[Politics] UK state pension age will soon need to rise to 71, say experts

[Mustafa II]

UK state pension age will soon need to rise to 71, say experts

Research on life expectancy and birth rates shows that ill health makes status quo unsustainable

www.theguardian.com

Yet another reminder of how good the boomers have it, and how the younger generations will receive blow after blow.

 

[Javeaseagull]

UK state pension age will soon need to rise to 71, say experts

Research on life expectancy and birth rates shows that ill health makes status quo unsustainable

www.theguardian.com

Yet another reminder of how good the boomers have it, and how the younger generations will receive blow after blow.

Always someone else's fault. Funny that.

 

[Nicks]

Yes I've really enjoyed working 50 years since I left school and never took a penny in dole money.
I now work 3 days a week and the HMRC have still seen fit to lower my tax code to 1053 for all my efforts over the years !!

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

UK state pension age will soon need to rise to 71, say experts

Research on life expectancy and birth rates shows that ill health makes status quo unsustainable

www.theguardian.com

Yet another reminder of how good the boomers have it, and how the younger generations will receive blow after blow.

Yes previous generations had it good but this possibility seems to have arisen due largely to preventable illness, ie lifestyle, in the current generation, something that this generation needs to take responsibility for.

 

[Bakero]

Yes previous generations had it good but this possibility seems to have arisen due largely to preventable illness, ie lifestyle, in the current generation, something that this generation needs to take responsibility for.

The main issue is exactly the opposite; it's the fact that people are living longer the ever. Perhaps under 50s should all take up smoking now to ensure a short retirement.

 

[Comrade Sam]

It's all bullshit, our parents and grandparents grew up when the rich paid tax and there was money for things. The wealth society creates should see retirement coming down. However, a system based on the needs of thieves sees greater wealth in fewer hands, less funding for social needs and a falling life expectancy.

 

[Is it PotG?]

Always someone else's fault. Funny that.

Is it not true that folk are living longer and more people are claiming?

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

The main issue is exactly the opposite; it's the fact that people are living longer the ever. Perhaps under 50s should all take up smoking now to ensure a short retirement.

I was quoting the article? And yes it did state living longer, but with pressure from unnecessary ill health.

 

[southstandandy]

Realistically we are eventually heading to No state pensions at all.

With the pressure from all employers to enrol staff onto a pension scheme I can see the time when the state pension will only be given to those who have been unable to work in their lifetime or those that have never worked for whatever reason.

We are heading that way. Thank god I have a works pension and some private savings.

 

[wellquickwoody]

UK state pension age will soon need to rise to 71, say experts

Research on life expectancy and birth rates shows that ill health makes status quo unsustainable

www.theguardian.com

Yet another reminder of how good the boomers have it, and how the younger generations will receive blow after blow.

We need you guys to keep going longer to pay our pensions.

 

[Bakero]

I was quoting the article? And yes it did state living longer, but with pressure from unnecessary ill health.

You selected one bit of the article, claimed it was the main issue and suggested younger people were to blame.

 

[Is it PotG?]

Back in the 80s it was being mentioned that State Pensions might become tricky to sustain in the 2000s and beyond due these very facts.

It's of little surprise.

 

[Bakero]

It's all bullshit, our parents and grandparents grew up when the rich paid tax and there was money for things. The wealth society creates should see retirement coming down. However, a system based on the needs of thieves sees greater wealth in fewer hands, less funding for social needs and a falling life expectancy.

This. The top rate of tax was 90% in the 50s and 60s and stayed high until Thatcher came in.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

You selected one bit of the article, claimed it was the main issue and suggested younger people were to blame.

Eh? You may be right about me being selective. Probably a reaction to the poster who seems to have a chip on his shoulder. But it was certainly not my intention to blame younger people, I meant that people should be responsible for their lifestyle, I don't think youngsters need any older folk having a go at them personally. Maybe I misinterpreted as I thought it was saying the generation looking at retirement, which is mine as I'm just under 60 should be more responsible. I probably saw 'Boomer ' and reacted although I'm not a boomer.

 

[Brovion]

I think those who maintain the pension age should stay the same are the ones being unreasonable. in 1945 when the pension age was set at 65 average life expectancy was about 64. In 2020 it was about 81, so really the pension age should have increased to about 83!

Yes ok I'm playing with figures a bit, but surely people have to accept that as life expectancy goes up so should the pension age? Especially as people in their 60s are WAY more healthy and active now than they were in the 1940s. I'm 66, still working full-time, and though I've got a couple of health issues I'm fine overall and I most definitely don't want to be 'pensioned off'.

 

[dazzer6666]

Absolute swathes of people (in financial services anyway) retiring early must be hitting the tax take very significantly too……..able to do so because of half-decent pension schemes and ‘company restructuring’ leading to voluntary redundancy opportunities. Certainly from my experience Covid caused a huge amount of reflection and lifestyle choice thinking amongst my peer group - I know loads of people my age or thereabouts who have packed it in in the last 3-4 years, deciding to live off savings to bridge the gap between early retirement and reaching state pension age.

 

[El Presidente]

UK state pension age will soon need to rise to 71, say experts

Research on life expectancy and birth rates shows that ill health makes status quo unsustainable

www.theguardian.com

Yet another reminder of how good the boomers have it, and how the younger generations will receive blow after blow.

If I’m getting blow after blow at the age of 71 I’ll be happy.

 

[Bakero]

I think those who maintain the pension age should stay the same are the ones being unreasonable. in 1945 when the pension age was set at 65 average life expectancy was about 64. In 2020 it was about 81, so really the pension age should have increased to about 83!

Yes ok I'm playing with figures a bit, but surely people have to accept that as life expectancy goes up so should the pension age? Especially as people in their 60s are WAY more healthy and active now than they were in the 1940s. I'm 66, still working full-time, and though I've got a couple of health issues I'm fine overall and I most definitely don't want to be 'pensioned off'.

It depends on the job, doesn't it?

A desk job with flexitime and remote working? Sure, you could work to 70 and beyond. But a scaffolder or primary school teacher? Bit trickier.

 

[East Staffs Gull]

Realistically we are eventually heading to No state pensions at all.

With the pressure from all employers to enrol staff onto a pension scheme I can see the time when the state pension will only be given to those who have been unable to work in their lifetime or those that have never worked for whatever reason.

We are heading that way. Thank god I have a works pension and some private savings.

So those in employment will contribute via tax or social security contributions to a state pension that they themselves will never receive? Now that would be popular with voters.
Prior to the 1940’s the concept of pensions and retirement barely existed. People generally worked until they could no longer work. Roll on 80 years and people expect to spend in excess of one-third of their adult life in retirement, funded not inconsiderably by the state. Something has to give. Pushing up the retirement age is one solution, means testing (but not abolishing) the state pension is another. There are others.

 

[abc]

Another example of how we cannot, as a society, live beyond our means. We are collectively not willing to pay more tax (and taxing the rich more will never raise enough) but we collectively expect more in benefits, public spending, nhs, military spending, education etc than the tax revenue can afford.