Am I Reading This Correct?

[ukanonymous]

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-1701195/Do-u-really-u-need-save-retirement.html

You actually get more state pension if you havent worked all your life as opposed to if you have?
Truely amazing I must say.

[jake-the-peg]

Hmm

I note that this website is part of the Daily Mai
l
Strangely they don't seem to want to use the brand much on the website.

Knowing this, I have to suspect that they've been selective in the evidence in order to find some edge cases in which this is true.

I note that after 3 years of this government they still try to blame Labour for it!

This looks like political propaganda to me

[dave50]

It was that idiot Gordon Brown who destroyed most people's final salary pension scheme with his tax raid in 1997. People have seemed to have forgotten this.

[bazwillrun]

Blair and Brown literally stole people pensions, they are no more than common thieves

[langara]

I don't think that can be right, I only worked part time after having a family and no way do I get a full pension, even after claiming for the years of bringing up a family. will now have to read above link.

[factor-fiction]

I haven't read teh article but I know it'd have to be taken with a pinch odf salt a sthe Mail are often selective in their facts.
Sadly it is true, though, that for many people, saving for a private pension is a waste of time because it can reduce/remove entitlement to pension credit, making you no better off. Similarly saving money when working can mean losing means tested benefits and housing benefit. I think this will change to some extent though when the universal pension comes in.

[mikey4444]

FF...not sure I agree with you about saving for retirement being a waste of time. Tax payers get very generous benefits from saving within a pensions vehicle. These tax savings are now nearly impossible to get anywhere else.
Also by relying on the benefit system alone to live in retirement is putting all your eggs in one basket. What if a future government changes the benefit structure, as this present administration is doing ? Without your own personal arrangements, you would be at the mercy of future events over which you will have very little control.

Keep as many balls in the air as possible is my answer.

[emmie]

two years out of date, assume things have changed since then

[factor-fiction]

Hi mikey- I stand by what I said, but should have made it clearer that when i said "for many people" I mean those who have contributed modest amounts resulting in a pension pot of less than £50000.

Many people fall into that category, especially low earners, part-time workers or those who have only been in a private/company scheme for maybe 10-20 years.

A pension pot of £50000 gives an income which is equivalent to the pension credit value but means you lose some or all of your benefits.

To make pensions worthwhile we really need to build up a pot of £100000 which isn't easy.

There are tax benefits but it's only deferred taxation for a 20% taxpayer, since when the fund is converted to a pension the monthly payments can attract income tax at 20%.

[emmie]

many people don't live to collect any kind of pension.

[New Judge]

No, this is not political propaganda by the Daily Mail or anybody else.

At present anybody who qualifies for the full State pension (having made the required 30 years NI contributions) receives £110.15 per week. If they have any other form of income (either from employment or a private pension) and have made no contributions for an additional State pension this is all they get. And this, incidentally, forms part of your taxable income.

If you have not worked at all during your life you are guaranteed to receive, in “retirement”, £145.40 under the guise of “pension credits”. You are also guaranteed to receive this amount if your total income is less so if you have other income of, say, £20 per week you will get £110.15 pension (provided you have made the necessary NI contributions) and £15.25 pw pension credit.

There’s nothing disputable about this, nothing selective and nothing incorrect.