Pensioners’ paradise!

I am angry about the tax i have to pay as my income totals above the allowance i am given as a pensoner I have worked all my life in four different jobs three of them i chose to join their pension schemes
which now added to my OAP goverment one so i am paying tax
when one of the increases my pension due to anual inflation i now get less than before as i am taxed more This is unfair in my opinion I dont understand why people who havent helped them selves thought of the future get all the help classed as on the lower income bracket are given so much financil help Lifes unfair as far as i see it Just because i have saved for my old age got some money put aside to allow me to have the heating on and have a few extras when i see it they hold out their hands go to the council offices and get money or allowences when i cant/not entitled Lifes unfair for many of us who thought about our old age and did something about it years ago !!!!

… people in rented accommodation who didn't prepare for their own retirement.

I think that’s unfair although it’s unclear who you are talking about. If you are talking about people who rent privately, then they have been caught by the repercussions of Thatcher’s policy to sell off council homes and the exorbitant rents now charged by many landlords.

What exactly do you mean by prepare? People’s circumstances do change, even in later life.

Since 1980, 2.4m council homes have been sold off. Over 40% are now in the hands of private landlords, much higher percentages in some parts of the country. Milton Keynes over 70%, Dover around 60% They aren’t being rented out at social rents.

Again, as I wrote upthread, it’s single people who fare the worst as they won’t be prioritised for social housing, so they have little option but to rent privately at the inflated rents that landlords charge.

Once upon a time, rent paid to councils by tenants was used to maintain existing housing stock and build new stock. Now councils are paying housing benefit to make landlords wealthy. I regularly see former council homes up for rent around here (south east not London) for over £2,000 a month. The going rate for just a room in a shared house is £600 to £800 a month. When even the full nSP equates to just under £1,000 per calendar month and SP topped up with Pension Credit slightly less, how is someone to survive without housing benefit?

Allsorts

Never realised how much the government gives to people in rented accommodation who didn't prepare for their own retirement.,

What’s the alternative? Homelessness?

We prepared because we were fortunate to be able to afford to. Many, many just can’t.

Never realised how much the government gives to people in rented accommodation who didn't prepare for their own retirement.,

We were talking about this , this afternoon.
I love my DGS, who said, as I offered him dinner tonight, “I think things like getting a job are more difficult today, especially with AI coming in.”
He added,
“But that doesn’t mean life was easier for old people like you when they were young.”

Thats me told then!

But we are no different from any age group in that our circumstances differ from one another.

That's it in a nutshell!

Eloethan

Of course there are pensioners who are struggling - and they deserve more help.

However, there are plenty of pensioners who are doing very nicely thank you. I know some of them, and. although I wouldn't say my husband and I are rich, I consider we are very comfortably off.
]
Meanwhile many young people are struggling - and young families especially. Despite it now being necessary for most families to have both partners working - some full time - many are finding child care costs and rents/mortgages eat into most of their income. When my husband and I married, he was in training on a low income and I was on an average one, yet when I left work for a couple of years when I had a baby we still managed to pay our rent, buy decent food, heat our home and run an old car. That would not be possible now on an equivalent income - we wouldn't even be able to rent somewhere. Where I live, rental on a flat is around £2,500 a month.

Life expectancy far exceeds what it was in the 1950s, so it can't be that bad.

I am fed up with hearing pensioners moaning all the time - and it is often the ones who aren't suffering.

Well said 👏

What I struggle with is the idea that pensioners should be seen as a separate group. Yes, some pensioners paid into occupational pensions and others didn't. Yes, not everyone earned enough to do so, and others chose to prioritise things like holidays, as was their right. But we are no different from any age group in that our circumstances differ from one another.

There seems to be a view that pensioners who aren't on the breadline are somehow fraudulent and not 'in need' of the state pension we have paid for. (insert usual caveat that I am fully aware of how the system works and that there is no pot etc)

We paid NI for decades, and arguably those with occupational pensions most definitely paid in - not all of those without an OP will have done - so why shouldn't we get the SP as well? Employer contributions to pensions are part of salaries, and employees pay in a chunk of their earnings - they are not freebies.

Like others, I object to the rather facile way we are presented as having had such easy lives when we were young. Depending on our ages, we had different experiences of things like interest rates (we fixed for 5 years at 15%) and so on. My children are starting out now, and both have mortgages with much lower rates, but their houses cost significantly (and comparatively) more. Rents are also insane.

It's difficult to be sure about the rest. Like we did, they spend a fortune on housing, although they are ten years older than I was when we got our first house, because prices mean that saving a deposit was much harder for them. On the other hand they spend on things we didn't dream of, so it's not easy to say who is/was better off.

To me, though, that doesn't matter. I don't believe in intergenerational warfare. I think that we should honour the pension arrangements of older people, which are hardly generous compared to other developed countries, and also try to make life easier for the young.

Regardless, the OP is nonsense. It is trying to feed on the discontent prevalent in the media, and it pushes the 'Britain is Broken' narrative beloved of Reform. It is very heartening to see that on the whole, posters are rejecting that narrative.

I agree Mollygo. We had much lower expectations. Apart from anything else, that means that we really appreciate what we have now.

Eloethan
I do think it’s hard for some young people now, including my DGC
Considering the numbers of young women, young mums and young men at the gym, and the crowds of young or younger people in the multitude of eateries, there are plenty of young people who are doing very nicely thank you too.

When we married, DH earned enough for us to rent the top floor of a house. I was pregnant so soon that I didn’t qualify for more than the one off maternity pay and since we had no relatives there was no chance of going back to work.
He walked to work as we couldn’t afford a car.
No family allowance either until 1977 and then only if you had more than one child.
Yes I could feed us on less than £7 pw- we ate a lot of vegetables, liver and stewing beef and cod which was cheaper back then. There wasn’t much option, no food banks etc.
IMO one reason for life being easier was that we didn’t expect to have cars, devices and foreign holidays- or any holidays actually as our right.

Eloethan

Of course there are pensioners who are struggling - and they deserve more help.

However, there are plenty of pensioners who are doing very nicely thank you. I know some of them, and. although I wouldn't say my husband and I are rich, I consider we are very comfortably off.
]
Meanwhile many young people are struggling - and young families especially. Despite it now being necessary for most families to have both partners working - some full time - many are finding child care costs and rents/mortgages eat into most of their income. When my husband and I married, he was in training on a low income and I was on an average one, yet when I left work for a couple of years when I had a baby we still managed to pay our rent, buy decent food, heat our home and run an old car. That would not be possible now on an equivalent income - we wouldn't even be able to rent somewhere. Where I live, rental on a flat is around £2,500 a month.

Life expectancy far exceeds what it was in the 1950s, so it can't be that bad.

I am fed up with hearing pensioners moaning all the time - and it is often the ones who aren't suffering.

Spot on.

Of course there are pensioners who are struggling - and they deserve more help.

However, there are plenty of pensioners who are doing very nicely thank you. I know some of them, and. although I wouldn't say my husband and I are rich, I consider we are very comfortably off.
]
Meanwhile many young people are struggling - and young families especially. Despite it now being necessary for most families to have both partners working - some full time - many are finding child care costs and rents/mortgages eat into most of their income. When my husband and I married, he was in training on a low income and I was on an average one, yet when I left work for a couple of years when I had a baby we still managed to pay our rent, buy decent food, heat our home and run an old car. That would not be possible now on an equivalent income - we wouldn't even be able to rent somewhere. Where I live, rental on a flat is around £2,500 a month.

Life expectancy far exceeds what it was in the 1950s, so it can't be that bad.

I am fed up with hearing pensioners moaning all the time - and it is often the ones who aren't suffering.

I have annual eye tests because a first degree relative had glaucoma, I always make sure to go. I'm hoping that when I turn 70 the eye test I will have had a few months before will suffice for the requirements
As for paying tax, my pension is more than my part time work, and with my small extra but if pension , while I can't say I'm delighted to be paying tax, I'm glad that I'm better off. Against that my charitable donations that I've gift aided help bring down the tax a little bit
I remember someone who was able to retire at 60, with a private pension complaining loudly about having to pay tax. I'd have loved her income! The other thing about a pension you'd paid into is you got tax relief on it when you put it away. It wouldn't be fair to pay no tax on the income from the pension. But she couldn't see that.
She lives in a lovely house, has a husband with his own pension, some people just moan moan moan
I'm waspi, I'd have done very differently had I known things were to change

Well said.

Taxation falls on all of us whose income is above a certain level. Therefore, those of us with a pension income pay tax: as does
The young singleton or couple juggling their first ( scary) mortgage
The family with little children who all need new shoes the same month
The family with sports mad teenagers who empty the fridge of food every day
I can't make a case for myself to be treated differently.

Oreo

Nannan2

You can argue with OP about the bedroom tax but i bet everything else is correct.

👍🏻

Which bits? Yes, for those who work, retirement age has risen, but those who don't work often get as much, if not more money in retirement by means of pension credit than those who have subsidised it.

The bits about hospital discharge apply to patients of all ages, not just pensioners.

Similarly, everyone pays for a TV licence if they watch licenced TV.

Isn't it something like 4% of people who pay inheritance tax? IT is most certainly not all pensioners, as is implied.

What on earth is that list of things that 'taxpayers cover' for 'those at the top'? Is it about MP expenses? If so, how are representatives of those far from London supposed to get to parliament and also spend time in constituencies if they don't have accommodation provided?

I'd love to hear which bits of the post are 'correct'?

Silvergirl

I assumed it was an A.I. post and scrolled on past!

MollyGo has been a member on GN for some years.
If you are suspicious about a post, do a search.

Nannan2

You can argue with OP about the bedroom tax but i bet everything else is correct.

👍🏻

Jane43 I think it depends on what the optician recommends on the form you're given after a test. I have a recommendation that I should have a test every year (rather than the usual two years) because there's concern that cataracts are developing.

butterandjam

BoggledMind

OldFrill

"Lets not forget how incompetent us pensioners are god forbid we should reach 70. We will be expected to pay for a compulsory eye test to allow us to continue driving-another tax for us to keep hold of our licence"

Eye tests are free for over 60s.

Is this written by Carole Bromley the psychic, "anything for attention - truth or not".

There may be some truth in the driving licence comment.

Eye tests are indeed free for over 60s but that's limited to one eye test every two years (the recommended time for tests). If a licence renewal is due within two years of a free eye test, then the licence renewal test will have to be paid for.

I speak from experience here. I had a free eye test a couple of years ago. I went to book an eye test two years later but was told it would cost me as the free one wasn't due for another month. I went back a month later and had a free one.

In Scotland, NHS-funded eye examinations are free for all residents, usually recommended every two years (or annually for children/over-60s).

DH (79) gets a free NHS Scotland annual eye test every year at his regular optician who supplies his glasses.

In ADDITION to his annual test, the |DVLA requires an technical- designated eye test every three years. The specific DVLA eye exam must be done at a DVLA designated branch of Specsavers because they don't accept any other .

He's not charged for DVLA eye exams, possibly because of his eye condition (glaucoma).

I’m have an eye test every 12 months and have never been charged for it, the year I had two cataract procedures I had three eye tests and was not charged for any of them.

Doodledog

I thought pensioners were exempt from bedroom tax? It only applies to working age people in social housing who claim benefits.

I don't approve of the bedroom tax, but the trouble with these 'round robin' social media posts is that they create unnecessary fear and discontent. Nobody over pension age is going to have to give up their grandchild's bedroom, even if they are living in social housing with the taxpayer paying their rent, which is ironic, given the tone of the rant.

This is the only time owning your own house is beneficial. ( lighthearted)

I assumed it was an A.I. post and scrolled on past!

I like to look at the numbers.

The poorest pensioners tend to be single women. They comprise the largest demographic of Pension Credit claimants. It’s often they who haven’t worked outside the home long enough to earn a full State Pension or build a workplace pension.

Say someone has a State Pension of £100 a week, pays rent to a private landlord of £800 a month and pays Band B council tax. I have used the amount in this county for the purpose of the example which is £1,686.

They would be entitled to benefits of £435.75 a week comprising State Pension £100.00, Pension Credit £127.10, Housing Benefit £182.96 and Council Tax Support £24.69. In other words, almost all of their rent and CT is covered.

(If the person was an owner occupier they would receive the same CT support.)

If their State Pension was smaller it would still be topped to £227.10 pw with more Pension Credit.

So an annual income of £22,607 leaving them £11,321 after paying rent and CT. That’s £217.71 a week to pay for food, energy, water and other essential bills.

They would pay no income tax.

As well as the Winter Fuel Payment they would be entitled to Warm Home Discount, free dental and eye care and a free TV licence if age 75 or over.

I am single householder. I spend no more than £50.00 a week on food and household items e.g. cleaning products and toiletries. I eat three meals a day.

My combined dual fuel energy and water bills come to £20 a week averaged over the year. I know I am a low consumer of those. The energy price cap for an average two person home is currently £1758 or £33 a week.

I would have £148 a week left over to pay for everything else.

I'm not saying it's easy but the heat or eat trope is getting a little tired.

I was chatting to someone recently who said his mother leaves her heating on all the time including overnight at a cost of £50 a week. Even with that level of energy use it would still leave ample funds to pay for food.

The charlatan who posted this nonsense on FB is a Reform supporter. Her posts give that away. Rants about migrants and Drill, baby, drill.

So what is it that she thinks the millionaire Reform MPs and their billionaire crypto, fossil fuel and armament rich backers would do for poorer pensioners after they have ... privatised the NHS, deported the people from other nations who keep our public health and other services going, ripped up the Human Rights Act which protect us all and the Equality Act which specifically protects the old?

A reminder that the reason bills are likely to go up is because Farage’s hero Trump is enjoying bombing the hell out of innocent people so that he can make money from oil and create more wealth for those who profit from war.

Nannan2

You can argue with OP about the bedroom tax but i bet everything else is correct.

You’d lose your bet then Nannan2.

Excellent