Editor's Blog3 mins ago
Who ate all the biscuits ...
7 Answers
A Banker, a School Teacher, a Tory MP and a Daily Mail reader are sat around a table.
In front of them is a plate, on which there are ten biscuits.
The Banker scoffs nine of the biscuits, then the Tory MP turns to the Daily Mail reader and whispers in his ear "watch out, that teacher is after your biscuit" ...
In front of them is a plate, on which there are ten biscuits.
The Banker scoffs nine of the biscuits, then the Tory MP turns to the Daily Mail reader and whispers in his ear "watch out, that teacher is after your biscuit" ...
Answers
1 to 7 of 7
That's you told Sunny-Dave. Back in your box. No more joke telling for you!!!
09:15 Sat 03rd Dec 2011
The rise in pension payments for public sector workers is nothing to do with bankers, nor even the current financial problems in the UK.
It is because we can no longer afford "defiend benefit" pensions, which were created many years ago when people did not live so long.
Most private companies in the UK have stopped these types of pensions as they are unaffordable (many stopped them 10 years or more ago).
If we dont make changes now the country will just not be able to afford these pensions, irrespective of what the bankers do, or the state of the economy.
If Labour were in power for the next 20 years they would have to do something about it as well, even though they may not like to admit it.
It is because we can no longer afford "defiend benefit" pensions, which were created many years ago when people did not live so long.
Most private companies in the UK have stopped these types of pensions as they are unaffordable (many stopped them 10 years or more ago).
If we dont make changes now the country will just not be able to afford these pensions, irrespective of what the bankers do, or the state of the economy.
If Labour were in power for the next 20 years they would have to do something about it as well, even though they may not like to admit it.
Found this on a web site:
Just how generous are the Pensions?
The cost to the taxpayer of a pension for a teacher or policeman on modest earnings can come to anything between £350,000 and £500,000.
Tens of thousands of senior public servants have pensions worth more than £1m. According to the TaxPayers' Alliance, there are more than 8,500 health workers alone with pensions worth more than that sum.
We explain how these gold-plated pensions work, and who pays for them.
HOW MANY QUALIFY FOR A PENSION PAID FOR BY TAXPAYERS?
Five million employees in all. That includes 1.3m health workers with the NHS, 1.6m in local government, 600,000 teachers, 600,000 civil servants, 200,000 in the armed forces, 150,000 police officers and 50,000 firemen.
WHY ARE THESE PENSIONS CONSIDERED SO ATTRACTIVE?
They are very generous compared with anything available in the private sector. They still offer a guarantee of pensions based on an employee's final salary, which have largely disappeared in private industry.
Other workers must rely on investment returns, which offer no certainty about incomes in retirement. When the markets are poor, this type of pension offers the prospect of having little to retire on.
Furthermore, while six out of 10 employees in the private sector receive no pension contribution from their employer at all, 85pc of public sector employees have not only a pension, but a gold-plated one.
A major attraction of public sector pensions is that they are not just salary-linked but also index-linked, which means they keep pace with inflation. This makes them very generous and costly to provide.
For example, a public sector pension is worth roughly 21pc of salary on top of earnings, while employees in the private sector who benefit from an employer contribution get, on average, 7pc extra by way of pension contribution.
In the private sector, fewer than 15pc can now look forward to a salary-linked pension, and they receive no guarantees about inflation.
PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS GET LOWER SALARIES BECAUSE OF THEIR GENEROUS PENSIONS, DON'T THEY?
A myth. They are better paid, until you get to the very highest levels of management.
The Pensions Policy Institute, an independent research charity, puts average public sector salaries at £25,600 and those in the private sector at £25,300, although the PPI says salaries soared in the private sector when it came to the very top jobs.
AND WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THIS?
Yes, largely out of current and future taxation. Apart from local government schemes, there are no funds and the cost is met each year by employee contributions and taxes.
Employee contributions have recently gone up, so teachers are now paying 6.4pc of salary (up from 6pc) and NHS workers pay between 5pc and 8.5pc (also up from 6pc). But the police have seen their contributions cut from 11pc of salary to 9.5pc, and firemen from 11pc to 8.5pc.
Members of the Armed Forces make no contribution, although their pay is lower as a result, and the contributions made by local authority workers, who were paying 6pc, are now on a sliding scale between 5.5pc and 7.5pc.
AND WHAT DOES THE BILL COME TO?
The Government puts the cost of pensions accrued so far at £650 billion, although actuarial firms have put it at over £1 trillion. The PPI says the annual bill to the taxpayer after the deduction of employee contributions is £16 billion.
WHAT'S THE GOVERNMENT DOING ABOUT THIS BILL?
A number of the schemes have recently been reformed. For example, the retirement age for teachers, NHS workers and civil servants has been increased from 60 to 65, but only for new recruits.
New civil servants will also be paid a pension based on their average salary at retirement, not their final salary.
However, existing employees' pensions remain in place. The Government's own figures estimate that these changes will save £13 billion in total over the next 50 years, which is a drop in the ocean.
Just how generous are the Pensions?
The cost to the taxpayer of a pension for a teacher or policeman on modest earnings can come to anything between £350,000 and £500,000.
Tens of thousands of senior public servants have pensions worth more than £1m. According to the TaxPayers' Alliance, there are more than 8,500 health workers alone with pensions worth more than that sum.
We explain how these gold-plated pensions work, and who pays for them.
HOW MANY QUALIFY FOR A PENSION PAID FOR BY TAXPAYERS?
Five million employees in all. That includes 1.3m health workers with the NHS, 1.6m in local government, 600,000 teachers, 600,000 civil servants, 200,000 in the armed forces, 150,000 police officers and 50,000 firemen.
WHY ARE THESE PENSIONS CONSIDERED SO ATTRACTIVE?
They are very generous compared with anything available in the private sector. They still offer a guarantee of pensions based on an employee's final salary, which have largely disappeared in private industry.
Other workers must rely on investment returns, which offer no certainty about incomes in retirement. When the markets are poor, this type of pension offers the prospect of having little to retire on.
Furthermore, while six out of 10 employees in the private sector receive no pension contribution from their employer at all, 85pc of public sector employees have not only a pension, but a gold-plated one.
A major attraction of public sector pensions is that they are not just salary-linked but also index-linked, which means they keep pace with inflation. This makes them very generous and costly to provide.
For example, a public sector pension is worth roughly 21pc of salary on top of earnings, while employees in the private sector who benefit from an employer contribution get, on average, 7pc extra by way of pension contribution.
In the private sector, fewer than 15pc can now look forward to a salary-linked pension, and they receive no guarantees about inflation.
PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS GET LOWER SALARIES BECAUSE OF THEIR GENEROUS PENSIONS, DON'T THEY?
A myth. They are better paid, until you get to the very highest levels of management.
The Pensions Policy Institute, an independent research charity, puts average public sector salaries at £25,600 and those in the private sector at £25,300, although the PPI says salaries soared in the private sector when it came to the very top jobs.
AND WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THIS?
Yes, largely out of current and future taxation. Apart from local government schemes, there are no funds and the cost is met each year by employee contributions and taxes.
Employee contributions have recently gone up, so teachers are now paying 6.4pc of salary (up from 6pc) and NHS workers pay between 5pc and 8.5pc (also up from 6pc). But the police have seen their contributions cut from 11pc of salary to 9.5pc, and firemen from 11pc to 8.5pc.
Members of the Armed Forces make no contribution, although their pay is lower as a result, and the contributions made by local authority workers, who were paying 6pc, are now on a sliding scale between 5.5pc and 7.5pc.
AND WHAT DOES THE BILL COME TO?
The Government puts the cost of pensions accrued so far at £650 billion, although actuarial firms have put it at over £1 trillion. The PPI says the annual bill to the taxpayer after the deduction of employee contributions is £16 billion.
WHAT'S THE GOVERNMENT DOING ABOUT THIS BILL?
A number of the schemes have recently been reformed. For example, the retirement age for teachers, NHS workers and civil servants has been increased from 60 to 65, but only for new recruits.
New civil servants will also be paid a pension based on their average salary at retirement, not their final salary.
However, existing employees' pensions remain in place. The Government's own figures estimate that these changes will save £13 billion in total over the next 50 years, which is a drop in the ocean.
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