Pensioner Power

This government lost any respect I might have had for them when Two Tier Kier threw money at his paymesters (the unions) and targeted a vulnerable group. Not to mention all the taxpayer money being squandered on dubious causes and foreign wars.

Monica my own father was thrilled to bits to have a part time job in a local restaurant when in his eighties. He was physically fit and enjoyed the company.
Yes I know that some jobs are not suitable for 67 year olds plus but some careers extend beyond the normal retirement age - lawyers, it specialists, accountants, teachers offering home tuition but equally, I knew a very cheerful oap who loved working in the local bakery. Also a neighbour still works as a nurse and she is beyond retirement age. B&Q used to be full of helpful, active retirees behind the tills.
My DH is also much better for the mental stimulation offered by consultancy in a shortage area and is combining numerous hospital visits and blood tests with a full workload from home. The body is failing but the brain is in tact.
No we definitely don’t want more harm caused to 90 year olds with osteoporosis. However I was sickened by KS today who seems oblivious to the problems facing poor pensioners. - PMQs. Simply not good enough.

The Retirement pension is going up quite a lot for apparently those born before 1951. I was born before that and like many of my generation stayed at home to care for children for 6 years, therefore not qualifying for the higher rate pension. Some will receive about £900 p.a. increase, myself will be nearer £300. So that increase will cover the WFA basically not giving me an overall increase. Of course if you have additional income you may end up paying tax, that will help the government to fix the black hole they keep talking about. Why couldn't they have had a programme of reducing the WFA say over 3 years instead of the abrupt withdrawal.

I think a more appropriate way of using our time would be to help our pensioner relatives,friends and neighbours to check if they are eligible for pension credit. Lots of people don't claim when they should because although it might not entitle them to much extra cash it will get them the WFA and possibly help with rent or council tax.
I'm supportive of having targetted help rather than universal benefits like WFA which is paid to people who really don't need it.
www.gov.uk/government/news/you-could-get-pension-credit-week-of-action-to-drive-take-up

foxie48

I think a more appropriate way of using our time would be to help our pensioner relatives,friends and neighbours to check if they are eligible for pension credit. Lots of people don't claim when they should because although it might not entitle them to much extra cash it will get them the WFA and possibly help with rent or council tax.
I'm supportive of having targetted help rather than universal benefits like WFA which is paid to people who really don't need it.
www.gov.uk/government/news/you-could-get-pension-credit-week-of-action-to-drive-take-up

Yes

So many tens of thousands of pensioners who are entitled to Pension Credit, do not claim it. Why???
All that needs to be known is exactly how much from all sources, money comes into that person monthly/annually, and how much savings they have.
Even if they have savings well above the ten thousand pounds listed, they can still claim and received PC, losing just one pounds for every £500 above ten grand.
Even if receiving just 50p a week pension credit still opens the gateway for many other benefits such as WFA and assistance towards Council Tax.
Yes, I know there will still be people just over the income limit, but - surely, with a full state pension plus this extra they should be able to feed themselves and keep warm.

The Retirement pension is going up quite a lot for apparently those born before 1951. I was born before that and like many of my generation stayed at home to care for children for 6 years, therefore not qualifying for the higher rate pension. Some will receive about £900 p.a. increase, myself will be nearer £300. So that increase will cover the WFA basically not giving me an overall increase

I’m sorry 4allweknow but I don’t think this is correct. The official announcement hasn’t been made yet, but a leak suggests the state pension increase will be based on the rise in average earnings. That figure also hasn’t been released, but is expected to be about 3.5%.

If true, this means those on the full new state pension (that is those who reached retirement age from 2016) will get about £400 extra on the basic pension.

If one is on the pre-2016 full basic pension of about £8,800, the rise will be about £300, but reduced if your pension is lower (it will be, if the leaked figures are true, about 3.5% of whatever pension you get).

Also, the increase does not compensate for the loss of the WFA, it just covers increases in the general cost of living over the year.

This is an extremely balanced and intelligent thread on an important subject. If someone were to compose a short letter to the Editor of The Times and post it here, we could all write a copy and send it in to the paper. Not a petition - just lots and lots of identical letters. We might get an Editorial Comment, but Starmer would certainly see it. He might even take notice of it if it stated that he was about to lose a large proportion of votes next time.

Just a thought, anyway.

Just thinking about the very effective women's strikes in Iceland which resulted in true equality of pay for the sexes. And if male retirees joined in ...
Also, hate tactics of stop oil but standing outside No 10 for example would hurt no-one but be good publicity.
That said, I do not need the Winter Fuel payment and maybe pensioner having to opt in would have been a good policy.

Its a pity those that didn't need winter allowance and took it anyway, did not donate it to Age Concern or a charity. I am very concerned about someone I know, she was crying yesterday saying she couldn't face the winter, the food prices are so high as well as the heatings and not able to claim anything as just above the threshold, this lady worked until she was 70 always voted Labour, now at 78 and almost immobile.
Two tier Keir needs a reality check. Agree with Biglouis and PilgrimQuill.

4allweknow

The Retirement pension is going up quite a lot for apparently those born before 1951. I was born before that and like many of my generation stayed at home to care for children for 6 years, therefore not qualifying for the higher rate pension. Some will receive about £900 p.a. increase, myself will be nearer £300. So that increase will cover the WFA basically not giving me an overall increase. Of course if you have additional income you may end up paying tax, that will help the government to fix the black hole they keep talking about. Why couldn't they have had a programme of reducing the WFA say over 3 years instead of the abrupt withdrawal.

I missed that announcement 4allweknow so thank you.
Well, that's a crumb of comfort but I doubt I will get £900 pa! Every little helps.

I agree about a tapering off of the WFA.

Allira

4allweknow

The Retirement pension is going up quite a lot for apparently those born before 1951. I was born before that and like many of my generation stayed at home to care for children for 6 years, therefore not qualifying for the higher rate pension. Some will receive about £900 p.a. increase, myself will be nearer £300. So that increase will cover the WFA basically not giving me an overall increase. Of course if you have additional income you may end up paying tax, that will help the government to fix the black hole they keep talking about. Why couldn't they have had a programme of reducing the WFA say over 3 years instead of the abrupt withdrawal.

I missed that announcement 4allweknow so thank you.
Well, that's a crumb of comfort but I doubt I will get £900 pa! Every little helps.

I agree about a tapering off of the WFA.

I can't find any clear news item about this.

The increases seem to be for pensioners born after 1951 and 1953 to ensure their pension is at least £12,000 pa.

Perhaps the rest of us older pensioners are just collateral damage.

The changes would take the full state pension for men born after 1951 and women born after 1953 to about £12,000 in 2025 and 2026, after a £900 increase in 2023.

Pre-2016 retirees who may be eligible for the secondary state pension could benefit from a £300 a year increase.

Reeves told MPs: “The basic state pension is worth £900 more than it was a year ago and will go up again in April next year because of the triple lock, which we have committed to for the duration of this parliament.”
Guardian 4/9/24

That last statement is is utter rubbish!
Older pensioners will lose out yet gain.

biglouis

This government lost any respect I might have had for them when Two Tier Kier threw money at his paymesters (the unions) and targeted a vulnerable group. Not to mention all the taxpayer money being squandered on dubious causes and foreign wars.

Did you object to all the reductions in corporation tax made by the Tory government to satisfy their ‘paymasters’?

Strange that no-one has come into to reply as towhy so many pensioners do not claim Pension Credit.

I do find this interesting as do I the idea that pensioners just above the claim limit are so poor that they have to choose between heat and eat!!!!

Let us get this is real context. PC just brings money up to that of the pension. So, with the WFA being £200 for those under 80 years old and £300 for those over 80 yrs, any pensioner who misses out of being able to claim PC due to extra money on top of normal state pension , has to be less than that £200/£300 extra for them to be poorer than those claiming PC and getting the WFA.
The idea of paying the WFA to all pensioners, regardless of how much money they received had, is pretty disgusting. Particularly in times when the poorest members of our society are families, most of whom have one or two working parent. It is they who have to use the Food Banks, and surely any society should put children first.

What a silly idea. How on earth does hurting the people around and dropping out of volunteering persuade the government to do anything!

Make the right choice when you vote instead of this nonsense.

Strange that no-one has come into to reply as towhy so many pensioners do not claim Pension Credit.

I thought I had made a suggestion, Franbern but it must have been on another thread.

Because these entitlements are known as benefits, or in this case credit, the names could be putting some people off.
Older people may think of it as a form of charity, which it is not, added to which the application forms for some of these benefits/entitlements may be so long-winded and complicated they could be off-putting.

The idea of paying the WFA to all pensioners, regardless of how much money they received had, is pretty disgusting. Particularly in times when the poorest members of our society are families, most of whom have one or two working parent. It is they who have to use the Food Banks, and surely any society should put children first.
Families with children are not the only ones who use Food Banks.

Parents on salaries of up to £99,000 pa will be entitled to 15 hours free nursery vouchers per week.
That is worth far more than the WFA was.

Stopping volunteering will only hurt charities and consequently the vulnerable, Pippa000

4allweknow

The Retirement pension is going up quite a lot for apparently those born before 1951. I was born before that and like many of my generation stayed at home to care for children for 6 years, therefore not qualifying for the higher rate pension. Some will receive about £900 p.a. increase, myself will be nearer £300. So that increase will cover the WFA basically not giving me an overall increase. Of course if you have additional income you may end up paying tax, that will help the government to fix the black hole they keep talking about. Why couldn't they have had a programme of reducing the WFA say over 3 years instead of the abrupt withdrawal.

Just had a look at information below as there is some conflicting information in the media.....and I was born in 1950...
www.gov.uk/additional-state-pension/print - worth a look for those affected...

Gummie

What a silly idea. How on earth does hurting the people around and dropping out of volunteering persuade the government to do anything!

Make the right choice when you vote instead of this nonsense.

In making such a short sighted and rather rude comment, you are completely dismissing the valuable contribution made by retired people, especially grandparents.

Free childcare keeps the cogs turning in many professions, particularly public services. Imagine a hospital trying to function without the hundreds of ‘little people’ who rely on grandparents so they can work to pay their mortgages.

Many already feel undervalued and taken for granted. It’s exhausting work, no matter how much you love your family.

Accusing people of making the wrong choices when they vote is unfair because most thought they were making the right choice! As I said upthread, there’s no powerful union behind the elderly.

So how many are entitled to Additional State Pension and how?
I'm not..

Just a thought...Instead of striking which will only affect the vulnerable, could we all calculate the cost/value of our voluntary unpaid work as if it was actually paid for. Then submit the figures to e.g. Age Concern. If everyone took part the figure would be enormous and could be used to pressure the Government.

The media wants shooting then.

To reiterate: no announcement has been made regarding the 2025 pension increase. Rumour has it it will be about 3.5%.

If someone is entitled to additional state pension, they will already be receiving it - it was automatically paid when their pension started. The pension increase will be a percentage of someone’s total pension, whether that is the pre- or post-2016 pension.

The Retirement pension is going up quite a lot for apparently those born before 1951

Is this just the normal increase? They are being disingenuous if they are trying to infer that this is over and above the normal increases in SP.

I

Forgot to quote again. That was for Allira