choice. If you choose to pay in less, how can you expect to take out more?

I understand people resenting the fact that people who never worked get PC, as that is very unfair, but some seem to want it both ways. If pensions are not benefits, as many of us agree, then they are based on contributions. Why should those making lower contributions get more than others? You pay in, you get out. You choose to pay less, you get less out. It's not complicated.

Well, obviously somebody doesn’t like Andy Burnham, but putting their opinion 3 times on Gransnet is a bit over the top. I myself think that Andy Burnham is a welcome antidote to the lacklustre rather doubtful politics that we have had to put up with over the years.

It’s worth reposting the DWP’s statxplore chart I posted upthread to show there’s little difference in the average weekly pension across the age ranges. That’s from last year so all of these numbers will have increased a little. (The next analysis is due next month.)

You could say broadly that the oldest pensioners are more likely to have had years when they were less likely to be in a works pension scheme (so no contracted out deductions for SERPS/SSP) and/or they have inherited pension.

The younger ones may have some post April 2016, post SERPS/SSP NIC contributions which can “burn off” contracted out deductions for pre April 2016 years if they have more than 35 years of contributions.

The oldest women in the new scheme are now or approaching 73 and men 75. They were receiving on average £210.63 per week compared to the then full rate of £230.25

Compare the then full rate of £176.45 of the old scheme. All older age groups were on average receiving more.

What does that tell us?

Sorry Casdon. I misunderstood what you were trying to say in your post, and assumed that you were on the old state pension and having a moan at the higher rate of the NSP for newer retirees.
Yes, some older pensioners can get much higher amounts on the old state pension as Doodledog has stated in her posts.
Thanks to both of you 😀

Thanks Doodledog, that’s a much better explanation than mine!

Casdon will correct me if I am wrong, but I think she is suggesting that if those complaining that their old pension is automatically less than the new one (which is patently untrue) could rectify that if they paid back the six extra years, relinquished any SERPs or inheritance and instead got the percentage of the new pension based on the full contributions they personally made (pro rata if they paid the married woman's stamp), there would be few takers.

I am inclined to agree with her.

I also think that there would be an outcry from those who have had a significantly higher pension than the NSP for decades if they were expected to give it up or pay it back. My mother didn't work until all her children had left school, but she gets a lot more than I do (and I worked from 16 to retirement with two 6 month maternity leaves, and had to repay contracted-out contributions to get a full NSP) because she paid as much as possible into SERPS and inherited my father's SP as well as claiming her own. I paid higher rate tax, but didn't have the opportunity to get a higher rate pension as a result. Mum also gets my father's occupational pension, which is entirely separates (as it should be).

There is a huge discrepancy between our respective incomes, and I am the one who worked - I don't begrudge her, but only because she is my mother, and there is no way that it is a fair system. It irritates me to keep hearing how unfair to older pensioners the system is - the reverse is true, IMO.

I am on the new pension Browncow1, I don’t think you understood what I was meaning?

To compensate us for the six extra years of work we did is impossible, but I think if people on the old scheme want to be on the new scheme, they should be allowed to pay the national insurance contribution for the six years of work they didn’t do. I know that wouldn’t take into account tax those of us who worked longer paid, so it’s not an exact science, but there is no way of achieving a completely fair system.

Casdon

Why not open up the option for people on the old system to opt to pay back the six years national insurance contributions they missed by retiring at sixty, and then claim the pension at the rate for those who didn’t receive it until 66? Otherwise, whatever the government does isn’t fair to some.

Casdon. If you receive the old pension, you will have received six years of pension more than me. I retired at 66, and therefore missed out on tens of thousands of pension money, maybe up to £60,000 in total including some SERPS. It is women like me who are paying indirectly towards the new state pension. Want to give back your six years pension? No, I thought not.

Alison333

Whitewavemark2

eazybee

I'm beginning to go right off him! ??

I have been off him since he forced his way into being Prime Minister.
His aims are deliberately divisive: North against South, old against young, working against middle class, feckless against responsible.
A true Marxist.

😄😄😄

Hilarious! Where is this coming from?

You’ve seen so much in a short space of time.
Have you thought about fortune telling as a side hustle.

I was never really on him tbh.
The new Emperor who tries to gain influence and curry favour. With silly half arsed offers and policies that nibble around the edges.

And do not address the real serious problems that our country is facing.

Also likes to spend half the week lording it in Manchester like the Ancients Greeks and Romans.

Which has become the new Athens of the North.

Whitewavemark2

eazybee

I'm beginning to go right off him! ??

I have been off him since he forced his way into being Prime Minister.
His aims are deliberately divisive: North against South, old against young, working against middle class, feckless against responsible.
A true Marxist.

😄😄😄

Hilarious! Where is this coming from?

BlueBelle

Well I m very happy under Andy Burnham I like him and so far I think his ideas show a good start
I m old, 1945 and I m happy to get any pension, I worked till I was nearly 70 well 69 and a half to be more accurate and I m still working just not getting paid any more
My pension is what it is and as long as I can keep myself fed and clothed I m happy, life’s way too short to be mithering
(good old Suffolk word) about money

Always thought "mithering" was Yorkshire. Anyway it's fir for purpose!

I think I am going to ask AGE UK to help me query my pension which isn't even a basic state pension. Every thing is very confusing

Why is it that the politicians review pensions as a hand out? I certainly don’t when I have paid into the system since the age of 15 and worked hard.
With regard to our current self appointed prime minister, the thing that irritates me is when he’s speaking he keeps say “I will” but there’s no I in the party, surely the political parties are teams. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all political parties would work together for the greater good of the country and most importantly its people.
Would that be too hard to do?

A true Marxist

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

it is nothing to do with Andy Burnham - the "new pension" scheme was in place before he became PM

I'm 81 and paid all my working life (30 years+) but my pension is still less than my husband...Grrrr!

jomo

Wow how hetup do oaps get 😒 🙄 it's been less for older oldies for ages I got a Sil who's pension is about £400.00 more a year then either my hubby or me .
That's the way it goes kill off the older ones first I think 🤔 then they get more in the kitty 😺 wrote with tongue in cheek before I upset anyone !!!

.

👍👍🤣🤣🤣🤣

Wow how hetup do oaps get 😒 🙄 it's been less for older oldies for ages I got a Sil who's pension is about £400.00 more a year then either my hubby or me .
That's the way it goes kill off the older ones first I think 🤔 then they get more in the kitty 😺 wrote with tongue in cheek before I upset anyone !!!

.

I think AB is very promising as a PM.He's very ambitious, almost worryingly so,but I think he's committed to doing as good a job as possible.

I do accept him Cossy - just not sure I like him.
...but I don't actually have to - and do hope he's successful.