Starmer’s chronicles

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Whilst I support removal of the 2.5% aspect of the triple lock, it's not gonna free a lot of cash for the government when you think about what is happening in the economy and current inflation.

So, what can be done with pensions? Obviously, raise the pension age immediately to at least 70. They can't reduce the payout per week.

They can't touch health other than discover where waste can be cut. They can clamp down on welfare, but the money will need to be rirected for END/child mental health.

We really are up shit creek nix paddle.

There is a good idea in this article that you set it as a percentage of average earnings, but also link it with inflation.

So it normally goes up with workers' wage growth, but in times where inflation is higher than that, then the pension will still match inflation. The main difference here (other than giving 2.5% bump anyway) is that the pension then won't continue to go up. It says the same until wages catch up.

[Carth]

I'm not convinced that raising the pension age will do any good.

I worked until almost 67 yrs old (instead of 65½ ) and was forced to retire through poor health (knee joint and lower back arthritis).

If 70 was the retiring age I'd have spent time on long term sick . . and with all the benefits that come with it, (none of which apply now I'm a pensioner). Heck if I could be bothered to push I may even have got disability payments and free parking

Just false economy, like a lot of stuff banded about as a 'fix' for a Government with empty coffers.

[Sephiroth]

The thing about raising the pension age is that people will continue to earn (more than the pension would pay) and they'd be net contributors to the economy. People needing support would still get it and it would be affordable.

Of course, there are many people who are work shy and there's the real problem.

[Carth]

Don't think I know many from my working life that would still be do those jobs coming up to 70 . . in fact I'd guess 60 would be a push before leaving and finding something less demanding on the body.

Then you have the problem of actually finding another job at that age, where even the dumbest jobs are taken by the 'younger' ones because a 17yr old on minimum wage is paid less than an older person.

[Sephiroth]

Yep - shit creek.

[Carth]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Yep - shit creek.

We could always look at it from a different direction . . and drop retirement age to 60.

If everybody stopped working at 60, there would be quite a few jobs up for grabs. The (new) pensioner gets roughly £12,500 per annum and a younger bloke with a family gets a decent paid job (£25k minimum?) . . therefore the UK saves on the benefits he was being paid for not being in work.

No idea how much those benefits (for a family) would be, but he's now got a job and money to spend and the pensioner gets time to . . do whatever he wants, and if he also has a private pension he's gonna be fine.

Would it also encourage more people to put into private pensions, knowing they'll probably still have some good years of decent health if retiring at 60 ?

[Sephiroth]

You've described the big dichotomy. It actually needs careful planning and government supported initiatives to put people, opportunities and jobs where they are needed. AI might be the elephant in the room for either scenario.

Shit creek?