Uk Budget Not Good News For Pensioners

[exeter]

If you have a look at todays budget you will see that the personal allowances for ordinary working people has a rise to £9205 for year begining april 2013. For a pensioner it is frozen at £10500, it will continue to be frozen until the personal tax allowance for working folk catches up. There is to be no difference between working and pensioner allowances eventually, You need to be aware of this, you are going to see a few years of no increases until the equilibrium is reached, this not good news.

[citizen33]

This is correct and is going to affect quite a few of us coming up to pension age. When this is combined with the previously announced change from RPI to CPI indexation, the impact will be quite significant. Of course, if your income is over 150K per year things look more rosy. Some of the biggest losers are going to be those on about 60K with kids, who will get a big whack because their child benefit will go and they also get a modest hit on tax.

[geriatrickid]

It's good news for the younger demographic and the general taxpayer. The people collecting pensions and that are upset by the changes are for the most part, the people that benefited most from the social programs available in the 60's, 70's & 80's and whose total pension contributions did not cover the generous pensions now being paid. Sorry, but do the math. It's either some small adjustments now or a collapse of the system sooner.

[theblether]

Come on exeter........£10500 a year tax free is beyond what anyone would have expected years ago. The budget has been excellent for low income people of working age, and it has to be commended for removing a lot of people from taxation.

No one expected the personal allowance to get to this level so quickly.......so a little solidarity with the poor working class is called for here.

[MAJIC]

Nothing more than a typical Tory Budget. Hand outs to Rich,and not much for the Poorest amongst us,how long is it to the next Election?

And 37p on a packet of cigs,same lies "Smoking related illnesses are costing the NHS" The facts are smokers illnesses costs the NHS £500 Million a year, and brings in 7 Billion in taxes,and that was 15 years ago,(from the Central Office of Government Statistics) so there has been many increases on Tobacco products since then. so the smokers in effect are paying for their own treatment........same old crap.

Edited March 21, 2012 by MAJIC

[elliss]

the UK is sinking, in the debt crisis ,

and consequently pensioners are looked upon as a burden ,i think further cuts will follow.

i would like to see a complete end to child benefeit ,

if you cant afford them , dont make them .

in summary , child benefeit is putting more people onto the social security handout /dependancy culture .

the good days are now a fond memory , unfortunately never to return .

[travelmann]

the UK is sinking, in the debt crisis ,

and consequently pensioners are looked upon as a burden ,i think further cuts will follow.

i would like to see a complete end to child benefeit ,

if you cant afford them , dont make them .

in summary , child benefeit is putting more people onto the social security handout /dependancy culture .

the good days are now a fond memory , unfortunately never to return .

Many people in the UK think its their absolute right to have a kid whether they can afford it or not, it always amazes me usually on their second/third marriage.

[theblether]

Who is going to pay the pensions if there are no kids???????

[smokie36]

Nothing more than a typical Tory Budget. Hand outs to Rich,and not much for the Poorest amongst us,how long is it to the next Election?

And 37p on a packet of cigs,same lies "Smoking related illnesses are costing the NHS" The facts are smokers illnesses costs the NHS £500 Million a year, and brings in 7 Billion in taxes,and that was 15 years ago,(from the Central Office of Government Statistics) so there has been many increases on Tobacco products since then. so the smokers in effect are paying for their own treatment........same old crap.

I'd like to see a similar tax increase on health drinks and food. Those buggers are going to bankrupt us well into there 90's at least!

[smokie36]

Who is going to pay the pensions if there are no kids???????

We can just up the pension age. Who ever heard of a busy exec getting Alzheimers?

[GuestHouse]

Many people in the UK think its their absolute right to have a kid whether they can afford it or not, it always amazes me usually on their second/third marriage.

To keep this Thailand related, many are the foreign men in Thailand who have dumped their kids in the UK, pay nothing for their upkeep and start a new life, new family in Thailand.

[smokie36]

Come on exeter........£10500 a year tax free is beyond what anyone would have expected years ago. The budget has been excellent for low income people of working age, and it has to be commended for removing a lot of people from taxation.

No one expected the personal allowance to get to this level so quickly.......so a little solidarity with the poor working class is called for here.

Poor working classes need some incentive I agree. To be a step up from Social Security aint easy...give these people proper tax breaks!!

[smokie36]

Many people in the UK think its their absolute right to have a kid whether they can afford it or not, it always amazes me usually on their second/third marriage.

To keep this Thailand related, many are the foreign men in Thailand who have dumped their kids in the UK, pay nothing for their upkeep and start a new life, new family in Thailand.

Sad fact that isn't it? Abandoning your kids is never the right thing for a father imo.

[harryfrompattaya]

Many people in the UK think its their absolute right to have a kid whether they can afford it or not, it always amazes me usually on their second/third marriage.

To keep this Thailand related, many are the foreign men in Thailand who have dumped their kids in the UK, pay nothing for their upkeep and start a new life, new family in Thailand.

Do not worry they will also dump their Thai kids.

[theblether]

Come on exeter........£10500 a year tax free is beyond what anyone would have expected years ago. The budget has been excellent for low income people of working age, and it has to be commended for removing a lot of people from taxation.

No one expected the personal allowance to get to this level so quickly.......so a little solidarity with the poor working class is called for here.

Poor working classes need some incentive I agree. To be a step up from Social Security aint easy...give these people proper tax breaks!!

At last there seems to be some positive work being done to end the benefits trap, that has to be a good thing for everyone.

[theblether]

Many people in the UK think its their absolute right to have a kid whether they can afford it or not, it always amazes me usually on their second/third marriage.

To keep this Thailand related, many are the foreign men in Thailand who have dumped their kids in the UK, pay nothing for their upkeep and start a new life, new family in Thailand.

Do not worry they will also dump their Thai kids.

There is a way to hurt them quickly and easily........deny them passports if they are in arrears to the CSA.

That would cause a mass panic.

[exeter]

Who is going to pay the pensions if there are no kids???????

And the worlds population continues to rise ad infinitum, cannot go on.

[exeter]

THeblether.............. I am very happy with the raising of the allowance to £9205, soon it will be £10,000, the first objective of the libdem part of the coalition, but if it is to be fair to pensioners ( and dont forget they have had the savings decimated by the .5% base rate) then I think its a bit "rich" to think the 5 million pensioners can help out here. There are a lot pensioners here so it is going to effect them from 2013 when allowances will not change, It looks like 2 years before we join the single allowance maybe 3, so added to the subject we dont talk about for a while, yesterday was not a good day. It might an idea for anyone who is a trifle miffed to look at parliament.uk , find you MP's email and fire off a few broadsides to them.

I say again raising the allowances for the less well off in society I fully support, asking the pensioners to fall into line and help pay for it I do not!

[TexasRanger]

I'd gladly give up my pension, provided they pay me back all my NI contribution.

[overherebc]

I'd gladly give up my pension, provided they pay me back all my NI contribution.

+1

On that subject does anyone out there know exactly how many years contributions have to be complete for a full pension?

I've been told two different stories, one, twenty five tears and two, changed to 15 years to make the time same for women and men , the old equality thing,

Serious question looking for serious answer ( on thaivisa ) ?

[KNJ]

I'd gladly give up my pension, provided they pay me back all my NI contribution.

+1

On that subject does anyone out there know exactly how many years contributions have to be complete for a full pension?

I've been told two different stories, one, twenty five tears and two, changed to 15 years to make the time same for women and men , the old equality thing,

Serious question looking for serious answer ( on thaivisa ) ?

Serious answer 30 years, so that is a huge improvement.

You can contact UK to find out how many full years you have, and it may be possible/beneficial to pay additional back contributions. you need teh details and to do teh maths and decide how long yu anticipate living

[bendix]

I'd gladly give up my pension, provided they pay me back all my NI contribution.

Will you also reimburse any health care you have enjoyed, subsidised prescriptions and unemployment benefits received?

Why do people persist with this myth that the only benefit paid for by NI contributions is your state pension. NI contributions cover a huge range of other benefits also.

[exeter]

I'd gladly give up my pension, provided they pay me back all my NI contribution.

Will you also reimburse any health care you have enjoyed, subsidised prescriptions and unemployment benefits received?

Why do people persist with this myth that the only benefit paid for by NI contributions is your state pension. NI contributions cover a huge range of other benefits also.

We all cherry pick the bits we want and leave the others.

[transam]

Many people in the UK think its their absolute right to have a kid whether they can afford it or not, it always amazes me usually on their second/third marriage.

To keep this Thailand related, many are the foreign men in Thailand who have dumped their kids in the UK, pay nothing for their upkeep and start a new life, new family in Thailand.

Hmmmmmmmmmm, the folk you are talking about are now paying for kids that Thai blokes have dumped.

[PattayaParent]

"There is to be no difference between working and pensioner allowances eventually, You need to be aware of this, you are going to see a few years of no increases until the equilibrium is reached, this not good news."

They never increase the pension by much anyway so it's not really a problem.

[nong38]

"There is to be no difference between working and pensioner allowances eventually, You need to be aware of this, you are going to see a few years of no increases until the equilibrium is reached, this not good news."

They never increase the pension by much anyway so it's not really a problem.

Well its a sea change for tax allowances, whilst I can see the sense in simplification I can aslo see a lot of pensioners who never saw this coming ( me for one!) and for some its going be an welcome bit of news which will hit their pocket in the future.

It will be a problem for those on a tight budget.

Edited March 22, 2012 by nong38

[Kwasaki]

Well !! All I can say is if I have to pay tax on my pension, I would be happy with that, also £200 quid a week aprox' will do me nicely thankyou.

Edited March 22, 2012 by Kwasaki

[geriatrickid]

Who is going to pay the pensions if there are no kids???????

And the worlds population continues to rise ad infinitum, cannot go on.

Is your solution then to import a few million youth from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Congo etc.?

[F1fanatic]

THeblether.............. I am very happy with the raising of the allowance to £9205, soon it will be £10,000, the first objective of the libdem part of the coalition, but if it is to be fair to pensioners ( and dont forget they have had the savings decimated by the .5% base rate) then I think its a bit "rich" to think the 5 million pensioners can help out here. There are a lot pensioners here so it is going to effect them from 2013 when allowances will not change, It looks like 2 years before we join the single allowance maybe 3, so added to the subject we dont talk about for a while, yesterday was not a good day. It might an idea for anyone who is a trifle miffed to look at parliament.uk , find you MP's email and fire off a few broadsides to them.

I say again raising the allowances for the less well off in society I fully support, asking the pensioners to fall into line and help pay for it I do not!

I gather the allowance will not go up to 9,205 until April 2013. How much is this over and above the expected index linked increase?

It is then expected to increase to around 10,000. Again, how much etc.

[fletchsmile]

If you have a look at todays budget you will see that the personal allowances for ordinary working people has a rise to £9205 for year begining april 2013. For a pensioner it is frozen at £10500, it will continue to be frozen until the personal tax allowance for working folk catches up. There is to be no difference between working and pensioner allowances eventually, You need to be aware of this, you are going to see a few years of no increases until the equilibrium is reached, this not good news.

Just to clarify 2011-2012 allowances are as below

Personal Allowance

2011-12 tax year

Basic

£7,475

Age 65-74

£9,940

Income Limit £24,000

Age 75 and over

£10,090

Income Limit £24,000

In 2012-13 the Age Allowances will be 10,500 and 10,660 respectively with an increased limit of 25,400. So they have not been "frozen" this year and they have actually been increased, albeit at a lesser rate.

It's from 2013-14 onwards that the age allowances they will then be frozen at these levels, until the standard PA reaches the age allowances and they are aligned

Not too bad this year as everyone is getting an increase, with the PA looking generous in isolation. You can bet tho' that once they're aligned it's likely in the future increases in PAs across the board will be poor.

Edited March 22, 2012 by fletchsmile