Why should a fireman be able to retire at 50?

[dave50]

He is the husband of a friend of ours and he is a fireman and is 50 next year and can retire on full pension. He is always on about the holidays he will be taking and how he will find himself another part time job to earn a bit of extra money to fund all these holidays he is planning. It makes me angry to know that I as a tax payer will be funding his lavish lifestyle for perhaps the next 30 years. It is disgusting and grossly unfair. There are lots of tasks firemen can do within the fire service that they can carry out as they get older, there is no excuse.

[jno]

How would you like to drown in a vat of slurry

What, today? I was planning to wash my hair.

[Mick-Talbot]

Why are most posters saying firemen risk their lives ?

TTG

Risked his life to save others. Good luck to him.

How do you know that?

Firemen are not superheroes, they don't run into burning building willy nilly acting like keystone cops For Funks Sake.
I have nothing against firemen but lets have a reality check.

[Quizmonster]

Certainly firemen die at work but, as suggested by others above, there are other occupations which are far more dangerous per capita...building, farming, fishing, oil-rig working, commercial driving and so on. I'd guess that firefighting might just about scrape into the Top 10 danger-jobs.
Don't get me wrong, I have no objection whatsoever to firemen getting the pension they have paid for or the respect they get for voluntarily putting themselves in danger at times for others. On the other hand, I feel the "danger" aspect is often exaggerated.

[factor-fiction]

I agree that firemen are not a special case, but if they have contributed to the scheme they are entitled to claim the benefits. Retiring at 50 sounds good but as that would mean only 30 years' service the pension claimed would not be great and certainly wouldn't support a lavish lifestyle. I don't think retiring at 50 with 30 years service is the norm though. I think that many have to wait until 55 if they haven't got 30 years' service.
The scheme, like other public sector schemes, was perhaps a little generous as it didn't reflect the big increases in longevity, and changes are being made to reduce the benefits and increase contributions, so we are even less likely going forwards to see retired firemen living lavish lifestyles

[Zeuhl]

I think the risks of firefighting can be exagerrated but it is physically demanding lugging heavy hoses up ladders etc

I know two firefighters; both of them have knackered knees and serious back problems.

[Mick-Talbot]

I also know 2 firemen, both are excellent pool players.

[LoftyLottie]

I live on a fairly main road in the middle of the countryside, and I witness fire engines going out on a very regular basis to road accidents in the area. Not something I would relish being involved with. They deserve their company pension and have earned it in my opinion Dave. Surely Police can retire at 50 too. I think it is deplorable that Paramedics involved in the ambulance service don't have the same chance.

[Davethedog]

Irrational jealosy. Anyone who started paying into a privvate pension at 21 can retire at 50, thats ANYONE. funding by the tax payer nil, however the pensioner has paid tax on their contributions and will pay tax on their pension.

As for danger we have a choice, if its dangerous leave. The slurry analogy is both puerile and irrelevant. Its a matter of choice.

So Dave answer this why should your fireman mate who has paid tax twice on his pension subsidise society. As stated the green eyed monster

[LoftyLottie]

Surely construction workers, farm workers, etc. do not risk their lives for the sake of saving other people's live. There is no comparison whatsoever.

[LoftyLottie]

Surgeons save lives, but not at the expense of their own!! ;o) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[factor-fiction]

Davethedog: I'm not sure what you mean by:
"why should your fireman mate who has paid tax twice on his pension subsidise society"
You get tax relief on pension contributions, and if he earns a pension of £9000 a year he may pay very little tax on that

[Zeuhl]

<footballers can retire at 35, people who save you, cure you, protect you cannot. >

Anybody can retire at 35.

It all depends how much money one has.

The business of football generates lots of money so it follows that a top-class footballer can command a large income.

That's the free market.

[LoftyLottie]

But you pay tax on your state pension if it takes you over the limit of earnings factor, so you in effect pay tax twice on that (well sort of). Perhaps that is what Dave means?

[factor-fiction]

That's true lottie for those who receive state pension but this ex-fireman was only 50

[LoftyLottie]

I have a very good friend who was a director at Marks and Spencer. He retired at 50, has a second home in Florida, etc, etc. Am I jealous - well yes ;o) - but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

[LoftyLottie]

True factor. So he will only be getting his fire service pension for the next 15/17 years. Forgot that. Well, good luck to him. If he has put in the number of years required to give him a salary he can retire on, that's fine. Our armed forces get a pension at 50 surely?

[Mick-Talbot]

Surely construction workers, farm workers, etc. do not risk their lives for the sake of saving other people's live. There is no comparison whatsoever.



You think people want to become firemen to save lives?
If they waited for that to happen then they will have a long wait.

It's a job .......