What do you hope for in the budget?

growstuff

I didn't start receiving SP until 2021, when I was 66 and I don't receive the full amount, despite 47 years of contributions.

Why? I thought you needed 35 years of contributions? It doesn't seem right.
Can you enquire about that? The DWP is not infallible although they are very slow.

I believe the full old state pension is is £169.50pw, which is £8,814pa. I would have been eligible for the full amount under the old rules.

£8.814 x 6 = £52,884

Allira

growstuff

I didn't start receiving SP until 2021, when I was 66 and I don't receive the full amount, despite 47 years of contributions.

Why? I thought you needed 35 years of contributions? It doesn't seem right.
Can you enquire about that? The DWP is not infallible although they are very slow.

It's right. With the new state pension, people are penalised for any opted out years. I bought back as money years as I could, but I could never reach the maximum.

Typo ... many not money

Were you contracted out?
I was for a number of years which reduces my State Pension.

Allira

Were you contracted out?
I was for a number of years which reduces my State Pension.

Yes, I was. Under the old rules people weren't penalised for those years. That's why very few people actually receive the full new state pension even if they've paid NI all their working lives.

In the three months to September 2024, there were approximately 841,000 job vacancies in the UK, the fewest number of vacancies since May 2021.

There were 1.79 million claimants on Jobseekers' Allowance in August 2024

I realise that job seekers would not always match the criteria required for the job vacancies but it doesn't seem to make sense to pay people who want to work an allowance, while at the same time making people work for years longer before they can retire and receive their pension.

growstuff

Allira

Were you contracted out?
I was for a number of years which reduces my State Pension.

Yes, I was. Under the old rules people weren't penalised for those years. That's why very few people actually receive the full new state pension even if they've paid NI all their working lives.

This is another reason why the notion that people on the old pension are £200 a month worse off is nonsense.

I was also contracted out, and on top of the 47 years of NI I paid, plus the extra six years I had to work and pay associated tax, I then had to pay thousands to make up the pension to full. That was a gamble on living long enough to break even, as I can't leave the money to my husband if I don't.

The 'extra' £200 a month I will get when the time comes takes account of all of that, and it will be a long time before I break even. If I hadn't been able to pay the contributions for the contracted out years, I would also have a significantly lower 'new' pension, and there are no SERPs payments on the new pension, unlike on the old.

I don't want to see those on lower pensions going cold - of course I don't - and I am in full support of those near the PC threshold getting the WFP, but I do object to misrepresentation of the facts, and the implication that there is an 'I'm alright Jack' attitude amongst those who are on, or who will get the new pension.

You are lucky in the UK. We don’t get any state pension whatsoever even though we both worked in the public service sector and paid all taxes etc. It is means tested here so if you don’t work or work at a low paid job you will get a full pension.

Yes, we know. But we are not 'lucky'. We pay for our pensions into a different system from the one in Australia.

I’m the same as you growstuff.

I had to work 6 years longer than expected before I received my state pension. I had 41 years of NI contributions but, because of some years being contracted out, I don’t get the full pension.

It really annoys me when the full state pension amount is quoted - many of us don’t get that amount!

I do object to misrepresentation of the facts, and the implication that there is an 'I'm alright Jack' attitude amongst those who are on, or who will get the new pension.

That's my feeling too.

I agree growstuff.

One could argue that there was an ‘I’m alright Jack’ attitude amongst women who got their state pension aged 60, when the age was raised by 6 years for the rest of us.

I have read some disparaging comments about the WASPI campaign on GN.

I know about having to wait for your pension and I know that people including me don’t always get the full amount.
The government posts those figures without all the ifs and buts.
I too see that there’s an ^I’m all right Jack^attitude from this who get more, and equally from those who don’t need the WFA.

LizzieDrip

I agree growstuff.

One could argue that there was an ‘I’m alright Jack’ attitude amongst women who got their state pension aged 60, when the age was raised by 6 years for the rest of us.

I have read some disparaging comments about the WASPI campaign on GN.

I wouldn't say that.

And I am fully behind the WASPI campaign, that group of women have definitely been short-changed.

Thank you Allira.

Of course, I acknowledge that not all GN posters are critical of the WASPI campaign but, when this has been discussed on threads in the past, some have been highly critical.

nanna8

You are lucky in the UK. We don’t get any state pension whatsoever even though we both worked in the public service sector and paid all taxes etc. It is means tested here so if you don’t work or work at a low paid job you will get a full pension.

The tax on income are be higher in Australia, the tax bands are closer, plus Medicare and Superannuation on top of that, so yes, we are better off here, especially on a low income around the new State Pension level of £12,000.

Proof read after you change things!
are be = is

LizzieDrip

Thank you Allira.

Of course, I acknowledge that not all GN posters are critical of the WASPI campaign but, when this has been discussed on threads in the past, some have been highly critical.

I must be a total numpty as I cannot recall whether I was informed officially about the change in getting my pension or I just read it in the press.

I thought I would get it at 65, but eventually got it at 66 last year, despite opting out at one point I still managed to get the full new state pension which is considerably higher than DH who got his at 62 (he deferred for two years).

I hope I am not smug or an all right jack I support the WASPI movement, but have little to no faith in there ever being any compensation.

LizzieDrip

Thank you Allira.

Of course, I acknowledge that not all GN posters are critical of the WASPI campaign but, when this has been discussed on threads in the past, some have been highly critical.

When you hear on the news that two women, born days apart, get such a different income in retirement, it seems like yet another ill-thought-through decision.

What do you hope for in the budget?

Money set aside for all those unfairly treated eg WASPI women.
Rapid, proper compensation for those who have been imprisoned or labelled as thieves by the Post Office.
Compensation to those and their families affected by the contaminated blood scandal.

Wrongs should be righted before anything else is addressed.

I don’t think we WASPIs will ever compensation🤷‍♀️

get

Mollygo

I know about having to wait for your pension and I know that people including me don’t always get the full amount.
The government posts those figures without all the ifs and buts.
I too see that there’s an ^I’m all right Jack^attitude from this who get more, and equally from those who don’t need the WFA.

Are you deliberately misunderstanding, or did you just not read properly?

Several of us are saying that we do not have an 'I'm alright, Jack' attitude, so the 'Gotcha' attempt is lame to say the least. I have no idea what makes you think you are more compassionate than others getting or waiting for the same pension as you get or will get, but it can't be based on anything that's been said here.

What we are saying is that the idea that everyone on the new pension is £200 a month better off than those on the old is misleading at best, and that the coded references to 'if you know you know' about a mismatch of £2600 a year were based on information that may have been just wrong if you hadn't realised the truth, but as you are now saying that you are aware that it is just not true, I'm not sure why you persisted with it for so long.

Gotcha? There was no gotcha-unless your post is one. I obviously touched a nerve there.
I don’t make up the figures. The governments carefully do not go into all the reasons why people will or will not receive a full basic pension.
They simply say the full basic pension is . . .
Or The new full basic pension is . . .

Those of us who had to wait obviously appreciate the new pension, but as I pointed out, people on the old pension receive up to nearly £3000 less, but still pay the same prices.