Rise in my pension this week

[droopydrawers]

My friend turns 80 at the weekend. He understands he gets a raise in his pension of 25p a week!!

Any suggestion what to spend it on?

Pretty sick joke in this day and age isn't it.

I wonder how much it was worth at the time it was first issued.

DD

[Caran]

Don't spend it all at once, save it for a rainy day.

[ummmm]

/Any suggestion what to spend it on? /

A pint of milk, once a fortnight.

[Caran]

Cannot think of anything worth 25p. This is an absolute shambles. Someone somewhere needs to get their act together about this travesty of justice.

[ladyalex]

When it was first introduced, it was worth 5 shillings....and at that time was worth having...well not worth a lot, but a lot more than 25p is worth now.
Over 80s do, however, get £100 extra winter fuel allowance per household.

[droopydrawers]

If the comparison chart I just googled is correct its worth about 4p now!!

The extra fuel allowance doesn't apply in this case for over another year, One has to be over 80 before some date in September.

Crazy system.

DD

[Georgiesmum]

thats disgusting. Im really shocked. Someone needs to get their act together.

[factor-fiction]

On the other hand, the question could be asked why do we give extra pension at age 80. I am not sure of the logic, so I can't see any reason to increase it. The trouble is if you remove the extra 25p people will say it's penny pinching.

[Sqad]

I agree with factor.........why, on the first day of your 80th year, do you need more money (pension) than you needed on the last day of your 79th year?

One could argue, that you needed less.

[Dee Sa]

its like a slap in the face, I wonder what screams there would be if MPs only got a 25p pay rise ?

[Sqad]

Dee Sa...you are mixing up pensions with salaries.

An MP at the age of 80years old would get a 25p rise in pension as well as everyone else.

[friedgreentomato]

25p is more of a rise than I got this year or the 2 previous years.

And why should they get a raise because they have hit 80?

[factor-fiction]

The pay rise for pensioners comes when the benefits are updated. This extra 25p is just an anomaly for which there is no justification as far as I can see. There is no reason i can see to increase the payment but no government wants to be seen to take the 25p away either, so the effect has been that Labour and Coalition have just left it at 25p so it withers on the vine of inflation.

A bolder move would be to scrap the extra 25p at age 80, increase all state pensions by say £5 pw, then reduce pension credit by a similar amount and/or scrap winter fuel payments.

[weecalf]

Tell them to put it on xfactor ....nice change .Ah when it was five bob ..packet of fags now it would not buy one fag..

[EvianBaby]

I tend to agree with Sqad and Factor.

How many people are there over the age of 80 currently claiming the extra 25p per week? I bet it adds up pretty quickly.

[Graham-W]

Tell him not to expect the full 25p. There will be tax to come off it which will drop it to the princely sum of 20p. He could save up and buy a stamp now and again.

[factor-fiction]

This is an example of why it's sometimes better to give nothing than give a small amount

[weecalf]

Did not the labour paty give give some similar amount and apologised later at election time .

[parkie]

The one advantage of having the winter fuel allowance in a lump sum as opposed to it being included in with our weekly pension is that it isn't taxable.

[factor-fiction]

I think that case, weecalf, was when the amount of the annual uprating was small. This 25p is just an extra weekly payment that has been given for many years to pensioners aged 80+. The figure was also 25p under Labour. I'm not sure anyone can remember the logic of giving it in the first place.

[factor-fiction]

That's true parkdale- but that is why there are those that complain when very well off pensioners get the fuel allowance. At least if there was a taxable payment it would be seen to be fairer in that the better off will pay tax on it and the least well off won't