Pensioners better off than workers ?

[macabethiel]

Well that's an interesting headline but I reckon that like all statistics there are some lies in there as well !

I am 68 and not only am I a pensioner but yes I am better off in terms of disposable income compared to 15 years ago. But............... I still work part time at two jobs. I live within my means. My wife will not get her OAP for another 5 years so works part time and as much overtime as she is offered.

After 25 years I am mortgage free and half way through that mortgage period I was paying over 10% interest rate but when rates fell I kept the repayments the same.

We had the same 3 Piece suite for 20 years and our present one is 15 year old ! We had a Sony 14" TV as our only television for another 18 years and our average car ownership has been buying a 6-10 year old vehicle and keeping them for an average of 7 years.

My pension is less than half what I took home in earnings when working as I was unable to do the full 30 years service before I hit 55. (That's all changed now but I could only elect to sign a 1 year contract that may or may not have been extended year on year subject to performance to stay in my job with T&C's that I was not happy with so I left the Fuzz)

To qualify for my OAP I had to work for 44 qualifying years so guess what I think I deserve to have some disposable income at last!

And here's the bug all my extra work attracts BRT tax band and I pay tax on my work pension. With Tax & Vat on most things plus fuel duty I estimate my actual tax paid to the Exchequer to be 35-40 % of my income.

[solarman216]

Originally Posted by macabethiel

Well that's an interesting headline but I reckon that like all statistics there are some lies in there as well !

I am 68 and not only am I a pensioner but yes I am better off in terms of disposable income compared to 15 years ago. But............... I still work part time at two jobs. I live within my means. My wife will not get her OAP for another 5 years so works part time and as much overtime as she is offered.

After 25 years I am mortgage free and half way through that mortgage period I was paying over 10% interest rate but when rates fell I kept the repayments the same.

We had the same 3 Piece suite for 20 years and our present one is 15 year old ! We had a Sony 14" TV as our only television for another 18 years and our average car ownership has been buying a 6-10 year old vehicle and keeping them for an average of 7 years.

My pension is less than half what I took home in earnings when working as I was unable to do the full 30 years service before I hit 55. (That's all changed now but I could only elect to sign a 1 year contract that may or may not have been extended year on year subject to performance to stay in my job with T&C's that I was not happy with so I left the Fuzz)

To qualify for my OAP I had to work for 44 qualifying years so guess what I think I deserve to have some disposable income at last!

And here's the bug all my extra work attracts BRT tax band and I pay tax on my work pension. With Tax & Vat on most things plus fuel duty I estimate my actual tax paid to the Exchequer to be 35-40 % of my income.

Yes mate the whole system is sh** I get out of most of it including council tax, Rick

[macabethiel]

How do you escape Council Tax live in a Yurt?

[Fez_uk]

You just have to remember you're just one of many people the stats are based on, I guess it goes both ways.

I always take stuff like this with a pinch of salt, unless I research it deeper.

With Tax & Vat on most things plus fuel duty I estimate my actual tax paid to the Exchequer to be 35-40 % of my income.

But pretty much everyone pays vat? worker or oap. so we are all in the same boat...

[Monaro Pete]

I like the little letters that we get around this time of the year, telling us what my 20% tax is being spent on............. Foreign aid, NO I don't want to pay MY money to some foreigners.

What really winds me up is the "Welfare" FFS. It ain't difficult to work out that we give the jobs to the unemployed (welfare stopped if they default in any way) & then we wouldn't have so many foreign workers. I ain't racist , just truthful.
Unemployment would fall overnight.

Maybe I'm wrong & it's more complicated than that, but to me it's black & white.

[don simon]

Maybe I'm wrong & it's more complicated than that, but to me it's black & white.

Yep, it's more complicated than that.
Who's going to employ me with my qualifications? Jobs at my level and experience have hundreds of applicants and going lower down the scale isn't going to work as the employers don't want to train someone who is over qualified as they'll bugger off at the first opportunity.
Immigrants are generally net contributors, so they probably have a greater claim to get hacked of at supporting the natives tahn we do supporting them.
Unemployment is quite low at the moment, so we need foreign workers to cover the shortfall, especially in areas of healthcare where Brits don't have the qualifications or aren't prepared to wipe some wrinkley's 'arris!
Or something like that.