Any other pensioners here?

Some I know are falling over, practically housebound, heavily reliant on social services, comes out of council taxes.

I don't have kids and am not an active user of nuclear weapons.

Can I have a rebate on service provided for that?

Absolutely not. The state pension is not a means-tested benefit and was never intended to be one, right back to Lloyd-George. Making it means-tested (and doing that to the WFA was the first step on that road) would be a breach of contract. The whole idea is that a pensioner gets state pension (circa £10,000 to c. £11500, depending on whether it is the "old" or "new" pension) and arranges other income to boost it up to a level on which they can live, via a private or work pension, investments or even work after the age of retirement.

That already happens with Pension Credit (the latest incarnation of National Assistance, Supplementary Pension, Income Support). One's income has to be quite low (in modern terms) in order to be entitled to that.

But why this obsession with rich people getting what they too have paid in for via a lifetime of National Insurance?

It's not as though they won't be paying 45% of it straight back in income tax, is it?

You must mean the means-tested Pension Credit.

Savings don't affect the ordinary State Pension, and neither should they.

When it comes to care costs savings do matter. My mother had to pay her total care costs of £1800 per month until her assets diminished to £23250 at which point she got assistance with the costs on a sliding scale until she hit if I recall assets of £8450 at which point all her care costs were met by the local council. Basically you are left with enough money to be buried and mark your grave.

Ah OK, didn't know that. Do you have link etc?

OK, that's fine (of course).

I just happen to think that the UK is a highly unequal society, and some redress won't do any harm.

If you and others want to keep your (relatively) vast income and wealth to yourselves, fill your boots.

Yes, thanks.

I am sure you are right.

But that is nothing to do with the State Pension.

The source of much dissatisfaction, I agree. But not the result of any State Pension rule. It is all within a completely separate set of rules operated by county level local authorities, not the DWP.

OK fine! Just my opinion, and I disagree with you. Quite why I disagree with you is a bit beyond discussion here.

No. FYI they only pay the higher rate on taxable income above £125,140.

I, and many others like me, had parents who worked their socks off to ensure I got a decent education and I benefited from the 11 plus and grammar school system. I was only educated to O-level standard but in a 36 year career I spent 12 tears studying in my own time to get professional qualifications.

Any fat-arsed, scrounging socialist scumbag who thinks it's OK to just take that from me had better be ready for a fight.

Saving don't, but the interest from the savings might. Depends on how much you have got saved.

No, not at all.

The State Pension is simply not means-tested.

It never has been.

But it *is* taxable, and the recipt of savings interest brings one nearer, or further into, taxation (a good reason to use an ISA if possible).

That isn't a rule within the State Pension scheme. It's an income tax rule within the world of the Finance Acts.

Very few, live in a large empty nest, and many were already struggling to afford to just heat and eat in a 'small empty nest'. The WFP, over time, became a necessary part of the pension, as costs increased, over the years. UK pensions, are some of the worst in the EU, and we also live in one of the colder parts, with generally the worst insulated homes, and the most expensive energy.

Not everybody has had your life advantages. Sounds as though you feel that the UK is pretty meritocratic, and opportunities are equal. I disagree, but hey.

Nice.

Parents working their socks off and studying in my home time are life advantages? That sounds like commie propaganda.

Err, no. It primarily depends on whether you retired before or after April 2016?, and also on the *number of years* NI credits that you have earned (35 needed post-2016), and then take account of the number of years that you were contracted-out of SERPS, which is most public service employees. They sacrifice some of their state pension (= Contracted Out Deduction) but get far more from their occupational pension (paid from 60?) than they 'lose' from the COD.

Nonsense. The triple lock meant that pensioners did far better over the last 25 years than low income workers did.

The WFA was simply a bribe by Gordon Brown to buy pensioners votes.

Apart from those kids who ?benefited from a private-school education, *everyone* had the same opportunities. If far too many simply dreamed through school and didn't bother (or worse still spent their school days actually interfering with those fellow pupils who wanted to make an effort) then that is their problem.

And some.

After April 2027, unspent pensions will be taxed at 40%, like all other assets liable to IHT.

If the deceased is over 75 then the residual 60% will be distributed according to the will and the beneficiaries will have their share added to their income for that tax year. This could result in a further 45% tax being deducted.

OTOH, farmers will only have to pay 20% and they have 10 years to pay it, while the executor of someone with an unspent SIPP will have to pay the 40% IHT within 6 months, BUT the money is under the control of the SIPP manager and they cannot release it until probate has been granted, BUT probate cannot be granted until after IHT has been paid.

Expect an utter meltdown of the probate system from April 6th 2027.