Ian Duncan Smith Says Wealthy should not claim pensions

[Hillpig]

At what level are pensioners wealthy? If you have contributed throughout your working life why not take what you are entitled to?

[boyfriday]

At what level are pensioners wealthy? If you have contributed throughout your working life why not take what you are entitled to?

 

There should be a disconnect between what we've contributed and what we're 'entitled to', the state pension scheme has never been properly funded and the people who are currently the beneficiaries of it will have merely been subsidising the pension incomes of those retiring many years ago.

 

The notion of 'entitlement' is erroneous in my opinion because quite simply the country's skint, and the situation our children and grandchildren will inherit in terms of social funding and the ageing population will be quite horrendous.

 

Personally I agree with Duncan-Smith, there are many people, not even wealthy who do not 'need' the state pension as they have handsome final salary pension schemes already. Reserving the basic state pension for the most needy will undoubtedly help the Exchequor and hopefully mean there's something left for future generations.

[BIGDINNERS]

There should be a disconnect between what we've contributed and what we're 'entitled to', the state pension scheme has never been properly funded and the people who are currently the beneficiaries of it will have merely been subsidising the pension incomes of those retiring many years ago.

 

The notion of 'entitlement' is erroneous in my opinion because quite simply the country's skint, and the situation our children and grandchildren will inherit in terms of social funding and the ageing population will be quite horrendous.

 

Personally I agree with Duncan-Smith, there are many people, not even wealthy who do not 'need' the state pension as they have handsome final salary pension schemes already. Reserving the basic state pension for the most needy will undoubtedly help the Exchequor and hopefully mean there's something left for future generations.

Fair comment,but why then should the wealthy pay 40-50% of there hard earned wages in taxes when not getting a fair deal at the end of their working lives:loopy:

[I1L2T3]

IDS is right. Given that half our benefit spend goes to pensioners it is a key area that needs to be looked at.

[Rupert_Baehr]

Fair comment,but why then should the wealthy pay 40-50% of there hard earned wages when not getting a fair deal at the end of their working lives:loopy:

 

Those with any sense might as well leg it now to places where what you save towards your pension you keep. - Because in the UK:

 

If you go to work, we will tax you to pay for those who don't go to work.

We will also tax you to pay for the services you need.

And we'll tax you to pay for the services those who don't go to work need.

 

You'll end up working for peanuts (you might get a job arranging peanuts with your degree in Alpine Flower arrangement) or you might consider going elsewhere.

 

It depends. How many people do you want to support with your salary?

[JFKvsNixon]

Fair comment,but why then should the wealthy pay 40-50% of there hard earned wages when not getting a fair deal at the end of their working lives:loopy:

 

OK for example, should someone on a an income of £50k a year get state benefits or should they be able to organise their finances appropriately enough to be able live independently?

 

For me the debate isn't whether or not the wealthy should claim their pension, it's at what level income should you get a state pension.

[I1L2T3]

Those with any sense might as well leg it now to places where what you save towards your pension you keep. - Because in the UK:

 

If you go to work, we will tax you to pay for those who don't go to work.

We will also tax you to pay for the services you need.

And we'll tax you to pay for the services those who don't go to work need.

 

You'll end up working for peanuts (you might get a job arranging peanuts with your degree in Alpine Flower arrangement) or you might consider going elsewhere.

 

It depends. How many people do you want to support with your salary?

 

I wonder how many people who get uppity about this spent their working lives evading/avoiding their taxes. Maybe at the end of the day they supported nobody but themselves.

 

Which brings me onto a point - we know HMRC is poor at collecting taxes and misses tens of billions a year. If tax collection was more efficient we could fund benefits systems better.

[MrSmith]

There’s a reasonable chance that many of the pensioners that don’t need the state pension wil have kids or grand kids that need a leg up, i suspect many of them already give much of their pension to the next generation anyway, they paid in why shouldn’t their offspring benefit.

Means testing state pension will also encourage some people to stop saving for their retirement. .

 

If I didn’t need my pension I would just give it to my kids or grandkids.

[I1L2T3]

There’s a reasonable chance that many of the pensioners that don’t need the state pension wil have kids or grand kids that need a leg up, i suspect many of them already give much of their pension to the next generation anyway, they paid in why shouldn’t their offspring benefit.

Means testing state pension will also encourage some people to stop saving for their retirement. .

 

If I didn’t need my pension I would just give it to my kids or grandkids.

 

Another way to look at is if you don't need it don't claim it. The money you don't receive could go to pensioners who do need it.

[MrSmith]

I wonder how many people who get uppity about this spent their working lives evading/avoiding their taxes. Maybe at the end of the day they supported nobody but themselves.

 

Which brings me onto a point - we know HMRC is poor at collecting taxes and misses tens of billions a year. If tax collection was more efficient we could fund benefits systems better.

 

Or people maybe wouldn’t try to avoid paying tax if the government didn’t waste so much of it and give money to the lazy.

 

---------- Post added 28-04-2013 at 09:43 ----------

 

Another way to look at is if you don't need it don't claim it. The money you don't receive could go to pensioners who do need it.

 

But many people will think their kids and grand kids might need it more than some starnger.