Ros Altmann's comments on the triple lock on state pensions

peaceatlast From what you say, you and your husband are getting around £2,800 per month, and your husband isn't even eligible for state pension yet. I would imagine there are quite a few pensioners who would be happy with that amount.

You complain about having to use your savings to maintain your own home. Surely, everybody has to do that if they own their property (which, after all, is a valuable asset). I don't understand why you say you won't be able to leave anything to your children - won't they inherit the proceeds of your home?

If I were you, I would count my blessings instead of worrying about other people getting their hair and nails done.

I get a small NHS pension as I worked part time till I was 40 and you couldn't join the pension scheme at that time if you were part time. I also receive the state pension . My DH gets a state pension and a very small private pension as the large building company he worked for went bust,and pensions were badly depleted.. He worked for 12 years in the public sector and receives another small pension . So after years of hard working we just about manage .Our savings give us very little return but at least are there for emergencies. UK pensions are nothing like our European friends but with Brexit now there is little chance of equality I'm sure. But for someone to say the state pension is their "pocket money" it shows the huge inequality of it all particularly in our age group born in the fifties. We need a living pension for all .

Skweet1
I trust that you have obtained advice for your tribunal hearing.
Statistics show that represented appeals are more likely to succeed.
Also oral hearings fair better than paper ones.

I just receive a state pension. I feel I am trapped with so little money. I have worked mainly part time for over 30 years. I couldn't afford a private pension or to pay for child care to go full time. I would love to find a job and still pay tax but I have tried and never considered. Unfortunately I feel the young think we shouldn't be here. In my opinion there is ageism. i do volunteer.

My children spend the equivalent of half my pension on Costa coffees every year!

I know the Australian pension is means tested 'Jalima' but they are still ensuring a minimum level of income
Gracesgran it is all relative, though; for instance food prices have practically quadrupled in a few years in Australia, rents are high too and I am not sure if there are additional benefits or help for rent, council tax in addition to the pension.
The minimum level of income looks fairly reasonable but any assets or other income is taken into consideration and the Age Pension reduced by 50 cents in every $A accordingly, until it reaches nothing.

In other words, the Australian Age Pension is merely a safety net.

The triple lock cannot/should not be removed until all pensioners are on a reasonable rate. Once that happens all additional pensioner benefits will have/can go and we will be on a level playing field - you will have the cash to cover rent, tv licenses, poll tax etc. And the better off pensioners will pay tax on any additional income they have. I too have been stitched up with retirement dates, no returns on savings that prevent you getting any help with increasing expenses, investments crashing due to various govt policies , no increase in wages for many many years before retirement and redundancy - but I don't want benefits, I want pensions brought up to a living wage level for everyone - having the triple lock gaining ground for pensions in a potential deflationary period should start to do this. I also don't subscribe to the "if the young suffer we should" school of thought, I don't want the young to suffer I have children and grand children, but neither they or I think my suffering will help their prospects in any way - on the contrary they'll probably have to find top ups for my care when I can't. I don't want anyone to be below subsistence. Why do some think it's an either or?

I didn't think you were grumbling Smithy . I have come across a few people who think you cannot get Council Tax benefit unless you are on Pension Credit and it is true that you may not get full council tax benefit but some people will be due a proportion. This also applies to help with NHS costs. Although someone on Pension Credit will get full help for glasses, travel to receive NHS treatment and dental treatment, wigs and fabric supports someone on a very low income but not as low as needing Pension Credit can still have a certificate which says you will pay a maximum of £... depending on the income.

Pension Savings Credit is not given because of savings but because your income has been increased above Pension Credit level due to saving into a very small pension. Savings do affect all benefits but only if they are above a certain amount at which point they have a calculation to say the £x amount of savings is seen as £y amount of income per year.

Having typed all that I can only agree about anomalies - vote for a Living Pension for all if we ever get the chance so that all this nonsense disappears

The biggest issue with our State Pension is that it is obscenely low. I accept what people say about young people suffering under austerity and the triple love ck on the pension appearing unfair by comparison. However, a quick review about how the Government has spent money since 2008 reveals that the stated need for austerity was merely a ruse to run down public services (which Tories are against in principle, especially since Thatcher's day) and redistribute wealth, with the rich getting richer and ordinary people getting hammered. We wouldn't need a triple lock or a winter fuel allowance if the British pension was paid commensurate with being the fifth largest economy in the world (oops! Not any more after Brexit, but my point still stands)! Here is where the British pension sits compared to others.

I wonder how much pension Ros Altman will get?MP's and Lords do very well out of their provisions made by us for them..................

Appreciate your comments GracesGran, but I do have figures which show I have less money after paying most of my council tax and also small mortgage, than some people I know receiving Pension Credit. I wasn't grumbling, I am grateful for what I have got but just pointing out the system is full of anomalies (?). I wasn't eligible for Savings credit (not much in the way of savings having had to start again as it were with mortgage etc due to marriage breakup)

M0nica thank you for your post on rented property and the difficulties owners experience. After the death of my father my mother had to leave her home and go first to live with my brother. She could not afford to re-roof the house that had last been re-roofed in 1960. It also needed other repairs.

We have a small flat to let. Replacing the tenant's cooker last month has lost us 4 months rent. This rent is to pay for our care bills which fortunately we don't incur at present.

I am very grateful the government is still paying the public service pensions as I believe in Greece both public service and state pensions are not always being paid.

I find it best not to think about unfairness otherwise I would go mad. I get about £129pw state pension and a teacher's pension of £10k per year. My husband is not yet eligible for state pension but has a private pension of about £16k a year. On the surface we are reasonably comfortable but find that our savings are constantly being eaten into for maintenance on our home. I try not to dwell on the fact that people I know get their rents paid as well as various other forms of help including house maintenance. The same people who get their hair and nails done on a very regular basis, run a car, have top of the range to/phone packages, holidays-all the things we have to choose between rather than have it all.
There was a time when I could console myself with the knowledge that my hard work and savings would pay off and be handed down to my children but no, that's probably now just a dream.

There, I've now succeeded in winding myself up.

Smithy if someone is really only getting a small private pension (PP) which takes them above the Pension Guarantee level for Pension Credit they have been able to receive Pension Savings Credit (PSC). You would have to have a PP large enough to take you above that level to receive nothing so not the poorest, or the second poorest but the third poorest group . However, they are fazing out the PSC. They have frozen it and each time you receive £2.50 rise in pension for example, those on PSC will only increase their income by 80p-£1 as this disappears.

To get Council Tax benefit you do not have to be on Pension Credit(PC). If your income is low but over this amount you will get a proportion of your council tax reduced by benefit. Equally, if your income does not give you PC but is just above this you may be able to pay a reduced amount for glasses, dentistry, etc. All this adds to the admin costs that could be saved if everyone was on a 'living pension'

I did see a Telegraph article that said pensioners needed £17,000 to live reasonably but I think the minimum standard income or basic income for pensioners has been calculated elsewhere to be about £11,500. As this is the case then surely one answer would be (following the lines of a citizens income) to pay all pensioners £11,500 (not heating allowance, Christmas bonus, etc.) and take away the basic tax allowance for those on state pension.

Gononsuch you sound like a troll a stupid one if you can't get your kicks any other way than trying to wind people I pity you

Roz Altman failed to note the most important aspect. The State Pension in the UK is far far lower than some other Countries. AND for the last 9 years those "pensioners" looking to their investment interest to bring some added money have had a very very poor return. Now she suggests we all get a slap in the fact again. Stupid woman, I bet she won't be having to manage on her State Pension. Years ago I used to think she was quite knowledgable. In recent years she just comes out with rubbish.

My pension is £125 and recently lost my DLA which I relied on to allow me to pay for aspects of my care needs and use taxis to attend activities which leaves me now completely housebound (waiting for tribunal hearing, but not counting any chickens!). Believe me, the £10 and Fuel Allowance are a godsend and I would not be able to survive at all without these.

HootyMcowlface, the pension is less if a person has contracted out, so all public sector workers who have a professional pension will not get the full £155 because they have paid less NI contributions than they would have if they hadn't contracted out. This is not being widely publicised but if you go on to the government pension website you can find out what your estimated pension will be. As I worked in the public sector my state pension has been slightly reduced, but I do get my professional pension.

I don't think any government would be prepared to incorporate the WF payment into the pension, as it stands as a separate amount, it will be easy to dispense with or reduce should any government see fit. The £10 Christmas Bonus has remained as it costs very little in the scheme of things but there would probably be an outcry if it was scrapped altogether.
The unfairness about the Pension Credit is if you have a small private pension, it stops you getting it, therefore you are liable to pay all or most of your Council Tax (and rent if applicable) depending how much your private pension is. I know people who have not even worked as many years as myself who because of Pension Credit and getting rent/council tax paid are better off than me with a small private pension (not grumbling, just saying!)

Lilyflower where did you find that out about getting less? My pension age is same as yours by the sound of it, now 66, and I haven't heard about the reduction - does it affect all our age?

Lilyflower, I have just taken my state pension at age 63, and I don't get the new pension as my birthday falls in March - new pension started in April. My good friend who is 3 months younger than me doesn't get her state pension till next year, a whole year later even though she's only 3 months younger, and other friends don't get it until they are 66 like you. I think the government have been very disingenuous as most people will not get the full £155 anyway, many will have 'contracted out', others will not have enough years, and I don't know what women who are housewives will get.

I agree with Maggiemaybe - the 2.5% minimum guarantee should be dropped. If pensions rise with inflation in any case (the other two parts of the "triple lock") then they would not be falling behind other people's income.

If it is felt that the overall basic pension is lower than it should be in comparison to other countries then they should increase it to that level now, rather than messing about with annual increments. And I agree that the winter fuel allowance should be included in the basic pension, it cannot make sense to have such a relatively small sum of money administered separately.

I also agree with Eloethan, it really is about time that the tax system took more from the highest earners - not necessarily by raising tax percentages but by making it much more difficult to evade paying tax. It should be also explained to non-doms that income from Britain should be taxed in Britain.

POGS you are right, I have just looked it up, the triple lock was introduced in 2010 by the coalition government. Gracesgran, I had a look at your link and was shocked at how low our pension actually is compared to many other countries, consequently I think it is very poor form to remove the triple lock. I am very lucky in that both myself and my husband have professional pensions, but I know not everyone is in this position, including members of my own family. We have urged all our children to pay into a private pension, and whilst one is in the public scheme, as a doctor, the other two are not, but have listened to us and are paying into a private pension. We should never forget that not everyone is able to do this.

I heard Ros Altman this morning on Radio Four talking about a double lock on pensions when the present triple lock is due to end. She also mentoned how small UK pensions were in comparison to those elsewhere in Europe and spoke of the women born in the 1950's whose pension date has been pushed back to 65. It all seemed rather a gloomy prospect for those approaching pension age.

One hears continually of how 'rich' persioners are with their 'gold plated' lifestyles but the truth is that a few wealthly third agers are putting up the income averages for a very poor sector of society.

I am one of the women whose pension age has become elastic. When I started work it was 60, then 63, 65 and now 66. I have also been told by HMG that I will not be getting the full new pension but £21 a week short of the standard figure. Since my fixed costs are rising all the time it is most alarming to think that my pension might well be swallowed up by them leaving less and less or even no disposable amount at the end.

With so many women born in the 50's currently being punished with regard to pensions I am disappointed a women should make these remarks.

What's the point in making poor pensioners comparatively poorer?
Seems vindictive to me.
2.5% of £150 is just £3.75 a week, and many people my age get a lot less than the £155 that the government decrees for new pensioners. My council tax and water rates went up by nearly that much.
I know one person who says his state pension is just pocket money, but that's all. Everybody else relies on it to eat and heat.