Pension plan 2017

Should have made that a clickable link.. Here you go www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20989050

This will only apply to new pensioners, so those of us already retired will lose out. This is going to result in a two tier system unless they come up with a system to allow existing pensions to be made up to the new level

I've been listening to this debate for a while and I've come to the conclusion that pensions will change to this single rate if either party is elected. I suspect that at the same time bus passes, heating allowance etc. will all disappear as they will be 'covered' by this increase in pension. I'm glad I shall be retiring before this new pension is introduced because although money will be saved by removing means testing, I'm not convinced that any pensioner will better off!

It's actually going to be £144 per week!

Yes Ana £144 for new pensioners, but existing pensioners will still only get the basic £107. As ayse says they will probably stop bus passes and heating allowance at the same time so those of us already retired will be even worse off, creating the two tier system with the oldest members of society also being amongst the poorest - how is that fair? I accept that the system needs to be simplified but why not make the pension the same across the board, why leave out existing pensioners?

Why indeed? - totally unfair!

My OH and I have already missed out as we were students for some time and I missed the credited contributions for being at home with children as they came in afterwards and I did not qualify.

We will now miss out twice over.

mishap can only concur with your sentiments. I spent 4 years in Canada (although these years were credited when I reached 65!) and missed out on the home responsibility credits and received no credits for staying on at school,college and university which I believe is now possible. Also because more years NI contribs were required before 2010, I also missed out on even getting the £107 (fortunately have a small private pension and a bit of serps so all is not quite lost)
but all in all, I am glad I could retire at 60 and benefit from winter fuel payment for the years I have
watching the debate on TV I was appalled to see the pensions minister (not sure of his name) imply that all is not lost as the cold weather payments (only paid to those on pension credits) were being increased. I wish there would be more clarity on who gets all these freebies as most OAPs don't.

Yes - I am being penalised for studying (so that I could get a decent job and contribute to the economy via my taxes etc.) and for taking care of my children when they were small (as this was best for them I felt).

The aditional earnings that we should supposedly have received via a better job because of our education did not happen - I took time of to look after children and OH had to retire at 42 due to ill health.

I think that if they have decided £144 is a decent level of pension to live on it should apply to all.

I imagine that eventually political pressure will mean that older pensioners who retired before 2017 will receive the same amount as post 2017 pensioners. If this doesn't happen there will have to be 2 separate systems and means testing will have to continue for decades. It would probably be cheaper to put everyone on the same flat rate. I'm sure the politicians already realise this and we will see them very generously (!) extend the benefits to all pensioners. I hope so anyway

Current weekly minimum income guarantee (ie when pension is topped up with pension credi)t is £142.70 (single people) or £217.90 (couples). From 2017 will couples receive pensions as individuals or as couples? Was this mentioned?

As individuals anno. Th same flat rate for all.

Thanks, when. Then it will be very much to the advantage of couples.

Maybe it's because they know something that we suspect anyway and that is by 2017 the pension age will have risen to 75 anyway!

just renewed my bus pass - use it rarely but it is useful when on holiday - as it expired 08/02/2013 - but it is only renewed until 08/02/2017 - is this significant or am I being paranoid.

I have noticed people will only qualify for the full £144 if they have made 35 years of National Insurance Contributions.
There are a few people I worked with who were made redundant / retired with an immediate occupational pension in 2010 at about age 53 or 4 who did not start work until 21 as they were university graduates.
They would have worked sufficient years to qualify for a full state pension under the present 30 year rule.
I presume they will not get the full £144 unless they obtained subsequent employment.

Frank

It was necessary for many of us to work 39 years to get a full pension and no child care years were credited. Only a few years ago did it go down to 30 years so putting it up to 35 is not such a big deal and they will get credits for times of unemployment or caring so will be better off than many of us.

SERPS will be removed so some people would actually be worse off under the new system. I think they have said that those affected will be compensated.

The new system will also apply to the self-employed so will be a significant benefit to them.

Replacing pension credit by giving everyone a bigger pension seems like a good idea to me as many people are not up to all the form filling.

The biggest effect may be being slipped in quietly. I heard the Pensions Minister yesterday say that they will not guarantee the 'triple lock' which pensioners currently have i.e. pensions increased annually by the highest of CPI, average earnings increase or 2 1/2% So for years we were promissed that eventually pensions would increase in line with earnings but now that earnings are not going up by so much they will not even guarantee that.

I receive 98% of the normal £107 pension but I seem to have been very lucky in the timing of my childcare years and university years. I worked from the age of 15 in 1956 until I had my first child in 1963. I had four years at home then entered university in 1967 until I qualified as a teacher in 1971. I then worked in the UK until the end of 1979 when I went to work abroad. I returned to England in 1985 and started my own business, and paid the self-employed stamp for three years. In 1989, I spent a year working in Belgium. I joined the Inland Revenue in 1990 and retired in 1999.

By my reckoning, I paid NI in the UK for only 28 years,but I was informed that the 4 years of Home Responsibility and Study had been credited, giving me 36 years of entitlement.

When did the rules change so that some of you have lost out?

Greatnan if you only paid in for 28 years + 8 years of credits then I think they made a mistake when they calculated your pension at 98%. I get 93% and paid in for longer than that. I suggest you don't say anything! I calculate that you should get 92%.

I have the benefit of the NI payments my OH made at the married man's rate during our 16 year marriage. When I had the option of paying the married woman's reduced rate, I very wisely opted for the full contributions. While I was in Kenya, on a Government contract, my contributions were paid by the Dept for Overseas Development.

I did take it up with the Pensions Office but I think the fact that I was married for 20 years and my husband paid full contributions may have made the difference. Otherwise, perhaps they are calculating it on the new 30 year rule. Obviously, as a tax inspector I was always meticulous about declaring all relevant information. I have done the same with the French tax authorities, and queried why they were giving me an extra 50% on my personal allowance but they insisted that because I had been a single parent for five years until my youngest child was 18 I was entitled to it. I pointed out that said child was a grandmother, but they said it made no difference. I make a point of taking my P60s in to the local office each year, showing exactly what I have received from my UK government pensions and they have calculated for the last ten years that I owe no tax. Of course, my teacher's pension and Civil Service pension are taxed at source in the UK. My State Retirement Pension is taxable in France, but covered by my personal allowance here.
Somebody, somewhere, must like me!