lurchio

Hi, as Bob said above, but perhaps 'fiddle' was a trifle inappropriate. It is what it is, there are many more important things in life. I can say that during all my Government Service (30 years) NOBODY explained or wrote to us to outline the situation. I also paid NI contributions as an Employee in Private Industry, followed by self employed NI after that. Just seems that the Govt touted heavily on the new Pension 'Universally' and in the end it was a damp squib for the likes of me (and Bob!). I am NOT greedy in any way, it just another thing to suck up!


Ho, hum............................................

bobd22

I have 40 years service 22 years Forces 18 police. I never paid for military pension it was simply part of the contract so to say. I work out my saving NI on retirement from police was around £4 per month for which I lose £35 per week state pension good odds for government. Another scam with this single tier pension is that if like my wife you paid the extra for SERPs in the belief you were topping up your state pension? In fact now we know the details of how it works if your SERPs would not take you above the £155 they are simply rolled into the single tier pension, so you wasted your money paying for SERPs. You only get additional if your SERPs take you over £155. As you say Lurchio we have to suck it up so far just on this issue for wife and me around £70 per week😤

iano

Thanks chaps, I think it was just one of those things at the time that was taken as read in the public sector and so we wouldn't have received any official notification, personally. Quite simply, I guess some of us were aware of it, others not so.

Anyway, back on topic; Vince Cable reckons there might not be a Brexit after all. For all our sake, and especially the OP's let's hope he's right !

johnnyone

How anyone with the benefit of a public sector pension can complain is beyond me. It's not the £35 week you should be looking at but the benefit gained by being in a public sector scheme. How much does a police pension cost to service. c40% of salary?
I worked throughout in the private sector and also did not benefit as I had been paying serps that pushed me over the £155, effectively meaning most of my serps gave me no benefit despite paying in. I also had my pension reduced as I was contracted out for around 4 years, despite paying in from 16 to 65. Despite that I do think the overhaul of the pensions is for the good.

bobd22

I am not going into a public sector private sector argument. Someone asked a question I gave a reply. Police pensions and other public sector pensions are what they are.

Johnboyuk

I lived in Canada for many years. There is plenty of space there and land is relatively cheap outside of the main centres. Cold in winter but there are pros and cons as with everywhere:

https://www.dignam.com/

tuhler

So why are you and some of the other posters winging?

Johnboyuk

I think that Vince Cable has a point but how come 52% of people voted to leave the EU yet over 70% want a 'soft' Brexit? Go figure? I put it down to all of those 'remainers' who never bothered to go out and vote because they thought it was a forgone conclusion we would stay within the EU.

Like Maximillian Rosbpierre said, democracy is not for the masses because they don't know what they are voting for. The UK economy is going down so that will cause many people to rethink and I would not rely on Trump either for a trade deal.

iano

With respect, you're guilty of taking this thread even further off topic !

You might like to take a look in the 'Take it outside !' section for one, where there's an ongoing 'Post EU referendum' thread running, and probably the best place to discuss this complex subject. Think you'll enjoy taking part.

lurchio

Yep, if it benefits the right people then it will be. I've said I am happy to suck it up, so I see that as an acceptance of the situation. I suppose we all chose our way in life, and I don't know if I could have done your job or you mine, its just the way we took ourselves as volunteers in life. As already said, arguments over Pensions are pointless, we were all volunteers and took our paths.

johnnyone

What I said also applies to all contracted out private schemes. Contracting out of serps were to give equal or better benefits outside of serps by way of rebates etc. into the private scheme. You also must remember that it is not just the NI saving you made but also you never had to contribute to serps.
Generally I do believe, for a number of reasons not least fairness and of unsustainability of future costs that pensions (inc. state pensions) need overhauling, the triple lock being one example.

Johnboyuk

And, given the title of the thread, you don't think people arguing the merits of public and private pension schemes is off topic? This is what happens on these threads. People like to get their opinions in somewhere especially when the original point runs out of steam anyway.

bobd22

Pensions came up in thread simply because having state pension directly affects ones right to free healthcare in Spain. What other types of pension we have do not affect that. We all have what pension we have and chose what we did to earn that pension and make our way in life.

Johnboyuk

I understand and agree. I think these side issues make these threads more interesting and usually have some relevence. I am just merely making a point about other people telling posters what they should be posting and not posting. That is why we have moderators.

iano

Of course, guilty as charged !

Sorry, didn't intend to come across as a self-appointed moderator, pensions and the potential effects of Brexit are of course relevant to this thread.

P.S FWIW I fully agree with your EU referendum observations.