Retirement Pensions

[paganman]

I am a long way off retiring, but I found it appalling the way the government is constantly underming the principle of having a state pension by claiming it is unaffordable. This is nonsense as the national insurance fund not only covers the pension liabilities but actually runs at a surplus. Does anybody else find this as annoying as I do?

[tamborine]

Gov whingeing is maddening when we are taxed at every breath ie Homes, services, food, clothes & furnishings etc etc

If Gov stopped pouring £billions outside our shores, our taxes could be reduced.

[bednobs]

the problem is that there are less and less people paying NI and more and more people living well into retirement.

[THECORBYLOON]

The benefits paid out is about £5 billion more than the NI payments so you are wrong from the start.

[paganman]

Really THECORBYLOON? Where do you get that figure from? According to the governments own Actuary the fund has an annual surplus of about £2 billion and an accumulated surplus of £114.7 billion as of 2012. Even if this is amended, as seems likely, then the accumulated surplus will still be £30 billion. Rather shoots down your arguement?

Check the figures your self
http://www.gad.gov.uk/Documents/Social%20Security/GAD_report_280111.pdf#search=";national insurance fund surplus"

[dave50]

National insurance payments stopped being paid into a separate pot long ago, it's now just another form of tax and is spent on anything the government wants.

[Sqad]

LOL..well if one asks the Government then they will say State Pensions are unaffordable, ask the unions and pensioners and they say they are affordable.

If one asks the Government if the NHS pensions are affordable then they will say no, they are not,but ask the doctors (BMA) and Unison and they will say the pensions ARE affordable.

Both side will provide figures and statistics to support their case.

Take your pick.

[paganman]

dave50, sorry mate you are wrong. The National Insurance Fund is a separate fund hypothocated and run by the government Actuary and the surplus of £2 billion per year is lent to the treasury through the Debt Management Office.

[bednobs]

when they say "unaffordable" they mean in the future - see my first answer

[THECORBYLOON]

Paganman, the GAD figures you quoted are a few years out of date. I used the latest figures and while there is an accrued surplus, there is a deficit in the annual income of NI against Benefit payments and the report shows the surplus will be only 19.1% of the benefit to be paid in 2017/18 compared to about 30% at the moment.

[Peter Pedant]

You still need independent pension provision appalled or not.

Start off with your occ pension because there will be an employer's contribution and maximise that
then after a pensions forecast - think about a stakeholder and or a FSAVC

This is advice I have given in various forms to everyone who asks and a few who havent, and how many have taken the advice ? That is of course their affair.

[paganman]

Hi THECORBYLOON. There is a deficit at the moment, as there is in all government figures, however the Actuary expects the fund to be back in surplus by 2013-14 and by 2015-16 for the total surplus to have climbed to £52 billion by then. So, no sign of the pension being unaffordable.

[Buenchico]

>>>I found it appalling the way the government is constantly underming the principle of having a state pension.

The proposed 'single-tier' pension does exactly the opposite of that!
http://www.ageuk.org.uk/money-matters/pensions/what-the-new-state-pension-reforms-mean-for-you/

[boxtops]

what I do find irksome is that we are taxed on our pension income (if total income is over a certain level) - I've paid enough income tax over my working life, it's mean to tax our state pensions :-(