Poll: Pensions - Are you worried about the future?

How much is in your pension pot?

  • <£20k

    Votes: 69 20.6%

  • £21k - £30k

    Votes: 11 3.3%

  • £31k - £40k

    Votes: 15 4.5%

  • £41k+

    Votes: 168 50.1%

  • No clue

    Votes: 72 21.5%
  • Total voters
    335
MichaelAwkward said:
Who told you those deductions were specifically to pay for your state pension?
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The HMRC website implies it as it tells you how many qualifying years of NI you have paid and how your pension changes depending on the number of years.

Your National Insurance record​

You’ll usually need at least 10 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to get any State Pension. They do not have to be 10 qualifying years in a row.
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https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension

If that's not advising that some of your NI is used for your pension then why have a correlation between NI years paid and pension due? :confused:
 
ci_newman said:
Until recently you were able to opt out of additional NI pension contributions. Why could you opt out of something if you weren't specifically making contributions to it?
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I've never heard of additional NI pension contributions - are you sure you don't mean additional NI contributions, which entitle you to receive various benefits including the full state pension (at whatever level and whatever age a sovereign parliament decides it should be)?
 
MichaelAwkward said:
I've never heard of additional NI pension contributions - are you sure you don't mean additional NI contributions, which entitle you to receive various benefits including the full state pension (at whatever level and whatever age a sovereign parliament decides it should be)?
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It was called contracting out and was popular in the 90s and 00s. It was removed in 2016:

www.gov.uk

Contracted out of the Additional State Pension

Check if you were contracted out of the Additional State Pension and what it means for your State Pension
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk
 
Richie said:
The HMRC website implies it as it tells you how many qualifying years of NI you have paid and how your pension changes depending on the number of years.



https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension

If that's not advising that some of your NI is used for your pension then why have a correlation between NI years paid and pension due? :confused:
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Please show me where it tells you that a state pension is due to you, based on your record of NI contributions?

It's easy to get mixed up between contributions and being owed something back, and a simple entitlement to make use of the benefits system (which includes the 'State pension'), based on historical NI contributions, which may be changed on a whim by any future government as it likes.

It even says in your quoted text "any State pension". Nothing is guaranteed. It could be the equivalent of £100 a year at whatever age you retire.
 
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ci_newman said:
It was called contracting out and was popular in the 90s and 00s. It was removed in 2016:

www.gov.uk

Contracted out of the Additional State Pension

Check if you were contracted out of the Additional State Pension and what it means for your State Pension
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk
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Ah, fair cop - that's a very different thing though to what was being generally discussed (the State pension), and affects relatively few people (and fewer people going forward obviously).

That said - parliament can undo anything it wants. That you trust them not to do so is incidental to your contributions.
 
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Of course but any government looking to pull the state pension (means tested or not) will not last long and I'd imagine the civil unrest would make the Poll Tax riots look like a silly disagreement.
 
MichaelAwkward said:
Ah, fair cop - that's a very different thing though to what was being generally discussed (the State pension), and affects relatively few people (and fewer people going forward obviously).

That said - parliament can undo anything it wants. That you trust them not to do so is incidental to your contributions.
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Certainly, but those in the workforce who didn't contract out were making contributions to some kind of additional state pension until at least 2016 when the scheme closed.
 
HACO said:
Yeah ours, as it stands today without triple lock increases, will be insolvent in late 2030s or so. With triple lock that can happen even sooner. Something has to give. Either taxes will have to go up substantially, or state pension age will have to go higher, or it will have to be means tested, or a combination of these.

FWIT, state pension was intended as a means-tested benefit for the poor people above 70 when life expectancy was under 60. It was never intended to fund old people's lifestyle for 20-30 years after retirement. With demographic shifts we are going to have fewer and fewer workers per old people, and that's not just the UK but the whole world, state pensions in all countries will have to go through these changes and perhaps turn into what they were intended in the first place.
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I wonder how many years would be bought if Labour's suggestion of taxing unearned income at the same rate as earned was implemented, assuming it includes NI contributions. It might be simpler than means testing.
 
Sorry I know this is a dumb question. I've upped my pension contribution to 10% this month. If, for example, I earned £40k per year, would that not mean that my monthly contribution would be £40k / 12 * 0.1? So £333?

Or is it after some other contributions?
 
dirtychinchilla said:
Sorry I know this is a dumb question. I've upped my pension contribution to 10% this month. If, for example, I earned £40k per year, would that not mean that my monthly contribution would be £40k / 12 * 0.1? So £333?

Or is it after some other contributions?
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Depends on how your gross is paid. Not all elements of gross are pensionable.

If you have a basic setup though, yeah it should be that simple.
 
Considering the epic argument recently about the trials and tribulations of living off £100k salary, are we really saying £41k is an upper level in a pension pot? The forum isn't exactly full of 20 year olds either.
 
I do worry about retirement age behind hoisted higher and higher. My grandfather died not long after he finished work (before state pension age) so never got to enjoy the full extent of it :(

Personally speaking, I'd like to bow out around 60. I'd push for a reduction in hours if I had to stay in work until state pension age but secretly hoping I can squirrel away enough to take the hit and get out with most of my mental faculties intact.
 
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