Increase in State Pension Age

I believe that, if the state pension age was the same in relation to the life expectancy when it was brought in it would be something like 72.

I do not think it was the raising of the pension age that was a problem but the fact that governments of each flavour put of doing anything so the changes fell heavily on the shoulders of a few. Hopefully they will keep on top of it now.

I do think we now need to think through the implications coming from the fact that our careers will now be bell curve shaped and not straight line upwards as we have always been led to expect.

I can see what you are saying JiltedPensioner, about the equalising of pension ages but I do think this is the right thing to do. I'm afraid I do not see the idea of a couples pension as a good thing either. So many women have lost out by putting their eggs in the "good man" basket and, these days, many prefer to rely on their own pensions.

The "Healthy Life Expectancy" argument is interesting but seems to have more to do with the NHS and Care services than pension to me.

Yes I do agree that people should be encouraged to work for as long as possible but this is not encouragement this is forcing people into work. There is a world of difference between choosing to continue to work to supplement your State Pension knowing that if your health fails or you become too exhausted you can fall back on your State Pension at any time.
It is also true that older people in the workplace will challenge age discrimination but the wheels of change move very slowly which is why those within 10 years of retirement should not have had their pension age accelerated so dramatically and should have been given the same protection rights as MPs have awarded themselves – MPs pension age has not increased.
I guess you probably think you are backing men by supporting the equalising of the State Pension age but this change has a detrimental effect on men’s retirement plans too. Firstly, they have to work an additional year. Secondly, consider the case of a married man who is 5 years older than his wife (say, she is 60 years old), the man has to put their joint retirement travel and other plans on hold until his wife joins him in retirement 6 years later. This means he will be 72 years old before they can start enjoying their retirement together and will reduce their time together in retirement. Consider another scenario, where the wife has lost her job at 60 years old and is unable to obtain work due to age discrimination, their joint annual income will be reduced by around £7000 per year in lost pension rights (£42,000 over the 6 years) placing considerable financial strain on the household income.
I think it would have made more sense for the Government to meet us half way and have equalised the State Pension age at 62.5 years – for simplicity they could have rounded this up to 63 years for both men and women.
It is true that women generally survive longer than men but they do not live any longer. Life Expectancy and Healthy Life Expectancy are two very different things. The latest statistics from the Office for National Statistics states that men spend 15.7 years of retirement in ‘not good’ health whereas women spend 18.2 years in ‘not good’ health. Current average Healthy Life Expectancy for men is 63.5 years and 64.8 years for women. (www.ons.gov.uk)
Lastly, the money saved will definitely not be used to care for older people or to benefit anyone. It will probably be wasted on another failed IT scheme - “An abandoned NHS patient record system has so far cost the taxpayer nearly £10bn ...... according to a highly critical report from parliament's public spending watchdog.” Giving us back our pensions would boost the economy as older people spend their money.

On the other hand, I do feel that people should be encouraged to work for as long as possible. Partly to get rid of the mindset that many employers seem to have, that an older workforce is of less value. I think if older workers are seen more often, the strange idea that many employers seem to have of anyone over the age of forty being past it could subside. I was completely in agreement with the age for women being raised to match that of men, particularly since they seemed to live for longer. So if only one year is added to that, does it really make such a difference to an individual, when not paying out pensions could make such a huge difference to what that money could be spent on? Better care for older people, for example?

Anyone born between 6 October 1954 - 5 April 1968 will receive their State Pension on their 66th birthday. It is true that average life expectancy has increased but unfortunately average healthy life expectancy is 63.5 years for men and 64.8 years for women. The lowest healthy life expectancy for males is in Tower Hamlets at 52.5 years and the lowest healthy life expectancy for females is in Manchester at 55.5 years.

MPs have protected themselves from the increase in the pension age - the taxpayer funds their pensions.

After protests, the French reversed their pension age back to 60 years - “We committed to put this measure in place quickly for social justice for those who started working early,” said Social Affairs Minister Marisol Touraine.

Many women affected by the new pension legislation started work at 15 years old. School leaving age was raised to 16 years in 1972.

I have always sort of assumed that I shan't get any money until I am 66. In fact, since the average life expectation has risen so much lately, I was surprised that the government left it alone for as long as they did.