Losing half your state pension not far away.

[Allen]

It is happening - if you have ever had an employer that "contracted you out" of part of the state pension (I think this is called something like "second pension") then you get a reduced state pension under the current scheme that has just been introduced. You could only contract out I believe if you were paying equivalent money into a private pension instead.

 

And your problem is? ..

If you paid the full 35 years into the state pension you are entitled to full state pension.

If not, you are entitled to a pension for the number of years paid in.

You then claim a private pension for the years "contracted out".

Edited October 31, 2018 by Allen

[Annie Bynnol]

Your argument that the raising of the pension for women as an example of losing out will attract absolutely no sympathy from me. Why should women have a significantly lower pensionable age to men? As for the overall increase in pensionable age is a natural thing to do when life expectancy is increasing.

 

Also, your entire post seems to me that you were negligent in having a full understanding of your pensions situation. So fundamentally whose fault is that?

 

 

Equality or negligence are not the issues here it is after all a reply to the comment "Losing half your state pension not far away." which is the title of the thread.

 

The equality bit was decided and argued about in the 1980s.

As I have said, women would have known about the increasing sliding scale decades in advance and would have been able plan for this gradual change.

 

In 2008 changes were made to the State Pension Age which meant that women who far from being negligent and who had a planned retirement age, had part of their pension taken away.

 

Now this is the important bit, these women did not know that the Government was going to change their State Pension Age again and have had very little time to change their retirement plan or increase their savings.

There is no way they can be accused of negligence in their planning for retirement as suddenly their projected figures changed without warning.

 

Secondly it appears that few on here understand that the State Pension will be reduced for new pensioners who have ever payed into the public sector "contracted out schemes" named previously. These rules were imposed.

 

That a Government can introduce cuts in State Pension rates and eligibility without sufficient warning is very worrying. As is the response of people who accuse those of planning ahead of not having a crystal ball and therefore negligence, or bringing up a decades old argument on equality.

 

I strongly advise people to check up on their State Pension Age, NI contributions history or whether contracted in or out.

[Cyclone]

The change to make the ages equal wasn't a problem.

The speed at which it was introduced was.

People (women of a specific age range, covering about 5 years) were left with their pensionable age having changed with only about 5 years to do anything about it. Which is clearly nonsense. If you're 55 and planning to retire at 60 on a full pension, then suddenly it's 65, then it's 66 or 67, and now the amount has been reduced as well.

 

It's not the correct way to go about it is it. It risks placing a group of people into some financial hardship simply because it was rushed.

[Eater Sundae]

Equality or negligence are not the issues here it is after all a reply to the comment "Losing half your state pension not far away." which is the title of the thread.

 

The equality bit was decided and argued about in the 1980s.

As I have said, women would have known about the increasing sliding scale decades in advance and would have been able plan for this gradual change.

 

In 2008 changes were made to the State Pension Age which meant that women who far from being negligent and who had a planned retirement age, had part of their pension taken away.

 

Now this is the important bit, these women did not know that the Government was going to change their State Pension Age again and have had very little time to change their retirement plan or increase their savings.

There is no way they can be accused of negligence in their planning for retirement as suddenly their projected figures changed without warning.

 

Secondly it appears that few on here understand that the State Pension will be reduced for new pensioners who have ever payed into the public sector "contracted out schemes" named previously. These rules were imposed.

 

That a Government can introduce cuts in State Pension rates and eligibility without sufficient warning is very worrying. As is the response of people who accuse those of planning ahead of not having a crystal ball and therefore negligence, or bringing up a decades old argument on equality.

 

I strongly advise people to check up on their State Pension Age, NI contributions history or whether contracted in or out.

 

Surely the whole issue of contracting out is a red herring. If you contracted out then you paid less in (towards your state pension) and would therefore expect to get less out when you retire. In parallel to this, people contracting out were saving into an occupational pension which would offset any loss of state pension.

[Cyclone]

I don't believe that you were told that you would get less though, and indeed you wouldn't, until recently... Rather a case of moving the goal posts many years after the ball was kicked...

[Eater Sundae]

I don't believe that you were told that you would get less though, and indeed you wouldn't, until recently... Rather a case of moving the goal posts many years after the ball was kicked...

 

I don’t know for absolute certain, and wouldn’t know how to check now, but I’m 99% sure that we were aware that state pension would (expect to) be reduced if we opted out. The company I worked for when it first came in chose to opt out. They were only allowed to if they had a system in place to make up the shortfall

 

My employer was a private company, btw, and not NHS, council or similar.

[truman]

I don’t know for absolute certain, and wouldn’t know how to check now, but I’m 99% sure that we were aware that state pension would (expect to) be reduced if we opted out. The company I worked for when it first came in chose to opt out. They were only allowed to if they had a system in place to make up the shortfall

 

My employer was a private company, btw, and not NHS, council or similar.

 

Same here.. we knew....

[Cyclone]

Some of the history here.

 

https://www.aol.co.uk/2012/04/18/contracting-out-your-pension-abolished-what-it-means-for-you/?guccounter=1

 

Happening whilst I was just starting high school, so before I took any interest in such things.

 

---------- Post added 31-10-2018 at 10:19 ----------

 

And this goes over some of the reasons why people have been surprised

 

https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/money/millions-set-miss-full-state-pension/

 

---------- Post added 31-10-2018 at 10:51 ----------

 

I think this article details the problems in the way the change was introduced and exactly how it's impacted women born in the 1950's

 

https://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/money/retirement/pensions/2016/four-reasons-women-are-angry-about-state-pension-changes

[vwkittie]

I've always taken the view that the state pension shouldn't be relied upon whatsoever and I've never thought about it at all when it comes to planning retirement. If I do get anything from it by then (doubtful - and not because I have a private pension, I just think it won't exist by the time I retire) it'll just be a bonus.

[Cyclone]

My parents retired quite recently. My Dad has already reached state pension age and is claiming it.

They're perfectly comfortable, but they had (until a few years ago when things changed) an expectation that in 4 more years (2 years from now) my mum's state pension would also start. This would just provide them with increased income for holidays or presents or whatever.

Then that was changed and it got 5 years further away.

Then it was changed again and it got another year away, then another...

 

They weren't ever relying on the state pension, but you can see why my Mum might feel somewhat aggrieved at the way the changes were handled.

And if they hadn't been prudent and made provisions for themselves my Mum would have found herself in the odd position of working longer than my Dad to claim the same pension, just because she was a few years younger...