Pension grumble

I am not sure how much I paid in the old 'Graduated Pension' contributions over the years (it seemed like an awful lot at the time) but I now get an extra £2.39 per week on my State Pension, which is not the full amount as I only paid in 34 years not 39 years.

I can sympathise with those caught in this.

When the new state pension comes in next April, those receiving it will receive a much higher basic rate than those already in receipt of it - something like £150 per week compared to about £115 approximately.

Presumably this is to compensate those who have had to wait longer and pay more NI before getting their pensions.

So asking existing retirees to pay more to top up their pensions to the new level seems fair to me, because they got their pensions at an earlier age. There will still be the minimum income guarantee for people whose income is below the new basic state pension.

Who has a spare £22.000 to increase their state pension? Those who will retire or have retired on a huge fat company pension . Once again it's all for the rich to get richer and the less well off to get poorer .Anyway who knows I'm sure that if I did have spare money I would drop dead the moment I've done it ! So noGeorge you are not having any of my well earned cash .

Riverwalk my apologies, I must have blinked, not noticing that the age has risen yet again. One would not mind if you were aged maybe 30 years and this was foisted on you- at least you would have the years ahead to try and work something out but my heart goes out to you having to work until you are almost 66.

Whoever thought this shambles through (or not) has never worked and will be able to rely on daddy leaving enough money for him to retire at maybe 40 years of age.

Y'all?? Where did that come from?

Y'all power to their elbow, I say.

The Women Against State Pension Inequality group are fighting our corner, and getting a lot of media attention.

m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=877054125688402&_rdr

Charley the age has risen again to 66 - I know as I get mine a month before my 66th birthday!

We can't even go for this if born after April 1953, as it's assumed we'll get the full Universal Pension of £150 odd that comes in next year. Most of us won't - if we opted out at any time, as we were encouraged to do, none of those years will count, as we paid slightly less national insurance then. I had one of my schemes embezzled by the trustees, so will receive nothing at all for the years I paid into that. And now I feel that the powers that be have embezzled another 6 years, seeing as I am now nearly 61, with 41 years contributions, but won't get my state pension, or even my goddamn bus pass, till I'm 66.

I am in that group too granoftwins. I can't help feeling that no other company/department could get away with withholding £24,000 that you are entitled to! I was also amazed to see that someone born two months earlier than me gets their pension a whole year earlier! It seems this was done in a rush and not thought through properly at all.
I too would be hard pressed to find another job due to ill health.

I had assumed I would get my pension at 60, but then it was put back to 62 years and 8 months and then put back AGAIN to 64 years and 11 months.
I am in a group of women born in 1953 who had their dates changed TWICE!
This is the ultimate p***take!

I know the feeling I am one of the many who eventually get their pension at 62 and 11 months in January- I suppose I should be grateful The idea of giving the government another £22,500 to give me £25 per week doesn't look very attractive - rather spend it on something nice.

I am amazed that more people are not going to work with Zimmer frames. I think it is disgraceful the way that the age has been moved from 60 to just under 65. That is a long time at our age.

I saw today on the news that to get an extra £25 a week pension I would have to pay in around £22,000+. Maybe slightly less as I am in my early 70's but how many people have that amount of money to give to the Government and it is sod's law that I would die within a year thus losing the lot. Rant over.

This is going to be a problem for a lot of people around my age Luckygirl I have worked full time from being 16. I did not have the luxury of taking time off to enjoy being a full time mother. At 53 I am quite frankly fed up and cannot visualise working for another 15 or more years ahead.

I send heartfelt commiserations to all of you who are caught in this trap. No private pension scheme would be allowed to get away with taking your subs under false pretenses.

I was lucky to get my pension at 60. I am now 67 and if the pension age had been higher I would have spent the last few years battling with the benefits system as I would not have been well enough to work any longer and would have needed to be in some sort of sick pay.

I don't feel confident that if you paid into the Pension top up you would actually get it, after all I paid in for many many years, expecting to retire at 60 only to find it had been pushed out to 64 and 3 months. So 4 years of pension lost! I am just so cross (in case you couldn't tell)...

I'm feeling fed up to think that I will not be able to retire until I am 67 at the very least. By the time I reach that age no doubt it will have gone up to 70 or beyond !

I'm going to have a Google later and try to see how it affects me, already in receipt of full government pension plus earnings related etc.
At 65+ I wonder how the new changes will work.