Government Petition to pay state pension early

[mr hil.]

I have just signed this petition, if we all did and spread the word maybe we could all retire early with a decent income
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/553642

[Schiff]

Too many people would take their state pension early but then rely on income related benefits to top up their income. The administration would be a nightmare and it would cost the government money at a time that public finances are in dire straits due to Covid. In other words, it is never going to happen.

If anything, increases in state pension age will be brought forward in order to save money.

[deltaforce]

Agreed. The reason the state pension age was raised is because it was unsustainable. It would mean a doubling of National insurance to fund it or an investment in banknote printing machines.

[NorthernBoy]

Unfortunately the only way the state pension age is going is upwards.

I would not be surprised if people in their 30s now will be looking at 70 to get their pension. The golden era of pensions and early retirement is over and is now out of reach for the vast majority, it’s a case of work until you drop.

For those wanting to retire at 60 you are going to need a hell of a lot of money in your DC scheme to fund it.

[mr hil.]

Many people with private pensions are unable to retire early because the waiting period for the state pension starting means they do not have enough income to survive on without the extra monies the state pension provides. By enabling those with a modest private pension ( as all us posties have) to retire at 60 with a reduced state pension would allow many unemployed younger people to come off other state benefits so the overall costs could be neutral. Also the added benefit of lots of free child care provided by the new retirees to their grandchildren would also be a benefit. All this extra disposable income that comes from more people working or retired would boost domestic spending too.

I don't see it happening but without asking those in the government to look into such a scheme would mean it definitely will not happen. How many posties on here would sign up for this, I know I certainly would consider retiring earlier than 67 if I was able to claim my state pension too

[gt94sss2]

If you defer your State Pension and claim it later, you get an extra 5.8% for each year you delay taking it.

I imagine that if you were able to claim your State Pension early, you would be looking at a bigger reduction/year in the amount you were able to claim..

Its not going to happen and if it did, I don't think it would be popular due to the size of the cut in the amount of pension you would receive

[wacko74]

I'd happily retire now at 46 years old if I was a offered a guaranteed Basic Income of £120 per week for the rest of my life (adjusted for inflation obviously) with no entitlement to any other benefits other than State Pension.

This would free up my full time job for someone who needs it... like all the people who claim they can't get more than 16 hours per week and need to have their wages ''topped up'' by benefits.
(By ''topped up'' what they really mean is they are actually getting far more in benefits than the wages they earn)

Paying me £120 per week would work out a lot cheaper for the public purse than what they're currently paying to the typical ''full time single mummies'' in Universal Credit and other associated benefits.

People talk about the State Pension of around £160 per week being ''unsustainable''... yet nobody ever mentions how unsustainable it is to be paying 25 year old single mummy Sharon with 3 kids by 3 different dads well over £400 per week in UC and other associated benefits for 20+ years.

[Phantom]

There's plenty of money in the pot only the stupid will think not.

Lying Tory bastards and other politicians will always say their is no money, there's money for them but not for you.

[heapsy]

The real problem isn't having enough money to pay these benefits. The real problem, and I was told this by a Tory councilor I know, and who is very close to our local MP, they are afraid to cut the benefits because Labour will be voted in at the next election. Don't know what party you vote for, but that's the truth. The welfare state issue has become a noose around the governments neck. Forget the issue of longevity. They are desperate to keep people working, to pay the benefits which are more than the pensions. Cutting benefits is about as likely as increasing direct taxes, that's Income tax and NI. Just look at the row started by Universal Credit. They'd rather do it through stealth. 5% on utilities? A penny on petrol? They are all the same. The NEST pension for companies that didn't have their own schemes would be the way to go for state pensions. Pay for your own. It happens in the USA. It wouldn't be popular, but nor is moving the state pension age up. The latter is still easier to do because the younger ones don't think about retirement until they are nearly there. That is perfect for ANY government, because when people realize they cannot afford to retire, they will work on. Result. THIS will cause major issues with unemployment one day, but nobody has told us yet. The only way is for people to work at the own retirement planning, sad but true.

[rambo1]

I'd happily retire now at 46 years old if I was a offered a guaranteed Basic Income of £120 per week for the rest of my life (adjusted for inflation obviously) with no entitlement to any other benefits other than State Pension.

This would free up my full time job for someone who needs it... like all the people who claim they can't get more than 16 hours per week and need to have their wages ''topped up'' by benefits.
(By ''topped up'' what they really mean is they are actually getting far more in benefits than the wages they earn)

Paying me £120 per week would work out a lot cheaper for the public purse than what they're currently paying to the typical ''full time single mummies'' in Universal Credit and other associated benefits.

People talk about the State Pension of around £160 per week being ''unsustainable''... yet nobody ever mentions how unsustainable it is to be paying 25 year old single mummy Sharon with 3 kids by 3 different dads well over £400 per week in UC and other associated benefits for 20+ years.

Well bloody said! Makes my blood boil. Save hard for your future and you get nothing. Spend every penny you get and you get bailed out.

[Tman]

There's plenty of money in the pot only the stupid will think not.
Lying Tory bastards and other politicians will always say their is no money, there's money for them but not for you.

That's a bit 1970s in it's logic. I'm surprised, given the current financial issues, that anyone would still believe that sort of stuff.

[heapsy]

I've signed the petition, even though I don't think it will succeed. The reason being that some people engaged in manual work simply wont be able to work until 70+. That is the reality for the younger ones. The problem I see in the future is one of jobs being vacated, or not, as the case may be. Low pensions could well mean that many will be forced to work on. Those in physical work will not be able to work until 70+. Where will they work if others do not vacate their jobs? Nobody seems keen to explain this to the public. I really see problems ahead for those who cannot or will not save / invest enough for their future. In China, manual workers retire at 55! Coupled with the fact that fewer people will get on the housing ladder, and will therefore have to rent due to fewer and fewer inheriting, it isn't hard to see that people wont retire. That raises some interesting questions for society. Just how much will the government have to provide in benefits? THAT, will have to be funded by taxation, whether we like it or not, because successive governments have failed to deal with the issues.

[freespeech]

If you defer your State Pension and claim it later, you get an extra 5.8% for each year you delay taking it.

I imagine that if you were able to claim your State Pension early, you would be looking at a bigger reduction/year in the amount you were able to claim..

Its not going to happen and if it did, I don't think it would be popular due to the size of the cut in the amount of pension you would receive

For each week you defer it takes 17 weeks to recoup what you have lost by deferring. So deferring for three weeks will take a year to start to "profit" from that 5.8%. A simple deferral of 6 months would take over 8 years to recoup so for most people they aren't better off until they are at least 75. Not sure I would take that risk personally.

[Woody Guthrie]

We have one of the lowest state pensions in the world in one of the richest countries in the world.

The fact that we're willing to accept that kind of tells you how much chance this petition has.

Never mind lots of already rich people get even richer off the back of private pensions while we keep pumping in more and more of our wages to get less and less back.

If I were a neutral observer I would be pissing myself laughing at our stoopidity...

[Schiff]

If you defer your State Pension and claim it later, you get an extra 5.8% for each year you delay taking it.

For each week you defer it takes 17 weeks to recoup what you have lost by deferring. So deferring for three weeks will take a year to start to "profit" from that 5.8%. A simple deferral of 6 months would take over 8 years to recoup so for most people they aren't better off until they are at least 75. Not sure I would take that risk personally.

For people in the current DC scheme, using their pot to defer their state pension works out far more cost effective than buying an annuity at current rates. Unlike most annuities, the extra state pension is also likely to continue to benefit from increases at least in line with inflation. The current triple lock means that it may do rather better than simply matching inflation.

On average, a 67 year old man in the UK will live to be 84 and a woman to 86. Yes, there is a chance that you will be in the 50% who don't live that long, but there is an equal chance that you will be in the 50% who live longer.