Please turn the lights out
Given that the pension funds have been raped by the last three Chancellors of the Exchequor, this should not be a surprise. The Government have already known, or at least if their Education Degrees are to be accepted, that the pension pot after 2025 is going to be empty: Bankrupt.
Mathematically, the SERPS pension and National Insurance based pension cannot work beyond that date. The persons who are retired will be extremely wealthy by comparison to the people retiring after 2025. The original system created after 1945 relied on the fact that the average man lived until he was 73 Years, the average woman 75-77Years. Further more people were in work, and following the population explosion of late 1940's to the early 1970's there was a triangle of cashflow, with a lot of people paying in between 7-9% of their salaries. On the pay out side of the books there were fewer people drawinga State Pension than drawing on it.
Suddenly from the early 1980's the birth rate from 2.4 children per couple to roughly 1.8 per couple- a reduction of 30%; add back the longevity factor, you will be looking at over 50% of the population above the current, official retirement age. The Government increasing the retirement age is not going to make a difference. Whilst back in the 1970's the joke was being "over the hill at 50"; it has now become nearer to "over the hill at 40". Trying to find a job at 40 years plus is increasingly difficult as I have discovered following redundancy. The main excuses run are:
1. You are over-qualified (Read: "Help! -You may know more than I do")
2. You do not have the right experience (Read: "We would prefer to have a button pusher
as any one who can think causes a problem as they may make the senior
management levels look stupid).
3. We are only interested if you have experience of XYZ Software and/or a certain
sector of trade or industry (Read: We cannot be bothered to train you and have
no interest in your future, and in any case it is cheaper to employ somebody who
will not question the rate)
4. We are "out-sourcing the support work" (Read: well, it is far cheaper to pay someone
in India or other 3rd World Country £2.50 an hour, than pay a UK person who expects
a decent renumeration. And lets face it with the taxation on salaries and TRUE cost
of living in this Country- we need the higher rates)
Finally, to completely screw things up, it is likely that many of the mortgages which were designed to be paid off by either a Pension Plan or Endowment Policy have been raped by the last three Governments such that there is no way they will ever payout what they were projected before Messr Brown and Blair started chipping away at the tax reliefs and re-investment oppourtunities. Meanwhile our megalomaniac Prime Ministers will enjoy a nice little Inflation proofed pension for life- and at the average mans cost! Ironically the person that the last three Governments have claimed to be supporting, i.e. the so called working family".
It seems to me that it is time to put all your money off-shore, and whilst I'd love to jump the Country as well. Last one to leave Britain (we are no longer Great, nor indeed a United Kingdom- Tony has seen to that by selling us to Europe), PLEASE TURN THE LIGHTS OUT.
Re: Please turn the lights out
Re: Please turn the lights out
I think that might be called a general rounding on the Government of the day :)
Obviously the pension scheme won't actually be bankrupt as current taxation pays for today's expenditure. No money is put away for pensions for the future. Will there be enough taxation to pay for future expenditure in say 2025? Moot point. All public expenditure is based on limited resources and relatively unlimited wants. If pensions are paid then other expenditure might well not be undertaken.
Raising the pension age will, however, have an impact especially if it is raised to 77.
All Governments are a bit pants and I am not sure this one is any worse than the previous flavour - I can well remember Norman Lamont scaring us all crapless by raising interest rates to 15% or having to move hundreds of miles to get a job in the 80s :( Oh happy days!
Re: Please turn the lights out
Fuck the pension scheme, if you are relying on that when your old your fucked already...
Re: Please turn the lights out
Quote:
Originally Posted by
zoe68
Given that the pension funds have been raped by the last three Chancellors of the Exchequor, this should not be a surprise. The Government have already known, or at least if their Education Degrees are to be accepted, that the pension pot after 2025 is going to be empty: Bankrupt.
Mathematically, the SERPS pension and National Insurance based pension cannot work beyond that date. The persons who are retired will be extremely wealthy by comparison to the people retiring after 2025. The original system created after 1945 relied on the fact that the average man lived until he was 73 Years, the average woman 75-77Years. Further more people were in work, and following the population explosion of late 1940's to the early 1970's there was a triangle of cashflow, with a lot of people paying in between 7-9% of their salaries. On the pay out side of the books there were fewer people drawinga State Pension than drawing on it.
Suddenly from the early 1980's the birth rate from 2.4 children per couple to roughly 1.8 per couple- a reduction of 30%; add back the longevity factor, you will be looking at over 50% of the population above the current, official retirement age. The Government increasing the retirement age is not going to make a difference. Whilst back in the 1970's the joke was being "over the hill at 50"; it has now become nearer to "over the hill at 40". Trying to find a job at 40 years plus is increasingly difficult as I have discovered following redundancy. The main excuses run are:
1. You are over-qualified (Read: "Help! -You may know more than I do")
2. You do not have the right experience (Read: "We would prefer to have a button pusher
as any one who can think causes a problem as they may make the senior
management levels look stupid).
3. We are only interested if you have experience of XYZ Software and/or a certain
sector of trade or industry (Read: We cannot be bothered to train you and have
no interest in your future, and in any case it is cheaper to employ somebody who
will not question the rate)
4. We are "out-sourcing the support work" (Read: well, it is far cheaper to pay someone
in India or other 3rd World Country £2.50 an hour, than pay a UK person who expects
a decent renumeration. And lets face it with the taxation on salaries and TRUE cost
of living in this Country- we need the higher rates)
Finally, to completely screw things up, it is likely that many of the mortgages which were designed to be paid off by either a Pension Plan or Endowment Policy have been raped by the last three Governments such that there is no way they will ever payout what they were projected before Messr Brown and Blair started chipping away at the tax reliefs and re-investment oppourtunities. Meanwhile our megalomaniac Prime Ministers will enjoy a nice little Inflation proofed pension for life- and at the average mans cost! Ironically the person that the last three Governments have claimed to be supporting, i.e. the so called working family".
It seems to me that it is time to put all your money off-shore, and whilst I'd love to jump the Country as well. Last one to leave Britain (we are no longer Great, nor indeed a United Kingdom- Tony has seen to that by selling us to Europe), PLEASE TURN THE LIGHTS OUT.
I wonder if you could quote the source too
It was by the way Ted Heath who sold you to Europe..and with hindsight, he did very well for you all too...
