Pension age worries

[Tinkerbell 1]

Originally Posted by JLH

Well I wasn't meant to be working until I was 70 when I started at the age of 16 ! Yes I know holidays can be had elsewhere for cheaper amounts and throughout my children's childhood we have been on every type of cheap holiday available .I feel like you are implying that holidays should only be a priority for people that can afford to put more into their pension pot and I cant agree with that at all, my apologies if I am interpreting it wrong.

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No I’m not saying that. What I’m trying to say although perhaps not very well is that if you choose to prioritise holidays (or cars, technology etc) during your working life over additional pension savings that’s your choice but accept your may have to work longer when you don’t have the income you need in retirement.

[munmun]

The amount you have as a pension is not only based on your spending on holidays, disposable assets etc. Mostly it depends on life experience which is frequently down to luck rather than judgement.

It depends on redundancy, promotions, divorce, cost of living (amount needed to spend on housing, food etc).

It also depends on your age, the boomers have mainly had it good. No student loans, low house prices compared to income and the lack of consumables to purchase and a post war mindset. (I am one, I know this will be controversial)

[BevS97]

Not at all controversial.
My parents are baby boomers and I feel a huge contrast between how they were able to live and how we do. Yes we have extravagance they didn’t as times have changed. But they lived a comfortable life on one salary and retired at 60. Those days are long gone

[Tinkerbell]

Several points

IF and it's a big IF it's raised to 70/75.. how many years contributions will you have to have made?


Many of us on here have houses that eventually will be owned giving a reasonable sized cash injection once downsizing. Youngsters today are having to rely on renting. So they will work until 70 and still be renting which will eat into any income

I've often wondered why successive governments don't look to the future ie 60/70 years from now. When I started nursing back in 197something it was predicted way back then that we had an ever increasing ageing population so why not say Anyone born from 2020 onwards will not receive the state pension as it is now. There will.be something but possibly means tested. That way a whole generation will grow up knowing what the future is financially and will be able to make plans appropriately. I don't know the ins and outs I'm sure there's a reason why they can't but pensions are unsustainable and the contributions made now towards future pensions could go towards future healthcare for the elderly

[ROBBOTOO]

I remember in the 80’s when I had my first mortgage with my ex, the interest rate was so high we weren’t in a position to pay into a private pension to start with for many years.

Now young people have different problems. Student loans, massive house mortgage deposits to find (or pay over the top to rent for someone else to profit with no gain yourself).

If you don’t have a lot of disposable income, then what a choice ... live life and enjoy it now (who knows what is around the corner) or pay loads into an extra private pension (on top of paying into the state one) and choose the date you retire but hope you’re alive, well and healthy enough then to live the life you’ve missed meantime!

Mind I doubt Iain Duncan Smith worries about these concerns with his salary and MPs pension 😏!

[sam_b]

I am also not trying to make anyone feel guilty for having holidays, or making memories or enjoying family time. I am just pointing out that life is all about choices and gambles. None of us knows what the future holds and this is true from an early age:-
is it worth getting into massive debt with a student loan - will it secure a good job or not?
Should you buy or rent?
Should you have children or not? How many?
Would you rather have luxuries now or put that money towards stoping work early?
Will you inherit anything or will that be spent by the generation before you?
Will you enjoy good health throughout your working life and be able to save or will your circumstances force you to rethink your plans?
Will you enjoy good health and a long life to enjoy your saving?

None of us know the answers, all we can do is work out the best plan for ourselves.

The state pension was only ever meant to last a few years based on life expectancy when it was introduced. As life expectancy increases, so the working age must increase so that the state pension is still only covering those few years.

To sustain more pension, our taxes would need to rise substantially - something which this country does not like - but is accepted in other countries (Scandinavia for example).
In Russia for example, they retire at 60 - but will have lived a much more frugal life.

What none of us can do is have our cake and eat it... we just can't work, spend freely and expect the govt to give us a 'living pension' that could last us from 65 until... 80/85 or beyond., if we don't want to work into our 70's we really do have to think about it much earlier... and that may mean living more within our means now ...or we 'live for today' and accept that if we are lucky enough to live longer, that we will have to work longer... most people simply will not be able to do both.

As Bev said, our expectations have really increased - my parents didn't go to the US until their silver wedding anniversary, we rarely had foreign holidays as kids and we had nowhere near as much 'stuff'. These days, the cost of housing has gone up and our expectations of life have gone up and wages have not gone up in line to enable people to have everything - so choices and priorities are key.

The big problem, as was stated earlier, is that the number of jobs is likely to shrink with automation and more people working longer... that is a real worry and may well turn our current economic thinking on its head.

I totally recognise that my plans to stop work at 55 are enabled by me not having children and not needing to support them through Uni, or house deposits etc and not feeling the urge to 'leave an inheritance'. For those with children, its a very different. That said, my mum and dad did not contribute to my first house purchase and I have no need of an inheiritance - I have been self sufficient since starting work.

[SimonB]

Originally Posted by ROBBOTOO

I remember in the 80’s when I had my first mortgage with my ex, the interest rate was so high we weren’t in a position to pay into a private pension to start with for many years.

Now young people have different problems. Student loans, massive house mortgage deposits to find (or pay over the top to rent for someone else to profit with no gain yourself).

If you don’t have a lot of disposable income, then what a choice ... live life and enjoy it now (who knows what is around the corner) or pay loads into an extra private pension (on top of paying into the state one) and choose the date you retire but hope you’re alive, well and healthy enough then to live the life you’ve missed meantime!

Mind I doubt Iain Duncan Smith worries about these concerns with his salary and MPs pension 😏!

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Excellent post. I think most MP’s are that far from reality it’s scary.

[munmun]

Originally Posted by ROBBOTOO

I remember in the 80’s when I had my first mortgage with my ex, the interest rate was so high we weren’t in a position to pay into a private pension to start with for many years.

Now young people have different problems. Student loans, massive house mortgage deposits to find (or pay over the top to rent for someone else to profit with no gain yourself).

If you don’t have a lot of disposable income, then what a choice ... live life and enjoy it now (who knows what is around the corner) or pay loads into an extra private pension (on top of paying into the state one) and choose the date you retire but hope you’re alive, well and healthy enough then to live the life you’ve missed meantime!

Mind I doubt Iain Duncan Smith worries about these concerns with his salary and MPs pension 😏!

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Yes you are right, different problems now. We had expensive mortgage payments and I returned to work when both my children were 8 weeks old as we couldn't pay the mortgage if I didn't.

Maternity benefits were only paid for 8 weeks post delivery. I worked nights as a nurse and my husband looked after the children and then I looked after them in the day and napped when they did. Not something i would recommend, exhausting

My husband and i are now having a 'gap' retirement, no gap years when we were young. We go where we want, when we want.

[Pumpkin Pie]

Originally Posted by munmun

The amount you have as a pension is not only based on your spending on holidays, disposable assets etc. Mostly it depends on life experience which is frequently down to luck rather than judgement.

It depends on redundancy, promotions, divorce, cost of living (amount needed to spend on housing, food etc).

It also depends on your age, the boomers have mainly had it good. No student loans, low house prices compared to income and the lack of consumables to purchase and a post war mindset. (I am one, I know this will be controversial)

See more...

Most baby boomers never went to university therefore student loans were irrelevant to most. Most left school at 15/16 and have worked since.

House prices were lower, yes but with 15% interest rates I don’t know about anybody else but we struggled and I resent being told I never had it so good when the best holiday we could afford was in a caravan for years. Maybe you had it good but a lot of us struggled just like our children do now at that age.

This baby boomer attitude really annoys me - we worked for everything we have and by the way just in case anyone here thinks we all have gold plated pensions then they have been reading the trashy red tops too much.

[SimonB]

Originally Posted by Pumpkin Pie

Most baby boomers never went to university therefore student loans were irrelevant to most. Most left school at 15/16 and have worked since.

House prices were lower, yes but with 15% interest rates I don’t know about anybody else but we struggled and I resent being told I never had it so good when the best holiday we could afford was in a caravan for years. Maybe you had it good but a lot of us struggled just like our children do now at that age.

This baby boomer attitude really annoys me - we worked for everything we have and by the way just in case anyone here thinks we all have gold plated pensions then they have been reading the trashy red tops too much.

See more...

Yes, different problems and it wasn’t all unicorns and rainbows. I remember absolutely no paternity leave and nursery financial support when both ours were born.