Winter fuel allowance gone

[Wullie10]

So there you go. Work hard , save for a pension and get a kick in the balls. well it's what they voted for. Never mind as those who have never worked will still be getting it courtesy of you.

[Wullie10]

The point is the winter fuel allowance was always a percentage of the state pension giving as a lump some to make people think the government were generous . Introduced by Gordon Brown it was a political trick ( that's now backfired). Basically the state pension has now been reduced for anyone with a small work pension.

[heapsy]

It's a Labour government. People will reap what they've sown. They also charge more for council tax, but don't delivery. At least, not where I am, bins often don't get emptied.

[Wullie10]

So a new pension starts October 7th. Say a 62 year old contributes for 5 years. I reckon those 5 years contributions will just about make up for the cut in state pension ( which is what removal of the fuel allowance is ) . No wonder so many people are leaving the workforce at first opportunity.

[baldrick]

The point is the winter fuel allowance was always a percentage of the state pension giving as a lump some to make people think the government were generous . Introduced by Gordon Brown it was a political trick ( that's now backfired). Basically the state pension has now been reduced for anyone with a small work pension.

The Winter Fuel Allowance was introduced by Gordon Brown to compensate for the Thatcher Government ending the link to wage increases. As a result UK pensions fell in real value, making it one off the lowest in developed countries.
It would have been better if he had restored the link to wages, but I suppose that would have cost more.

I have received the Winter Fuel Allowance since I was 60. It has not been increased since it was introduced so has fallen in real terms.
I will not be receiving it now which obviously I am not happy about, but financial cuts were inevitable after the Conservatives' mismanagement of the economy over the last 14 years.

[Tman]

The same old drone from every incoming gov't...it's the previous lot's fault.
Looks like that nice Mr Starmer is going to take it to new level though, especially as he can't offer anything new on any front.

[RobertT]

So a new pension starts October 7th. Say a 62 year old contributes for 5 years. I reckon those 5 years contributions will just about make up for the cut in state pension ( which is what removal of the fuel allowance is ) . No wonder so many people are leaving the workforce at first opportunity.

The Winter Fuel Payment can be anything up to £600 depending on circumstances.
https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/ ... -youll-get

An average full time postie paying into the RMCPP for 5 years, will accrue a pension of over £1,600 and a lump sum of nearly £5,000, disregarding any increases or decreases.

[Wullie10]

Remember once getting into an argument when it first came out. It should have been abolished and been part of the state pension. . It was always a gimmick for votes. I've seen millionaire pensioner's get free bus travel while their cleaner has to pay . The same pensioner's with £50k cars on the drive. All a gimmick.

[Wullie10]

So a new pension starts October 7th. Say a 62 year old contributes for 5 years. I reckon those 5 years contributions will just about make up for the cut in state pension ( which is what removal of the fuel allowance is ) . No wonder so many people are leaving the workforce at first opportunity.

The Winter Fuel Payment can be anything up to £600 depending on circumstances.
https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/ ... -youll-get

An average full time postie paying into the RMCPP for 5 years, will accrue a pension of over £1,600 and a lump sum of nearly £5,000, disregarding any increases or decreases.

And how long before the tax free lump sum is abolished? Who can say ?

[Wullie10]

The point is the winter fuel allowance was always a percentage of the state pension giving as a lump some to make people think the government were generous . Introduced by Gordon Brown it was a political trick ( that's now backfired). Basically the state pension has now been reduced for anyone with a small work pension.

The Winter Fuel Allowance was introduced by Gordon Brown to compensate for the Thatcher Government ending the link to wage increases. As a result UK pensions fell in real value, making it one off the lowest in developed countries.
It would have been better if he had restored the link to wages, but I suppose that would have cost more.

I have received the Winter Fuel Allowance since I was 60. It has not been increased since it was introduced so has fallen in real terms.
I will not be receiving it now which obviously I am not happy about, but financial cuts were inevitable after the Conservatives' mismanagement of the economy over the last 14 years.

And no one ever mentions the cost of lockdowns ? Of course all other parties were against them weren't they ?

[RobertT]

And how long before the tax free lump sum is abolished? Who can say ?

Whenever there's a change in government, a new chancellor or the latest budget is on the horizon, there's always talk about how things might change in terms of tax bands, allowances, etc.
That happens regardless of which party is in power.

So who can say when any tax might go up or down, or any perk be abolished or new one created?

Here's some recent gossip about possible changes to pensions: https://www.pensionsage.com/pa/Pension- ... speech.php

[ihatedogs]

So a new pension starts October 7th. Say a 62 year old contributes for 5 years. I reckon those 5 years contributions will just about make up for the cut in state pension ( which is what removal of the fuel allowance is ) . No wonder so many people are leaving the workforce at first opportunity.

The Winter Fuel Payment can be anything up to £600 depending on circumstances.
https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/ ... -youll-get

An average full time postie paying into the RMCPP for 5 years, will accrue a pension of over £1,600 and a lump sum of nearly £5,000, disregarding any increases or decreases.

Robert, I will be 62 within a couple of months of the new pension starting & will have approx five years of contributions when I retire. Can I ask how you calculated the above figure? I intend to pay avc's &, hopefully, total contributions over the five year period ( including employer contributions) will be £50-55k. How do I calculate/estimate my potential pension?
Cheers.

[RobertT]

So a new pension starts October 7th. Say a 62 year old contributes for 5 years. I reckon those 5 years contributions will just about make up for the cut in state pension ( which is what removal of the fuel allowance is ) . No wonder so many people are leaving the workforce at first opportunity.

The Winter Fuel Payment can be anything up to £600 depending on circumstances.
https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/ ... -youll-get

An average full time postie paying into the RMCPP for 5 years, will accrue a pension of over £1,600 and a lump sum of nearly £5,000, disregarding any increases or decreases.

Robert, I will be 62 within a couple of months of the new pension starting & will have approx five years of contributions when I retire. Can I ask how you calculated the above figure? I intend to pay avc's &, hopefully, total contributions over the five year period ( including employer contributions) will be £50-55k. How do I calculate/estimate my potential pension?
Cheers.

The pension accrues at a rate of 1/80th of pensionable pay and the lump sum is 3/80th's. So the first thing you do is find out what your pensionable pay is!

In practice that's going to vary depending on your exact job and allowances, etc.
Your current pensionable pay will be on your wage slip under 'pension contrib pay', but that amount may change with the new scheme.
For example: Section C members pensionable pay is currently reduced by the Lower Earnings Deduction – that will not be the case with the RMCPP.

If in doubt just use your basic pay as a guide!

In practice you'll accrue pension and lump sum on a daily basis, but for this example I'll use weekly pensionable pay of £500:

£500 / 80 = £6.25 - amount of pension you accrue per week.
Then multiply that by 3 to find out how much lump sum you accrue per week - £18.75.

Then multiply by the number of weeks you expect to be in the scheme. If that's 5 years(260 weeks), then the total would be £1,625 in pension and £4,875 lump sum.

The idea is that those figures will increase each year in line with inflation, but there's no absolute guarantee of that, and I'm sure you know the pension could actually go down!

If you pay into the lump sum booster, that will mean an extra 2% of pensionable pay going into that pot each week – in my example that would be £10. So over 5 years, that would add another £2,600 to the lump sum.

AVC's are a separate thing and the value of your pot will be based on how much you pay in and the performance of the investments.

It's worth noting that all of your weekly pension payments on your wage slip represent the gross amount you're paying. When factoring in tax relief and salary sacrifice(PSE), each £1 gross is only actually costing you 72p net, because both your income tax and NIC's get reduced accordingly.

[ihatedogs]

So a new pension starts October 7th. Say a 62 year old contributes for 5 years. I reckon those 5 years contributions will just about make up for the cut in state pension ( which is what removal of the fuel allowance is ) . No wonder so many people are leaving the workforce at first opportunity.

The Winter Fuel Payment can be anything up to £600 depending on circumstances.
https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/ ... -youll-get

An average full time postie paying into the RMCPP for 5 years, will accrue a pension of over £1,600 and a lump sum of nearly £5,000, disregarding any increases or decreases.

Robert, I will be 62 within a couple of months of the new pension starting & will have approx five years of contributions when I retire. Can I ask how you calculated the above figure? I intend to pay avc's &, hopefully, total contributions over the five year period ( including employer contributions) will be £50-55k. How do I calculate/estimate my potential pension?
Cheers.

The pension accrues at a rate of 1/80th of pensionable pay and the lump sum is 3/80th's. So the first thing you do is find out what your pensionable pay is!

In practice that's going to vary depending on your exact job and allowances, etc.
Your current pensionable pay will be on your wage slip under 'pension contrib pay', but that amount may change with the new scheme.
For example: Section C members pensionable pay is currently reduced by the Lower Earnings Deduction – that will not be the case with the RMCPP.

If in doubt just use your basic pay as a guide!

In practice you'll accrue pension and lump sum on a daily basis, but for this example I'll use weekly pensionable pay of £500:

£500 / 80 = £6.25 - amount of pension you accrue per week.
Then multiply that by 3 to find out how much lump sum you accrue per week - £18.75.

Then multiply by the number of weeks you expect to be in the scheme. If that's 5 years(260 weeks), then the total would be £1,625 in pension and £4,875 lump sum.

The idea is that those figures will increase each year in line with inflation, but there's no absolute guarantee of that, and I'm sure you know the pension could actually go down!

If you pay into the lump sum booster, that will mean an extra 2% of pensionable pay going into that pot each week – in my example that would be £10. So over 5 years, that would add another £2,600 to the lump sum.

AVC's are a separate thing and the value of your pot will be based on how much you pay in and the performance of the investments.

It's worth noting that all of your weekly pension payments on your wage slip represent the gross amount you're paying. When factoring in tax relief and salary sacrifice(PSE), each £1 gross is only actually costing you 72p net, because both your income tax and NIC's get reduced accordingly.

Thanks Robert, this is greatly appreciated.

[yellowbelly]

And no one ever mentions the cost of lockdowns ? Of course all other parties were against them weren't they ?

Yep, remember when we HAD TO DELIVER all them test kits - we're all paying now!!