Current school children to work to 100

[unclebulgaria67]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/children-starting-school-now-could-work-to-100-and-have-40-jobs-a6683266.html

 

Some are predicting that people currently in school may have to work to 100. Not sure what they will be doing !

 

I can see the state pension age being increased gradually, as the numbers of people drawing money makes it too expensive.

 

What i am doubting is the health of future generations as they are not as physically active, as past generations. Yes healthcare will improve, but there is an increase in dementia and things like diabetes. Also healthcare costs will increase and i am not convinced NHS will remain free at the point of access.

 

From my experience some people do live currently into their 80's or 90's, but they often suffer from many different medical conditions and can end up in care homes, where they start to see quality of life decline. I could not imagine any of them, being fit to work, even part time.

[Conniff]

I don't think the human body has kept up with medicine. There are lot of problems with age that stops the body doing things it would like to.

[caro]

Although the cause of the terrible bus crash in Coventry has yet to be determined, I was amazed to learn that the driver is 77.

[Conniff]

I heard that and thought they must surely have meant the woman pedestrian who was killed.

 

Not surprising though, the pilot who died in mid flight had had a heart attack and a bypass but was still allowed to pilot a civil aircraft.

[caro]

You heard right Conniff,

 

The government seem to think firefighters are physically able to do their job up to the age of 60 too.

[Nystagmite]

So, they're going to pay for their pensions and get nothing back?

[citizenB]

So, they're going to pay for their pensions and get nothing back?

 

I think that might just be the plan, Nystagmite ?

 

I guess this could also just be a rumour in order to get people to start thinking about saving for their own Pension plan !

[unclebulgaria67]

So, they're going to pay for their pensions and get nothing back?

 

For people currently under 30, they will be paying towards current generations pensions, but may never receive a pension themselves or it won't be until they are 75+ years old.

 

Current generations of young people are getting a very bad deal, compared to previous generations. Not only can they not afford to buy houses, but they will have to work until they are well past the current retirement age.

 

The challenge for government is to be fair to all generations, which is why i think the Taxpayers Alliance called for government to look at current pensioner benefits. Is it fair that current pensioners are receiving winter fuel allowance, free bus travel etc ? Some current pensioners will have received private pensions when they were decent. They will have benefitted when houses were more affordable.

 

If i were under 30, i would be getting qualifications that allowed me to emigrate to a country that was likely to offer a better standard of living in the future. I don't think i would be staying on an island, where the population is likely to be 100 million by 2050.

[tobyjugg2]

If i were under 30, i would be getting qualifications that allowed me to emigrate to a country that was likely to offer a better standard of living in the future. I don't think i would be staying on an island, where the population is likely to be 100 million by 2050.

 

Which brings us back to the higher education costs and prospects issue, and the simple fact that too many who do get good practical qualifications bagger off somewhere else.

We get left the bankers and politicians

[unclebulgaria67]

Which brings us back to the higher education costs and prospects issue, and the simple fact that too many who do get good practical qualifications bagger off somewhere else.

We get left the bankers and politicians

 

The NHS keeps losing Doctors and Nurses, as they can earn more, plus enjoy better living/working conditions elsewhere. Why spend a fortune commuting to work , a silly amount of rent or mortgage, working in a stressed out environment, when you could be working somewhere nice e.g Australia or New Zealand or US.

 

It takes a long time to train in some professions and if people leave, it often means trying to recruit from abroad. You then have need for immigrants on works visas. Why not start to tackle the issues in the UK, so not as many leave.

 

Any government should think carefully about how their policies affect the country now, in 10 years, in 20 years etc. The electoral cycle often means they just tinker around, so they look after the people who might vote for them and are not bothered by others who are unlikely to support them.

[obiter dictum]

People used to save for their pensions at one time,.The Government in the 1980s made out that it was a fantastic opportunity to "opt out" of Occupational pensions and introduced personal pensions.. You think the PPI scandal is bad now, it is in comparrison with major claims in the early 1990s for pension misselling to the tune of 12 billion..

 

Only problem was that the brokers/Private Pension providers were taking more out in fees than was going into the pension pot. The average paid in to a pension back then over the life time of the employee was £300,000, .Over £80,000 was being deducted in "Management fees"

 

The simple fact of the matter is that the public no longer trust pension providers, they are considered as [problem] artists.

People no longer provide for private pensions that has had a negative impact to ths day, and who can blame them. City Traders have the same reputation as estate agents, Tarnished

[unclebulgaria67]

Why does the government not offer investment bonds to the public, which is invested in building houses by a publicly owned company. Some of the profits on house sales and any rental income is paid as a dividend. The bonds would increase in value a little each year, based on performance of fund. The bonds can be cashed in at any point or even used as part of a deposit in buying a house. Why is government fixated on just allowing private companies to make profits ?

 

The government can encourage saving by people from as early an age as possible. Rather than waste money on gadgets, people could be buying government backed bonds, which are secure and provide some interest and increase in value.

[Conniff]

People used to save for their pensions at one time,.The Government in the 1980s made out that it was a fantastic opportunity to "opt out" of Occupational pensions and introduced personal pensions.. You think the PPI scandal is bad now, it is in comparrison with major claims in the early 1990s for pension misselling to the tune of 12 billion..

 

Only problem was that the brokers/Private Pension providers were taking more out in fees than was going into the pension pot. The average paid in to a pension back then over the life time of the employee was £300,000, .Over £80,000 was being deducted in "Management fees"

 

The simple fact of the matter is that the public no longer trust pension providers, they are considered as [problem] artists.

People no longer provide for private pensions that has had a negative impact to ths day, and who can blame them. City Traders have the same reputation as estate agents, Tarnished

 

Especially when Gordon Brown raided the pension pot and abolished the tax relief so bringing an end to final salary pensions and to this day still costing the taxpayer £10b per year.

[unclebulgaria67]

Especially when Gordon Brown raided the pension pot and abolished the tax relief so bringing an end to final salary pensions and to this day still costing the taxpayer £10b per year.

 

That is a small part of it. The main problem was companies taking payment holidays, not paying into the funds.

 

Pensions are badly managed. I can remember my Dad being a trustee on a company pension scheme and he said that the investment managers were taking too much in fees to the detriment of members. He wanted to look at other options, but the company had a long relationship with the Bank concerned and would not even consider it.

 

Some pension funds do very well. The Canadian Teachers pension fund of Ontario, has a huge number of investments all around the world and is one of the largest investors around. Surely the UK can look at what happens elsewhere and look to make changes.

[obiter dictum]

Take Royal Mail as an example

 

Between 1990 and 2005 Royal Mail took a pension holiday where they paid nothing into the pension fund, That was 15 years. Relaxed Legislation allowed them to do that even after the Maxwell affair.

 

They had a pension deficit of 15 billion. That had to be taken out of Royal Mail control and into Government prior to the floataton of Royal Mail. That floatation would not have happened otherwise. That pension fund is now funded directly by the tax payer

[Conniff]

Good on them. I pay 40% tax so lets give some of it back to the pensioners.

[obiter dictum]

That is a pension fund with a 15 Billion present shortfall being subsidised direct from the Tax payer on contributions that should have been made as soon as the pension fund started to go into deficit

 

That 15 billion deficit will grow like a canker until everyone who was enrolled in the pension fund passes away.

 

I cannot see how a growing 15 Billion Bill is good for the tax payer

[Tawnyowl]

Take Royal Mail as an example

 

Between 1990 and 2005 Royal Mail took a pension holiday where they paid nothing into the pension fund, That was 15 years. Relaxed Legislation allowed them to do that even after the Maxwell affair.

 

They had a pension deficit of 15 billion. That had to be taken out of Royal Mail control and into Government prior to the floataton of Royal Mail. That floatation would not have happened otherwise. That pension fund is now funded directly by the tax payer

 

I remember a year or so ago asking the Postmaster,why is the cost of sending parcels so high.

Half the price down the road.

He said it is the cost of pensions having to be met.

 

However your post is accurate i had not realised that fact.Surprised me.

 

The privatisation of Royal Mail: what about the pension scheme?

Royal Mail, one of the largest government sell-offs in a generation. But is what they have done with its pension fund intergenerationally fair?

 

http://www.if.org.uk/archives/4280/the-privatisation-of-royal-mail-what-about-the-pension-scheme

[unclebulgaria67]

Good on them. I pay 40% tax so lets give some of it back to the pensioners.

 

I agree that pensions should relate to contribution, but that is not what happens. State pensions are not guaranteed and are subject to change by government passing bills through parliament. The money that pensioners receive is out of current taxation and if there was ever not enough money, then choices would be made. Because pensioners vote more, at elections the parties bid for votes. Younger people are going to have to vote and demand that they receive fair treatment. This might require mass protests and peaceful ways of making sure politicians listen.

[citizenB]

Apparently in 1990 the Chancellor pretty much forced some companies who had well / overfunded pension funds to take these "holidays". I think it was Nigel Lawson who said if they didn't, then "he would raid" them.

 

It was also the start of some firms such as the Prudential letting quite a lot of their staff retire early with fantastic pension plans in place.

[citizenB]

Source..

 

http://www.saveoursavers.co.uk/government-failure/pulverising-final-salary-pension-funds/

 

How did it all go wrong?

 

Back in 1988, when the stock market – then the bedrock of many pension funds – was roaring, Conservative Chancellor Nigel Lawson decided to introduce a tax on company pension fund “surpluses” (money that boosted the value of a pension fund by virtue of it having benefited from soar away stock market prices).

 

However, this move had a knock-on effect: to avoid the tax, in the 1990s employers reduced their pension surpluses through “contribution holidays” – putting no money into the pension fund – while offering generous early retirement packages. Unsurprisingly, this ended up leaving very little in the kitty for a rainy day.

 

 

[tobyjugg2]

Source..

 

http://www.saveoursavers.co.uk/government-failure/pulverising-final-salary-pension-funds/

 

Absolutely, and later a number of the funds, like the EPS had to put extra in to meet projected shortfalls at least partly if not entirely as a result of those holidays which benefited the company far more than it ever did the staff.

Mind you - massive payoffs to senior staff who had vast pay increases over short periods and early retirement bled them quite a bit too.

[unclebulgaria67]

It amuses me when one party manages to blame the other and enough people believe it. The public still believe that Labour caused the worldwide Banking crash, because the Tories and right wing media kept saying it.

[tobyjugg2]

It amuses me when one party manages to blame the other and enough people believe it. The public still believe that Labour caused the worldwide Banking crash, because the Tories and right wing media kept saying it.

 

+1

We've seen that a lot here, but hopefully spotted it and given the info correcting it.

Shame Labour didn't.

[Conniff]

It amuses me when one party manages to blame the other and enough people believe it. The public still believe that Labour caused the worldwide Banking crash, because the Tories and right wing media kept saying it.

 

I don't believe that Labour cause the worldwide crash, ask if I blame Gordon Brown ? All the problems with the Labour party were his fault.