johnh009

Looks like the 140 GBp per week pension is going to happen in the UK. I wonder how this will affect Brits overseas and those who have made voluntory contributions over the years?

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/pension...page_id=6&ct=5

robin1234

In the Q&A linked to the Daily Mail article, it says;

"It is thought there will be some kind of citizenship or residency test. There will no longer be a need for 30 years of National Insurance contributions."

"Some kind of" .. that's a bit vague.

johnh009

There will be plenty of questions here. Like the UK tax system, being government administrated, there is a big potential for screwups. I wonder if those who haved lived overseas and receive a pension from that country will be penalised?

robin1234

Harumph.. as a former UK Civil Servant, I resent that

sallysimmons

The thing that blows my mind is the casual mention of forcing all employees to contribute to a separate pension. I actually think that's a good idea but after 20+ years in the US, I can't even imagine how any government can mandate people do things like that. Try that here and everyone would be screaming about communism and freedom and waving tea bags around

BristolUK

I view government administered as being different to civil service administered.

robin1234

Agreed .. after living in the United States for 20 + years, I could do with some Communism and freedom.

johnh009

I think the realty is that given an aging population, especially in the UK, who is going to support these people in their retirement or more specifically, where is the money going to come from? My opinion is that the contributory pension scheme is the first step in weaning people off the state pension and making them pay for their own in a completely seperate scheme. I'll bet eventually they will not get both or one will be taxed away. Theoretically, they already pay for their own pension but is it sufficiently funded? You are already seeing this with senior's retirement homes where people are having to sell their houses to pay for their care.

BristolUK

That's not new. It's at least 40 years old and may well have always been the situation.

Although I vaguely recall hearing of a change a few years ago in Scotland

ozhappy981

The UK used to have a system like that. Then we got Maggie Thatcher - and she put a stop to compulsory separate pension contributions.

sallysimmons

Understood, but the way that was dealt with in the US is that people were weaned off company pensions and encouraged to invest individually. Only of course they didn't - and now the first generation is retiring without enough money to live on.

The UK government is sensibly mandating participation so that doesn't happen. But if you haven't lived in the US (I don't know if you have?) you can't understand how totally impossible that would be here. The very people who would benefit from the mandate most, would scream and shout about the founding fathers and liberty, and any politician who supported the mandate would never work again. Years later, the screaming people would die in poverty, but they'd never make the connection.

johnh009

I lived in Canada where saving for your retirement was a national passtime. Not only is there a state pension but Retirement Savings Plans (RSPs) are aggressively marketed. Trouble is, RSPs are a form of deferred taxation, you are given a tax break when you buy them but it is clawed back when you cash them in and need the money most. Also, if you have enough of them, you are penalised on your state pension. I suppose at the end of the day, at least they have something to retire on.

Bevm

I don't get why this is so wrong.

If, instead of buying a house the person had invested the money and had a few hundred thousand socked away, do they not have to touch it to get care? I wouldn't think that was fair.

Bev

Mummy in the foothills

Well one partner may not need a nursing home so where are they supposed to live. If it were a single person then selling the home for care (so long as it wasn't care where they would eventually be sent home, to nowhere) then it could work but would need stringent rules.

Sally Redux

That's a big rise, especially for married couples.

I reckon people living abroad won't get anything.