retirement

Find that hard to believe

 

I definitely agree with the routine bit, in my job you are always counting the weeks ahead, how many weeks until students deadlines and having to remind them it's only four weeks til this etc and the year flies by. However on holiday I find breaking up the week two nights here and two nights somewhere else, those kind of weeks feel like a fortnight and it's bliss

 

THIS

 

I think the latest budget changes and particularly the life-time ISA are a welcome move and should benefit most people in terms of retirement. I wish the life time ISA limit wasn't capped at saving a poultry 4k a year, however getting an extra 25% paid in tax free is something that has to be welcomed. Despite the fact the relief on a pension contribution works out as a 20-45% boost I still think the new ISA has some inherent advantages, particularly if these plans follow the US model and allow savers to borrow from the pot, in which case I can see some very good investment opportunities which they could be used towards. Having said that with the pension freedoms introduced by the conservatives around 3 years ago and the fact there is no longer a need to buy an annuity and pensions can be left to future generations there is now little difference between ISAs and pensions.

 

Winners and losers under the new state pension

The new flat-rate, or single-tier, state pension is coming into effect for everyone who retires after 6 April, 2016. While the current basic state pension is worth around £120 a week, the new one will start at £155. Women, and the self-employed, are among the groups that, on average, should benefit.
But there will be losers too - especially for those currently in their 20s and 30s. And in the long run the new system will save the government money.

Who will be eligible for the new state pension?

Men born after 6 April 1951, and women born after 6 April 1953. To qualify for any pension at all you will need to have 10 years of National Insurance contributions (NICs). Previously there was no minimum. As a result of this, Age UK has calculated that 70,000 people will no longer qualify for any state pension.
To qualify for the full new state pension, you will need to have 35 qualifying years. Previously this was 30 years .
Anyone who contracted out of the second state pension before 6 April 2016. This will particularly be the case for millions of teachers, NHS workers, police officers and members of the armed forces - in other words public sector employees. Such workers will have paid a lower rate of NICs. Instead they will have paid extra into a workplace pension scheme. As a result they will be paid a reduced state pension.

Over the long-term, younger people will lose out. Many will get less under the new system than they notionally would have received under the old system. This is because they will pay standard NICs, yet they won't qualify for the second state pension, which is being abolished. The Pensions Policy Institute has calculated that three quarters of those now in their 20s will lose a notional £19,000 over the course of their retirement.
Two-thirds of those now in their 30s will lose £17,000. However the remainder will gain an average of £10,000 in both cases. Others with less than 35 years of NICs will also lose, as previously they would have qualified for a full state pension with just 30 years of contributions.

Over the first 15 years of the new state pension, the government says that three-quarters of those reaching state pension age will get a higher pay-out than they would have done under the old system. That means that by 2030, three million men and three million women will benefit. However, government documents show that the proportion of people doing well will gradually decline the further out you look. By 2050, around half of retirees will get a higher pay-out, with half getting a lower pay-out. Assuming a pension age of 70 by then, you can make this generalisation:

People born before 1980 can, on average, expect to do better out of the new system. People born after that date are likely to fare worse.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35928308

 

That's rather worrying then. I worked full time for 24 years and when I then finished full time work and did part time work instead to look after my son, I received a letter at the time informing me that the years he was at school until 16 yrs old would count towards the NI contributions needed in order to qualify for the full state pension. I still have that letter filed away.That would have made up the original 30 qualifiying years, but if it's now changed to 35 I may be a few years or months short ( Or maybe all those school years short if they've changed the rules since that letter .....)

Never signed on the dole in my life, but I also found out years afterwards that if I had been signing on all those years , at the same time as working part time , that the NI contributions would have been paid for me and counted towards NI retirement requirement . (I never even knew that you could sign on at the same time as earning) BUT.....I thought I was ok anyway as I'd got that letter informing me I had earned enough years to qualify for a full pension.......

There was also a big thing at the time I was working for GEC with the government encouraging everyone to contract out of SERPS. After several unclear presentations at work, it was advised that yes it probably was in most peoples interest. Then years later I was advised by the governnment that it would be in my best interest to contract back in, which I did... so the years worked partly contracted in and partly contracted out



( I would also never ever again pay extra contributions into a works pension , in order to supposedly get an increased pension at the end of it. After originally receiving a letter being told that there isn't enough money going into the pot to pay out to new people retiring, it then changed and I'm getting at least a minimum works pension. But with my works pension at less than £20 a week , I'd have been better off saving those contributions in a building society for all those years! )

 

I have been waiting for them to sort out the new system, I need to make additional NI contributions. I am still not sure how the new limit works when serps is taken into account. Is the max pension now £155 and if you can achieve this by 35 std contributions what happens to the extra pension you could have got from the second state pension contributions ? do they mysteriously disappear ? If so then total contributions for both pensions need not be worth more than £155 as you will not get paid any more. I will be ringing them again and asking for an estimate before making any more top up payments.
Off course, if there is a change of government it could all change again.

 

Most likely does just disappear Iwas wondering the same. I've recently had a letter telling me I'm being contracting out and I'll now pay less NI. Thing is as well we all know what you are contributing now is paying for our current pensioners, all week and good but there are people who have no private pension and may not have paid enough in towards their state pension, what will happen to them I wonder?

 

Charities now use Google Earth and Streetview to determine whether to pursue widows for their wealth.

Mugging rich pensioners as a pension plan

Names and Addresses have been removed to protect the guilt ridden

 

Wonder wider


Far wider

 

Time to start stuffing the mattress perhaps!

 

But not with Sterling

 

US Olympic gold medal winners have to pay $560 in tax to take their spoils home

 

Wonder how much the medals are worth in monetary value.

 

As scrap $560

It's mainly silver

 

So they are basically paying for the medals

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/pensions...lans-to-reform-final-salary-pensions-could-c/

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39352654

 

I did it today! 49 1/2years

S