Just got my annual statement in from one of my pensions, giving my percentage rise for this year ….cushty……till I realise a change in income tax has swallowed it up completely and took a bit more out of what I was receiving last year….so after my rise I’m actually receiving less than I did last year….you can’t beat the old Starmernomics…..

Think the government have caught on to people nowadays paying themselves through cash Isa's etc instead of the old style works pensions.

No surprise if they target cah Isa's in the next budget.

I'm paying tax on State Pension because mybemployer enrolled us all into 2nd State Pension or SERPS or whatever it was.
They telling us that State Pension is not an entitlement nowadays so I'm now paying tax on a Benefit. Unbelievable.
Labour has always been the enemy of pensioners, Gordon Brown saw them as fair game, what they did with the excess funds from the likes of The Miners Funds for example was nothing more than theft imo. Mind Torys didn't change anything.
A lot of speculation that Reeves is going to force Pension Funds and Schemes to invest a fixed percentage in UK infrastructure schemes rather than in the best interests of the Fund members.
Poverty or assisted dying may well become the choice for future UK pensioners.

They need to raise the amount you start paying tax on to at least 20k.

4 year wait for that £2000 a year pay rise.
Unless in 3 years time Labour ups it when they said the frozen tax thresholds will end.

It's more politically deliverable than raising income tax rates. We are talking massive sums here.

I have been posting about this several times Snowy the Tories froze the tax threshold till 2026, Labour increased it 2028. It’s not all Labours doing, the Tories froze the threshold initially, it’s a ‘hidden’ tax. My small PP could be worthless by 2028 my tax allowances taken up by my State Pension, PP contributions were tax deferred not tax relief.

Talk about abolishing ISAs or reducing the amount you can invest every tax year.

That has got to be funded some how, hitting the highest earners won’t do Labour any favours.

Jamie, they’re all bastards, but this is very first time my pension has found reverse gear.

Private Pensions were sold on fear factor, how are you going to fund your old age, oh and you get tax relief on your contributions not telling you you would be paying it back in years to come,the reps made a fortune selling policies.
If you never or very rarely worked signed on you would still get NI Credits meaning when you retired you would receive the full State Pension.

Luckily I have no ‘private’ pensions in the regular sense.
I know lots who did when they were introduced and came back with their tails between their legs when they realised there was no pot of gold at the end of the private pension rainbow.

YUP. A very shrewd assessment. ⬆️

Paying into a company or private pension is without a doubt the best way to save. You get tax relief and your company gives you money, it's an abso!ure no brainer, if y poo y only have the State pension then yes it will be a struggle.

It’s a no brainer, even if you’re at a job for a couple of years it pays to sign up and just leave it to mature. Sounds like unfeasibly real long term planning to some people, but it comes around eventually because surviving on the state pension alone is indeed no picnic.
I even got a letter from Belfast for a non contributory pension I forgot I had..the froggies were looking for me…so keep records.

Governments view pensioners as ‘cash cows’ as many own their property and private pensions which as has been mentioned is being taxed more every year as the income tax threshold has been frozen to 2028 and the State Pension has increased. Pensioners are living ‘too long’ in governments eyes and a burden on the state with healthcare and benefits. They will never increase the Inheritance Tax threshold as that’s another way of taxing you.
I opted out of SERPS for 10 years the money going into a PP, I topped it up with monthly contributions, I now pay tax on my PP in excess of those monthly contributions.
All very well and good governments encouraging people to take out a PP but for me in the near future the State Pension, it’s classed as a benefit will be means tested as in Australia where the they take the value of your property into account as well.
I wouldn’t advise anyone unless it’s non contribution based to take a PP out, nowadays there are other schemes, (you can invest in the same funds as PP companies do) available where your money is not tied up for years with no access to it.

As I mentioned ISAs could be abolished or the amount reduced, Martin Lewis of Money Saving Expert has already said this.

Thing is, you really don’t expect it from a Labour government, we should have elected one.

I don’t expect anything from any government Snowy, there is not enough money coming in to cover benefits or to pay for the State Pension in years to come, what do Labour do cut benefits, they are targeting the wrong people, they are also taxing workers indirectly now. These were the grass roots voter who used to vote Labour, not any more.

never fell for it either. some who retired thought they were getting there pot of gold and budgetted for it only to find out because of that they needed another job to survive.

2028 is good year for the great giveaways to start as there will be a general election the year after. so many have short memories they,ll lap up the big increase in the tax threshold given away.

The winter fuel debacle with be partially reversed at some point i.e. before the next election.
Probably this was the worst political decision made by a "politician".

just another thing that boils my piss. never needed those credits as i payed all my dues as i was one of those mugs who worked all my life to subsidise others to get the same as i did. on top of that i paid tax much of it at a higher rate than anybody pays now plus money the government gained from my spending only to find out that others who paid nothing or very little have won yet again.

I agree.

not really as they had very few votes to lose by it and money to gain. you,ll be lucky to find any big labour voter or local councillor who will not defend that decision. even others who are years away from pension age care little and would prefer it to go to others. pensioners just have not got the respect they once had away from the immigrant communities.

Younger people in general aren’t bothered about the WFA being abolished, their attitude is why they should be subsidising some very well off pensioners for their heating bills. Triple Lock similar, why should pensioners be guaranteed a rise year on year when my employer doesn’t guarantee them one, they don’t look at the bigger picture unfortunately.
20% of the UKs population are pensioners, things will have to change as governments are not getting enough income to keep paying benefits to pensioners irrespective how little it is,I predict means testing in the near future as I mentioned before.

do not like the state pension being classed as a benefit. unlike most benefits we have its something the vast majority have paid for. a private pension is not classed as a private benefit so why should the government one be. is the word just another used to lessen the pride of people in there old age.

The trouble with means testing is it kills any kind of motivation to "do the right thing" as in save for your own future. I mean what's the point of doing without for decades to save - if at the end of the day you miss out compared to others who haven't?

The government can't have it both ways.

Jamie, they’re all odd, but Labour is the Party you’d want on your side if you’re on one of the affected groups…..sadly, that Party died with the 70’s and is now the roosting place for superannuated student’s so far detached from the working class they could be resident in Australia, they have different targets now and the working class don’t appear on their radar…and never will.

If you saved correctly then there is a very good 25% pension pay out when you want it.

Labour's Poll Tax. If you or I made a decision as incompetent as that at work, we'd expect to be sacked. It was the principle reason Labour got hammered in the local council elections.

It would be nice if they reversed it, admit they cocked up and showed some humility. Rivals would laugh for a few weeks but then the U turn would quickly forgotten. Alas I don't think they will, Starmer isn't even on this planet, Labour will be concentrating on character assassinating Farage, with their slogan of Vote Farage get Putin, and that will only strengthen people's hatred of the Labour and mainstream political parties. The scene has been set for a Reform victory in 2029, it is avoidable , but only if Labour are willing to change direction, though they may also need to change their leader, as Starmer is toxic. The thing is, who could replace him, he has made the party characterless and soulless, ripped the heart out of it, its front bench is now full of robotic, dead behind the eyes chameleons. Andy Burnham would be the man, but he seems perfectly happy as Greater Manchester Mayor.

It went wrong for labour when the unions backed Ed Milliband instead of his much more competent brother. Starmer appears to me to be a soulless automaton who would rather look after the rights of the people on dinghy holidays than us.
The picture of him and his red haired seagull taking the knee made me want to throw up. There is no shred of the proper labour party left.

WFA.

It was so obviously a mistake and we were told that the money saved was so huge that it had to be done! Really?

The way out of this for Labour is to say something like "because we've taken tough decisions (blah/blah) and got the economy working again (blah/blah) we can now raise the threshold to £20,000 so that more people who need it can get it".

However, to look tough they probably won't do this, but it's a serious vote loser to do nothing! Do they realise that the work for us, not the other way round?

Nothing to do with you saving correctly, your monthly contributions are invested in the stock markets, the value of your pension pot and your 25% pay out depends how well your pension provider has invested your contributions and the performance of the stock markets over the period of time your pension has been in force. Cashing in around Truss reign and when Trump first announced the tariffs on both occasions the stock markets dropped dramatically and the value of your pension pot would have shrunk.

'The front bench is now full of robotic, dead behind the eyes chameleons' - Ha ha - an incredibly apt description of the likes of Reeves, Milliband, Rayner and the rest.

But overall much better off than doing nothing

If you never or very rarely worked signed on you would still get NI Credits meaning when you retired you would receive the full State Pension.[/quote]
Luckily I have no ‘private’ pensions in the regular sense.
I know lots who did when they were introduced and came back with their tails between their legs when they realised there was no pot of gold at the end of the private pension rainbow.[/quote]
never fell for it either. some who retired thought they were getting there pot of gold and budgetted for it only to find out because of that they needed another job to survive.[/quote]
If you saved correctly then there is a very good 25% pension pay out when you want it.[/quote]


Nothing to do with you saving correctly, your monthly contributions are invested in the stock markets, the value of your pension pot and your 25% pay out depends how well your pension provider has invested your contributions and the performance of the stock markets over the period of time your pension has been in force. Cashing in around Truss reign and when Trump first announced the tariffs on both occasions the stock markets dropped dramatically and the value of your pension pot would have shrunk.[/quote]
But overall much better off than doing nothing[/quote]

You can do self investments, you invest in the same funds as Pension Providers, they don’t work for free either, there are monthly charges, you will be shocked how much the charges are over the years.
Even after ‘buying an annuity your PP still charges you, these costs, typically yearly charges, cover accounting, record keeping, and other necessary maintenance of your annuity. These may be charged as a flat fee or a percentage of the total annuity value, check your annuity statement.
If you die and haven’t assigned your annuity it dies with you, the PP pockets the fund, if you have assigned it to the family etc the monthly payments when you first took out the annuity will be lower as the tge annuity could run for years after you die.

Private pensions were in the main good investments when you took into account the tax benefits, especially if you were a higher rate taxpayer.
They offered earlier retirement for many with a large enough pot which surely is a good thing, who wants to work till they're only fit to drop?
Successive (mainly Labour) government's have made them far less attractive - with ISAs being g a viable and competitive option. Labour will take every penny of Pension pots if they're in power long enough and we'll all be 100% depe dent on the state. Britain leading the new World Order.

You opted out of SERPS, your employer did not do it without your consent.

You either signed the opt-out yourself, or - most likely to happen to civil servants - you gave your employer and/or your union permission to do so on your behalf.

Either way, somewhere down the line you put your signature on a piece of paper.

When you opted out of SERPS (State Earnings Related Pension Scheme), the money that would have gone into your SERPS pension was redirected to a private or workplace pension scheme. This was often part of a "contracting out" arrangement, where your National Insurance contributions were reduced or paid into another pension plan instead. The money was typically invested in a pension known as a "protected rights pension". While the "protected rights pension" scheme was abolished in 2012, the money is now available for pension release

Gordon Brown raided pension schemes back in 1997 which cost pensioners 20p in the pound, doesn’t sound much but could amount to £250 billion over 20 years.
An ISA is nowhere near a competitive option paying just over 4% a year, do you have £20000 to invest every year ?
Stock Market growth is far in excess of what the interest an ISA would achieve, inflation would wipe out most of the interest growth from an ISA.

Ever heard of a Stocks & Shares ISA even a conservative portfolio would yield way better than 4%.
If you have got a fair amount to invest then it beats pensions as there's never any tax to pay and you don't have to wait until 55 years old to start drawing down.

Wrt SERPS or whatever, I haven't a clue if I signed any agreement, wasn't particularly interested in pensions back then. I just knew I had money taken out of my wages towards a pension, not a clue how it worked either then or now.

Same here PTID....haven't a scooby about pensions, tax etc etc!! But every now and then I get a letter saying you have X amount in a pension at a new address...how the fuck have they found me is my 1st thought...2nd is...glad you did.

You pay monthly same as a PP into a stocks and shares ISA up to a max of £20000 a year, any interest is paid tax free.
The value of investments can fluctuate, so it's possible to lose money, especially in the short term but that’s the same as a PP, they are not a short term savings scheme though.

Download the HMRC App or their website and register create an account and you can find out your N.I. contributions record from the day you started work and info about SERPs payments, you can also view all your income tax records.

Track you through your N.I. number and your employers, big brother knows everything about you, I can never understand why people are against ID Cards, no different from having a Driving Licence or a Passport. You are tracked every time you use the internet even store cards if you have any know a lot about you.

You’re not wrong Jamie…every time you use your card you are building a profile of yourself.
As for ID cards, every country in Europe has them……one of the reasons we are such a magnet for illegals as it’s sooooo easy to melt into the black economy.

Had my new Tax Code arrived and they've reduced it because they're predicting I need to pay tax on interest received from savings, wtf???
Can't argue about PAYE, but this is PAYMPE (pay as you might possibly earn), paying tax on money that you haven't even received yet is ridiculous. Have moved some savings so that tax will not be due at all but Tax Code will still be used for the year and I'll have to apply for a refund next October for money they've taken which I never had. Thieving barstewards.

I have no objection to an ID card, what I object to is that we'd have to pay for yet another form of ID.

Alongside my driving licence and passport, there are a number of other documents such as my birth certificate, marriage certificate, NI card and NHS Medical Card - all tucked away in my big black box of shite in the back bedroom.

Surely this day and age we could have ONE card for everything..?

totally agree as long as its not compulsory to carry it around with you everywhere you go. just got a feeling that might be the case if brought in.

never been a saver especially for a situation you might never be able to live to recieve it. will never forget the lass who died only hours after her retirement and got zero benifits out of saving. i have been lucky but have lived all my life by cutting down on expenditure when it was necessary so even the present situation has been no hardship for me. i still have my health and do not mind not going on holiday anymore, running a car i really want, going out for expensive meals, buying new clothes and the reast of the stuff thats not all that needed to live.