Uk Budget Not Good News For Pensioners

[nong38]

Anyone know what tax allowance a HUBRIS gets and are they subject to having their annual increases frozen?

[billd766]

Robbing Hood is still alive and aka The Chancellor of the Exchequer (or that theiving barsteward wot runs the treasury).

[bendix]

.... people prefer to focus on the reduction of the 50% top rate, a tax which raised no money at all - indeed could be argued to have cost the country money as high tax payers like me left the UK shortly after its introduction....

It seems then that the 50% tax did benefit the country afterall.

If only to encourage you to depart and take your hubris with you.

On the contrary, dear Guesthouse. The 50% tax hike benefited me hugely, largely because it encouraged me to realise that enough was enough and to redivert the tens and tens of thousands pounds I was paying to support the welfare dependancy centre of the world towards myself and my family.

Thank you Darling and Brown. You made me come to my senses. My family are very grateful.

[citizen33]

One thing that Mr Osborne did not emphasise - though many of the British newspapers picked it up - is that the threshold to start paying tax at the 40% rate has come down from £42475 to £41450, pulling about 300,000 extra workers into this band. That will mean that not all 'working families' benefit. In fact, trying out one of the online budget winners/losers calculators, I found you must have either a low income or a very high income to gain - perhaps another case of the squeezed middle?

Here is a report from a paper that cannot be accused of being anti-government,

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2118134/BUDGET-2012-SUMMARY-Granny-tax-pensioners-Osborne-refuses-stop-fuel-duty-rise.html

[trainman34014]

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?

Nobody; but I've known a good few who have had Strokes and Heart Attacks, and some didn't make it to pensionable age !

[Kwasaki]

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?

Nobody; but I've known a good few who have had Strokes and Heart Attacks, and some didn't make it to pensionable age !

So have I and some that didn't make from other symtoms only after a few years of getting a pension.

As for " Who ever heard of a busy exec getting Alzheimers? " that does not really go for everthing, anyone can get that, I don't think you could get much busier than Maggie T. she has Alzheimers.

Edited March 24, 2012 by Kwasaki

[F1fanatic]

840,000 people on low incomes have been taken out of paying income tax and people are whinging about pensioners not being given an increase in their tax free allowance which is already a higher allowance than given to people who are working and carrying pensioners and everyone else who does not work on their pay packet deductions.

A helping hand to 840,000 people at the bottom of the ladder -that's not good news, it's great news

The Personal Allowance is expected to rise in line with inflation. How much above inflation has the Allowance been increased from April 2012?

[theblether]

Maybe I live in a bubble........the pensioners I know hated the idea of giving up work, and they detested the idleness of being retired. Just about all of them went back to work in some capacity, whether it was part time or voluntary.

My father retired "finally" on Thursday this week from the company that he used to own, he was 67 on Thursday. He is chomping at the bit to get back into some new venture. He was impressed to meet a customer in one of my shops who is 79 and works 2 days a week at the Red Cross.

Due to the nature of my business, I interact with pensioners every single day in life. I don't hear many complaints, and I'm not joking, I do ask. The majority of complaints I hear from them are family issues, or the council not emptying the bins enough. They don't complain about money. I get amused at the way many of them play up to their free bus passes, and some I know use the Winter Heating Allowance to buy fireworks so they can entertain all the kids in the street.

Frailty and illness comes to everyone eventually in old age, I have had customers disappear for long periods due to illness and then come back, and sadly, some don't. One particular long time customer was recently hospitalized, and her family took the chance to have her flat re-carpeted for her coming back out. ( I own a flooring business ), unfortunately the lady died. The family came back to me and had my guys lift the carpet and put them into the flat below, so that an elderly neighbour could get the benefit of them. That's a sense of community in action.

I live in one of the poorer neighbourhoods in Glasgow, so I'm not surrounded by the middle class so these poorer pensioners are the one's I interact with. My own parents are wealthy, ( self made ) but the rest of my Aunts and Uncles probably represent the whole gamut of pensioners in the UK, from the people with occupational pensions through to those that skirted around the welfare state too much.

Even this week, there is nothing like the outcry about the budget as you would be led to believe, the newspapers are loving the bad news headline of "Granny Tax", and the single ( self? ) interest groups such as Age Concern are trying to grab their moment in the sun, but if you read the various forums, there are as many pensioners saying we've never had it so good, as people complaining.

There seems to be some kind of void in thinking here, some people are trying to portray pensioners as invalids, wee lambs that need to be protected. My a*rse, the pensioners I know are far more vocal and likely to vote than any other demographic in the country, and if you treated them like invalids they would hit you a slap.

So what I read and what I see are two different things, I read bad news and calamity, and I see people happily going about their own business. It's a strange thing that for all the predictions of social unrest in the country due to the cuts, ( the two serious fracas being the student riots and the London riots last year were severely condemned by all ), the country has come even closer together.

Any UK pensioner reading this will remember the Industrial strife that racked the country for decades, in this time of austerity strikes have become taboo. The UK populace are knuckling down and getting on with it, and there is a sense that we are all in it together, and I would suggest that it's the pensioners who are at the forefront of this spirit of togetherness.

Almost universally, the reaction to the news about the tax code equalization announced this week from pensioners has been " We shouldn't have had it anyway ". Pensioners can't understand why young working families are being taxed on a lower code. Why? because they remember the pressures of bringing up a young family, and the pensioners sense of fair play kicks in.

They also know that what has been apparently taken away in the one hand will be given back in the other, as it is almost certain the simplified tax code will be raised above £10,000 next year, so this story is a whole ado about nothing, or nothing much to put it a better way.

The Great British pensioner is a lot more switched on that people give them credit for,truly the Best of British.

[Asiantravel]

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

this is where it all comes apart. Just having kids doesn't guarantee the system will survive?

Those kids have to be educated and able to work in jobs that are being competed for

around the globe. Looking at many of the kids today in the UK I don't have much hope of that.

[F1fanatic]

Maybe I live in a bubble........the pensioners I know hated the idea of giving up work, and they detested the idleness of being retired. Just about all of them went back to work in some capacity, whether it was part time or voluntary.

My father retired "finally" on Thursday this week from the company that he used to own, he was 67 on Thursday. He is chomping at the bit to get back into some new venture. He was impressed to meet a customer in one of my shops who is 79 and works 2 days a week at the Red Cross.

Due to the nature of my business, I interact with pensioners every single day in life. I don't hear many complaints, and I'm not joking, I do ask. The majority of complaints I hear from them are family issues, or the council not emptying the bins enough. They don't complain about money. I get amused at the way many of them play up to their free bus passes, and some I know use the Winter Heating Allowance to buy fireworks so they can entertain all the kids in the street.

Frailty and illness comes to everyone eventually in old age, I have had customers disappear for long periods due to illness and then come back, and sadly, some don't. One particular long time customer was recently hospitalized, and her family took the chance to have her flat re-carpeted for her coming back out. ( I own a flooring business ), unfortunately the lady died. The family came back to me and had my guys lift the carpet and put them into the flat below, so that an elderly neighbour could get the benefit of them. That's a sense of community in action.

I live in one of the poorer neighbourhoods in Glasgow, so I'm not surrounded by the middle class so these poorer pensioners are the one's I interact with. My own parents are wealthy, ( self made ) but the rest of my Aunts and Uncles probably represent the whole gamut of pensioners in the UK, from the people with occupational pensions through to those that skirted around the welfare state too much.

Even this week, there is nothing like the outcry about the budget as you would be led to believe, the newspapers are loving the bad news headline of "Granny Tax", and the single ( self? ) interest groups such as Age Concern are trying to grab their moment in the sun, but if you read the various forums, there are as many pensioners saying we've never had it so good, as people complaining.

There seems to be some kind of void in thinking here, some people are trying to portray pensioners as invalids, wee lambs that need to be protected. My a*rse, the pensioners I know are far more vocal and likely to vote than any other demographic in the country, and if you treated them like invalids they would hit you a slap.

So what I read and what I see are two different things, I read bad news and calamity, and I see people happily going about their own business. It's a strange thing that for all the predictions of social unrest in the country due to the cuts, ( the two serious fracas being the student riots and the London riots last year were severely condemned by all ), the country has come even closer together.

Any UK pensioner reading this will remember the Industrial strife that racked the country for decades, in this time of austerity strikes have become taboo. The UK populace are knuckling down and getting on with it, and there is a sense that we are all in it together, and I would suggest that it's the pensioners who are at the forefront of this spirit of togetherness.

Almost universally, the reaction to the news about the tax code equalization announced this week from pensioners has been " We shouldn't have had it anyway ". Pensioners can't understand why young working families are being taxed on a lower code. Why? because they remember the pressures of bringing up a young family, and the pensioners sense of fair play kicks in.

They also know that what has been apparently taken away in the one hand will be given back in the other, as it is almost certain the simplified tax code will be raised above £10,000 next year, so this story is a whole ado about nothing, or nothing much to put it a better way.

The Great British pensioner is a lot more switched on that people give them credit for,truly the Best of British.

As I no longer live in the UK I have to take your word for it that pensioners are happy with this budget - and the newspaper reports I read are wrong.

Have to say though that my grandparents relied on the State pension and lived in poverty - but never complained.

The Personal Allowance figures in the latest budget START in 2013 and are not expected to increase to 10,000 until 2014...

I repeat - how much is this over and above the expected inflation increase?

[theblether]

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

this is where it all comes apart. Just having kids doesn't guarantee the system will survive?

Those kids have to be educated and able to work in jobs that are being competed for

around the globe. Looking at many of the kids today in the UK I don't have much hope of that.

If we don't have kids then the system is bound to fail...........why this is even being discussed is a mystery to me.

As for your second point..........I agree that competition is going to be hot, so we better educate the kids as best we can and give them a chance.

[exeter]

Maybe I live in a bubble........the pensioners I know hated the idea of giving up work, and they detested the idleness of being retired. Just about all of them went back to work in some capacity, whether it was part time or voluntary.

My father retired "finally" on Thursday this week from the company that he used to own, he was 67 on Thursday. He is chomping at the bit to get back into some new venture. He was impressed to meet a customer in one of my shops who is 79 and works 2 days a week at the Red Cross.

Due to the nature of my business, I interact with pensioners every single day in life. I don't hear many complaints, and I'm not joking, I do ask. The majority of complaints I hear from them are family issues, or the council not emptying the bins enough. They don't complain about money. I get amused at the way many of them play up to their free bus passes, and some I know use the Winter Heating Allowance to buy fireworks so they can entertain all the kids in the street.

Frailty and illness comes to everyone eventually in old age, I have had customers disappear for long periods due to illness and then come back, and sadly, some don't. One particular long time customer was recently hospitalized, and her family took the chance to have her flat re-carpeted for her coming back out. ( I own a flooring business ), unfortunately the lady died. The family came back to me and had my guys lift the carpet and put them into the flat below, so that an elderly neighbour could get the benefit of them. That's a sense of community in action.

I live in one of the poorer neighbourhoods in Glasgow, so I'm not surrounded by the middle class so these poorer pensioners are the one's I interact with. My own parents are wealthy, ( self made ) but the rest of my Aunts and Uncles probably represent the whole gamut of pensioners in the UK, from the people with occupational pensions through to those that skirted around the welfare state too much.

Even this week, there is nothing like the outcry about the budget as you would be led to believe, the newspapers are loving the bad news headline of "Granny Tax", and the single ( self? ) interest groups such as Age Concern are trying to grab their moment in the sun, but if you read the various forums, there are as many pensioners saying we've never had it so good, as people complaining.

There seems to be some kind of void in thinking here, some people are trying to portray pensioners as invalids, wee lambs that need to be protected. My a*rse, the pensioners I know are far more vocal and likely to vote than any other demographic in the country, and if you treated them like invalids they would hit you a slap.

So what I read and what I see are two different things, I read bad news and calamity, and I see people happily going about their own business. It's a strange thing that for all the predictions of social unrest in the country due to the cuts, ( the two serious fracas being the student riots and the London riots last year were severely condemned by all ), the country has come even closer together.

Any UK pensioner reading this will remember the Industrial strife that racked the country for decades, in this time of austerity strikes have become taboo. The UK populace are knuckling down and getting on with it, and there is a sense that we are all in it together, and I would suggest that it's the pensioners who are at the forefront of this spirit of togetherness.

Almost universally, the reaction to the news about the tax code equalization announced this week from pensioners has been " We shouldn't have had it anyway ". Pensioners can't understand why young working families are being taxed on a lower code. Why? because they remember the pressures of bringing up a young family, and the pensioners sense of fair play kicks in.

They also know that what has been apparently taken away in the one hand will be given back in the other, as it is almost certain the simplified tax code will be raised above £10,000 next year, so this story is a whole ado about nothing, or nothing much to put it a better way.

The Great British pensioner is a lot more switched on that people give them credit for,truly the Best of British.

I would suggest that the people you spoke to today are not giving you the answer they would in 1 or 2 years time when these new measures kick in and they realize what has happened to their income, gthey are not looking into the known future and then of course you can always a phrase a question the way you want ot get the answer to want.

We will see what we will see, for those who are happy with the situation, good luck, you are going to need it!

[theblether]

Maybe I live in a bubble........the pensioners I know hated the idea of giving up work, and they detested the idleness of being retired. Just about all of them went back to work in some capacity, whether it was part time or voluntary.

My father retired "finally" on Thursday this week from the company that he used to own, he was 67 on Thursday. He is chomping at the bit to get back into some new venture. He was impressed to meet a customer in one of my shops who is 79 and works 2 days a week at the Red Cross.

Due to the nature of my business, I interact with pensioners every single day in life. I don't hear many complaints, and I'm not joking, I do ask. The majority of complaints I hear from them are family issues, or the council not emptying the bins enough. They don't complain about money. I get amused at the way many of them play up to their free bus passes, and some I know use the Winter Heating Allowance to buy fireworks so they can entertain all the kids in the street.

Frailty and illness comes to everyone eventually in old age, I have had customers disappear for long periods due to illness and then come back, and sadly, some don't. One particular long time customer was recently hospitalized, and her family took the chance to have her flat re-carpeted for her coming back out. ( I own a flooring business ), unfortunately the lady died. The family came back to me and had my guys lift the carpet and put them into the flat below, so that an elderly neighbour could get the benefit of them. That's a sense of community in action.

I live in one of the poorer neighbourhoods in Glasgow, so I'm not surrounded by the middle class so these poorer pensioners are the one's I interact with. My own parents are wealthy, ( self made ) but the rest of my Aunts and Uncles probably represent the whole gamut of pensioners in the UK, from the people with occupational pensions through to those that skirted around the welfare state too much.

Even this week, there is nothing like the outcry about the budget as you would be led to believe, the newspapers are loving the bad news headline of "Granny Tax", and the single ( self? ) interest groups such as Age Concern are trying to grab their moment in the sun, but if you read the various forums, there are as many pensioners saying we've never had it so good, as people complaining.

There seems to be some kind of void in thinking here, some people are trying to portray pensioners as invalids, wee lambs that need to be protected. My a*rse, the pensioners I know are far more vocal and likely to vote than any other demographic in the country, and if you treated them like invalids they would hit you a slap.

So what I read and what I see are two different things, I read bad news and calamity, and I see people happily going about their own business. It's a strange thing that for all the predictions of social unrest in the country due to the cuts, ( the two serious fracas being the student riots and the London riots last year were severely condemned by all ), the country has come even closer together.

Any UK pensioner reading this will remember the Industrial strife that racked the country for decades, in this time of austerity strikes have become taboo. The UK populace are knuckling down and getting on with it, and there is a sense that we are all in it together, and I would suggest that it's the pensioners who are at the forefront of this spirit of togetherness.

Almost universally, the reaction to the news about the tax code equalization announced this week from pensioners has been " We shouldn't have had it anyway ". Pensioners can't understand why young working families are being taxed on a lower code. Why? because they remember the pressures of bringing up a young family, and the pensioners sense of fair play kicks in.

They also know that what has been apparently taken away in the one hand will be given back in the other, as it is almost certain the simplified tax code will be raised above £10,000 next year, so this story is a whole ado about nothing, or nothing much to put it a better way.

The Great British pensioner is a lot more switched on that people give them credit for,truly the Best of British.

As I no longer live in the UK I have to take your word for it that pensioners are happy with this budget - and the newspaper reports I read are wrong.

Have to say though that my grandparents relied on the State pension and lived in poverty - but never complained.

The Personal Allowance figures in the latest budget START in 2013 and are not expected to increase to 10,000 until 2014...

I repeat - how much is this over and above the expected inflation increase?

I know it's a low blow f1, but when did you start believing what you read in papers?...........that was the whole point of my post, what I am reading and what I am seeing are two different things.

If your grandparents ( and I can remember my grandparents living in poverty ) came back now they wouldn't believe their luck. There is room for improvement, and there is unfairness still in the system. One Aunt of mine get's no help with council tax and rent due to an occupational pension, and that put's her below the level of income in real terms another Aunt gets who does not have an occupational pension. That is a penalty on investing in your retirement and it's stupid.

As for your question about above inflation rises, I was under the impression the rise was linked to inflation?

edited for clarity

Edited March 24, 2012 by theblether

[exeter]

Maybe I live in a bubble........the pensioners I know hated the idea of giving up work, and they detested the idleness of being retired. Just about all of them went back to work in some capacity, whether it was part time or voluntary.

My father retired "finally" on Thursday this week from the company that he used to own, he was 67 on Thursday. He is chomping at the bit to get back into some new venture. He was impressed to meet a customer in one of my shops who is 79 and works 2 days a week at the Red Cross.

Due to the nature of my business, I interact with pensioners every single day in life. I don't hear many complaints, and I'm not joking, I do ask. The majority of complaints I hear from them are family issues, or the council not emptying the bins enough. They don't complain about money. I get amused at the way many of them play up to their free bus passes, and some I know use the Winter Heating Allowance to buy fireworks so they can entertain all the kids in the street.

Frailty and illness comes to everyone eventually in old age, I have had customers disappear for long periods due to illness and then come back, and sadly, some don't. One particular long time customer was recently hospitalized, and her family took the chance to have her flat re-carpeted for her coming back out. ( I own a flooring business ), unfortunately the lady died. The family came back to me and had my guys lift the carpet and put them into the flat below, so that an elderly neighbour could get the benefit of them. That's a sense of community in action.

I live in one of the poorer neighbourhoods in Glasgow, so I'm not surrounded by the middle class so these poorer pensioners are the one's I interact with. My own parents are wealthy, ( self made ) but the rest of my Aunts and Uncles probably represent the whole gamut of pensioners in the UK, from the people with occupational pensions through to those that skirted around the welfare state too much.

Even this week, there is nothing like the outcry about the budget as you would be led to believe, the newspapers are loving the bad news headline of "Granny Tax", and the single ( self? ) interest groups such as Age Concern are trying to grab their moment in the sun, but if you read the various forums, there are as many pensioners saying we've never had it so good, as people complaining.

There seems to be some kind of void in thinking here, some people are trying to portray pensioners as invalids, wee lambs that need to be protected. My a*rse, the pensioners I know are far more vocal and likely to vote than any other demographic in the country, and if you treated them like invalids they would hit you a slap.

So what I read and what I see are two different things, I read bad news and calamity, and I see people happily going about their own business. It's a strange thing that for all the predictions of social unrest in the country due to the cuts, ( the two serious fracas being the student riots and the London riots last year were severely condemned by all ), the country has come even closer together.

Any UK pensioner reading this will remember the Industrial strife that racked the country for decades, in this time of austerity strikes have become taboo. The UK populace are knuckling down and getting on with it, and there is a sense that we are all in it together, and I would suggest that it's the pensioners who are at the forefront of this spirit of togetherness.

Almost universally, the reaction to the news about the tax code equalization announced this week from pensioners has been " We shouldn't have had it anyway ". Pensioners can't understand why young working families are being taxed on a lower code. Why? because they remember the pressures of bringing up a young family, and the pensioners sense of fair play kicks in.

They also know that what has been apparently taken away in the one hand will be given back in the other, as it is almost certain the simplified tax code will be raised above £10,000 next year, so this story is a whole ado about nothing, or nothing much to put it a better way.

The Great British pensioner is a lot more switched on that people give them credit for,truly the Best of British.

As I no longer live in the UK I have to take your word for it that pensioners are happy with this budget - and the newspaper reports I read are wrong.

Have to say though that my grandparents relied on the State pension and lived in poverty - but never complained.

The Personal Allowance figures in the latest budget START in 2013 and are not expected to increase to 10,000 until 2014...

I repeat - how much is this over and above the expected inflation increase?

The allowance rate today for over 65's is £9940 it rises to £10500 in april, which I make to be 5.6% increase, the annual pension increase, if you are lucky enough to qualify for the same year is 5.2% so there you have it its a whopping win by 0.4% for the pensioners, best get down to the car show room for that new motor eh! Next year ( 2013/14) pensioners higher allowance increase 0.0% inflation? 3%? Best take the car back!! Annual pension increase 3% if you qualify, looks like draw here, unless you want to think about the ordinary working chappie who will have a good increase in his allowance and good for him but dont ofget if he is buying a house its at the pensioners savings cost as pensioners get next to nowt whilst the working chappie cant believe his mortgage is so low!!!!!!!

If they had borrowed it direct from me to buy the house, I would have asked for th money back a few years ago.

Edited March 24, 2012 by exeter

[MAJIC]

Anyone know what tax allowance a HUBRIS gets and are they subject to having their annual increases frozen?

If not? there should be a special HUBRIS Tax introduced.

Edited March 24, 2012 by MAJIC

[F1fanatic]

Maybe I live in a bubble........the pensioners I know hated the idea of giving up work, and they detested the idleness of being retired. Just about all of them went back to work in some capacity, whether it was part time or voluntary.

My father retired "finally" on Thursday this week from the company that he used to own, he was 67 on Thursday. He is chomping at the bit to get back into some new venture. He was impressed to meet a customer in one of my shops who is 79 and works 2 days a week at the Red Cross.

Due to the nature of my business, I interact with pensioners every single day in life. I don't hear many complaints, and I'm not joking, I do ask. The majority of complaints I hear from them are family issues, or the council not emptying the bins enough. They don't complain about money. I get amused at the way many of them play up to their free bus passes, and some I know use the Winter Heating Allowance to buy fireworks so they can entertain all the kids in the street.

Frailty and illness comes to everyone eventually in old age, I have had customers disappear for long periods due to illness and then come back, and sadly, some don't. One particular long time customer was recently hospitalized, and her family took the chance to have her flat re-carpeted for her coming back out. ( I own a flooring business ), unfortunately the lady died. The family came back to me and had my guys lift the carpet and put them into the flat below, so that an elderly neighbour could get the benefit of them. That's a sense of community in action.

I live in one of the poorer neighbourhoods in Glasgow, so I'm not surrounded by the middle class so these poorer pensioners are the one's I interact with. My own parents are wealthy, ( self made ) but the rest of my Aunts and Uncles probably represent the whole gamut of pensioners in the UK, from the people with occupational pensions through to those that skirted around the welfare state too much.

Even this week, there is nothing like the outcry about the budget as you would be led to believe, the newspapers are loving the bad news headline of "Granny Tax", and the single ( self? ) interest groups such as Age Concern are trying to grab their moment in the sun, but if you read the various forums, there are as many pensioners saying we've never had it so good, as people complaining.

There seems to be some kind of void in thinking here, some people are trying to portray pensioners as invalids, wee lambs that need to be protected. My a*rse, the pensioners I know are far more vocal and likely to vote than any other demographic in the country, and if you treated them like invalids they would hit you a slap.

So what I read and what I see are two different things, I read bad news and calamity, and I see people happily going about their own business. It's a strange thing that for all the predictions of social unrest in the country due to the cuts, ( the two serious fracas being the student riots and the London riots last year were severely condemned by all ), the country has come even closer together.

Any UK pensioner reading this will remember the Industrial strife that racked the country for decades, in this time of austerity strikes have become taboo. The UK populace are knuckling down and getting on with it, and there is a sense that we are all in it together, and I would suggest that it's the pensioners who are at the forefront of this spirit of togetherness.

Almost universally, the reaction to the news about the tax code equalization announced this week from pensioners has been " We shouldn't have had it anyway ". Pensioners can't understand why young working families are being taxed on a lower code. Why? because they remember the pressures of bringing up a young family, and the pensioners sense of fair play kicks in.

They also know that what has been apparently taken away in the one hand will be given back in the other, as it is almost certain the simplified tax code will be raised above £10,000 next year, so this story is a whole ado about nothing, or nothing much to put it a better way.

The Great British pensioner is a lot more switched on that people give them credit for,truly the Best of British.

As I no longer live in the UK I have to take your word for it that pensioners are happy with this budget - and the newspaper reports I read are wrong.

Have to say though that my grandparents relied on the State pension and lived in poverty - but never complained.

The Personal Allowance figures in the latest budget START in 2013 and are not expected to increase to 10,000 until 2014...

I repeat - how much is this over and above the expected inflation increase?

I know it's a low blow f1, but when did you start believing what you read in papers?...........that was the whole point of my post, what I am reading and what I am seeing are two different things.

If your grandparents ( and I can remember my grandparents living in poverty ) came back now they wouldn't believe their luck. There is room for improvement, and there is unfairness still in the system. One Aunt of mine get's no help with council tax and rent due to an occupational pension, and that put's her below the level of income in real terms another Aunt gets who does not have an occupational pension. That is a penalty on investing in your retirement and it's stupid.

As for your question about above inflation rises, I was under the impression the rise was linked to inflation?

edited for clarity

As far as I can gather, the basic State pension is around 100 pounds a week? I doubt that amount is going to allow anyone reliant on this to live in anything other than poverty.

But yes, those with occupational pensions are luckier than previous generations who were unlikely to be offered the opportunity - a bit like workers nowadays....

Yes, the personal allowance increase is linked to inflation (as it is every year) - but this budget it has been increased a tiny amount over inflation (for 2013) and it is being hailed as a wonderful move.

[exeter]

Anyone know what tax allowance a HUBRIS gets and are they subject to having their annual increases frozen?

If not? there should be a special HUBRIS Tax introduced.

Yes wherever in the world they try to hide! How does 60% sound plus another 10% for being too cheeky and smug.

[theblether]

Maybe I live in a bubble........the pensioners I know hated the idea of giving up work, and they detested the idleness of being retired. Just about all of them went back to work in some capacity, whether it was part time or voluntary.

My father retired "finally" on Thursday this week from the company that he used to own, he was 67 on Thursday. He is chomping at the bit to get back into some new venture. He was impressed to meet a customer in one of my shops who is 79 and works 2 days a week at the Red Cross.

Due to the nature of my business, I interact with pensioners every single day in life. I don't hear many complaints, and I'm not joking, I do ask. The majority of complaints I hear from them are family issues, or the council not emptying the bins enough. They don't complain about money. I get amused at the way many of them play up to their free bus passes, and some I know use the Winter Heating Allowance to buy fireworks so they can entertain all the kids in the street.

Frailty and illness comes to everyone eventually in old age, I have had customers disappear for long periods due to illness and then come back, and sadly, some don't. One particular long time customer was recently hospitalized, and her family took the chance to have her flat re-carpeted for her coming back out. ( I own a flooring business ), unfortunately the lady died. The family came back to me and had my guys lift the carpet and put them into the flat below, so that an elderly neighbour could get the benefit of them. That's a sense of community in action.

I live in one of the poorer neighbourhoods in Glasgow, so I'm not surrounded by the middle class so these poorer pensioners are the one's I interact with. My own parents are wealthy, ( self made ) but the rest of my Aunts and Uncles probably represent the whole gamut of pensioners in the UK, from the people with occupational pensions through to those that skirted around the welfare state too much.

Even this week, there is nothing like the outcry about the budget as you would be led to believe, the newspapers are loving the bad news headline of "Granny Tax", and the single ( self? ) interest groups such as Age Concern are trying to grab their moment in the sun, but if you read the various forums, there are as many pensioners saying we've never had it so good, as people complaining.

There seems to be some kind of void in thinking here, some people are trying to portray pensioners as invalids, wee lambs that need to be protected. My a*rse, the pensioners I know are far more vocal and likely to vote than any other demographic in the country, and if you treated them like invalids they would hit you a slap.

So what I read and what I see are two different things, I read bad news and calamity, and I see people happily going about their own business. It's a strange thing that for all the predictions of social unrest in the country due to the cuts, ( the two serious fracas being the student riots and the London riots last year were severely condemned by all ), the country has come even closer together.

Any UK pensioner reading this will remember the Industrial strife that racked the country for decades, in this time of austerity strikes have become taboo. The UK populace are knuckling down and getting on with it, and there is a sense that we are all in it together, and I would suggest that it's the pensioners who are at the forefront of this spirit of togetherness.

Almost universally, the reaction to the news about the tax code equalization announced this week from pensioners has been " We shouldn't have had it anyway ". Pensioners can't understand why young working families are being taxed on a lower code. Why? because they remember the pressures of bringing up a young family, and the pensioners sense of fair play kicks in.

They also know that what has been apparently taken away in the one hand will be given back in the other, as it is almost certain the simplified tax code will be raised above £10,000 next year, so this story is a whole ado about nothing, or nothing much to put it a better way.

The Great British pensioner is a lot more switched on that people give them credit for,truly the Best of British.

As I no longer live in the UK I have to take your word for it that pensioners are happy with this budget - and the newspaper reports I read are wrong.

Have to say though that my grandparents relied on the State pension and lived in poverty - but never complained.

The Personal Allowance figures in the latest budget START in 2013 and are not expected to increase to 10,000 until 2014...

I repeat - how much is this over and above the expected inflation increase?

I know it's a low blow f1, but when did you start believing what you read in papers?...........that was the whole point of my post, what I am reading and what I am seeing are two different things.

If your grandparents ( and I can remember my grandparents living in poverty ) came back now they wouldn't believe their luck. There is room for improvement, and there is unfairness still in the system. One Aunt of mine get's no help with council tax and rent due to an occupational pension, and that put's her below the level of income in real terms another Aunt gets who does not have an occupational pension. That is a penalty on investing in your retirement and it's stupid.

As for your question about above inflation rises, I was under the impression the rise was linked to inflation?

edited for clarity

As far as I can gather, the basic State pension is around 100 pounds a week? I doubt that amount is going to allow anyone reliant on this to live in anything other than poverty.

But yes, those with occupational pensions are luckier than previous generations who were unlikely to be offered the opportunity - a bit like workers nowadays....

Yes, the personal allowance increase is linked to inflation (as it is every year) - but this budget it has been increased a tiny amount over inflation (for 2013) and it is being hailed as a wonderful move.

There is a difference between having to be careful with money and living in poverty. I'll let you know as soon as we re-open the Workhouses.

[GuestHouse]

Please keep in mind the state pension is one thing, welfare is quite another. Pensioners who receive the standard pension of around £100 a week are almost all entitled to extra payments to bring their income up.

The move to bring in a minimum pension of £140 recognises this - a flat universal payment which gets around having to administer the means testing that is applied to the poorest pensioners in order to give them a living income.

Add this to assistance with housing costs, free bus passes, assistance with heating costs and of course free health care and it really can't be said that the UK's pensioners are badly done by.

[MAJIC]

Anyone know what tax allowance a HUBRIS gets and are they subject to having their annual increases frozen?

If not? there should be a special HUBRIS Tax introduced.

Yes wherever in the world they try to hide! How does 60% sound plus another 10% for being too cheeky and smug.

Perfect! ........except they need an extra 5% tacked on,for lack of empathy for their fellow mans plight.and having no concept of how the less fortunate have to struggle in life,and have no money left over for private Pension schemes.

[exeter]

Please keep in mind the state pension is one thing, welfare is quite another. Pensioners who receive the standard pension of around £100 a week are almost all entitled to extra payments to bring their income up.

The move to bring in a minimum pension of £140 recognises this - a flat universal payment which gets around having to administer the means testing that is applied to the poorest pensioners in order to give them a living income.

Add this to assistance with housing costs, free bus passes, assistance with heating costs and of course free health care and it really can't be said that the UK's pensioners are badly done by.

Free buses are not isued soley to pensioners, there are many non brits who seemed to have them in London to swan around with, health care does not just apply to pensioners and there are many non pensioners who get help with housing, council tax and child benefit that I can think of straight away. It will of course vary as no two situations are exactly he same but pensioners are less able to cope with life as the body parts do not perform as well as they used to, some would not be able to seek employment even if they needed too.

[transam]

Please keep in mind the state pension is one thing, welfare is quite another. Pensioners who receive the standard pension of around £100 a week are almost all entitled to extra payments to bring their income up.

The move to bring in a minimum pension of £140 recognises this - a flat universal payment which gets around having to administer the means testing that is applied to the poorest pensioners in order to give them a living income.

Add this to assistance with housing costs, free bus passes, assistance with heating costs and of course free health care and it really can't be said that the UK's pensioners are badly done by.

Free buses are not isued soley to pensioners, there are many non brits who seemed to have them in London to swan around with, health care does not just apply to pensioners and there are many non pensioners who get help with housing, council tax and child benefit that I can think of straight away. It will of course vary as no two situations are exactly he same but pensioners are less able to cope with life as the body parts do not perform as well as they used to, some would not be able to seek employment even if they needed too.

AND, did he know that there are 32,000 migrants, NOT immigrants in the UK, that is, folk who have been given a visa to work in the UK, that are CLAIMING BENEFITS.

[Asiantravel]

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

this is where it all comes apart. Just having kids doesn't guarantee the system will survive?

Those kids have to be educated and able to work in jobs that are being competed for

around the globe. Looking at many of the kids today in the UK I don't have much hope of that.

If we don't have kids then the system is bound to fail...........why this is even being discussed is a mystery to me.

As for your second point..........I agree that competition is going to be hot, so we better educate the kids as best we can and give them a chance.

it's being discussed because you are wearing rose tinted glasses! Many of them don't even have the right attitude to learn and that

could even be the fault of the parents and breakdown of family values in UK.

Bottom line is you seem to think that just having kids will provide the means to generate income to pay the pensions.

A lot of the people won't even be able to support themselves let alone another generation of pensioners.

and a big chunk of them will not only find it had struggle themselves but they will more than likely

be holding their hands out for government support. face facts that the pension Ponzi scheme is over

Edited March 24, 2012 by Asiantravel

[Thongkorn]

Maybe people That live in Thailand should ask a Thai senior citysen how much they get from there state and what health care they can get on tap, at any hour of the day or night.. also ask about there heating allowance and free bus passes, and all the rest of the freebies, so life is not that bad if you live in the UK.

[exeter]

Anyone is free to make any comments they wish, its a free world but I wonder how many of the people who are not to concerned about the affect on pensioners are making those comments without the experience of actually being pensioners?

Before I retired I spent more than a few moments with retired people asking them what it was like, what affected them so that I would have an idea when I got there, one comment I will always remember came from a retired Bank Manager who told me the thing that hit him most were the capital purchases, it was not easy to replace the money( cars, fridges, cookers etc) So when I retired I looked at what capital purchases I might be making in my life, how many of them and how I was going to pay for them. So far so good but the Bank manager was right its the capital purchases that reduce your funds the most.

It seems that some of the contributors here dont seem to have those problems and yet can still tell pensioners that they are well off, even though they are obviously not as well off as they are by a long shot from what we are told. A little more compassion and understanding is required young man (theblether and Bendix).

[Semper]

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.

Have you tried complaining to the UK government about this issue?

[GuestHouse]

Anyone is free to make any comments they wish, its a free world but I wonder how many of the people who are not to concerned about the affect on pensioners are making those comments without the experience of actually being pensioners?

Before I retired I spent more than a few moments with retired people asking them what it was like, what affected them so that I would have an idea when I got there, one comment I will always remember came from a retired Bank Manager who told me the thing that hit him most were the capital purchases, it was not easy to replace the money( cars, fridges, cookers etc) So when I retired I looked at what capital purchases I might be making in my life, how many of them and how I was going to pay for them. So far so good but the Bank manager was right its the capital purchases that reduce your funds the most.

It seems that some of the contributors here dont seem to have those problems and yet can still tell pensioners that they are well off, even though they are obviously not as well off as they are by a long shot from what we are told. A little more compassion and understanding is required young man (theblether and Bendix).

I agree entirely with what you say, though I think the cautionary tale of arriving in Thailand flush with the cash free lump sum from retirement and then hooking up with a young woman and a young woman's needs too often gets ignored or passed off with the attitude 'you can't take it with you'.

Regardless of what your retirement income or indeed what age you retire - The single most important financial consideration in Thailand is keeping hold of your capital.

There are people calling themselves 'Financial Advisors' working the expat community in Thailand offering to help them get easy, early access to their pension funds - Pensions designed to provide an income for life after 65 being cracked open a decade earlier - oh and don't miss the cash lump sum.

A midlife crisis turned into a late life disaster - and the sucker smiling as he hands over his cash.

[David48]

Regardless of what your retirement income or indeed what age you retire - The single most important financial consideration in Thailand is keeping hold of your capital.

Apologies for the highlighting ... but very wise words indeed.

[exeter]

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.

Have you tried complaining to the UK government about this issue?

Emailed my MP on thursday and you?

[exeter]

Anyone is free to make any comments they wish, its a free world but I wonder how many of the people who are not to concerned about the affect on pensioners are making those comments without the experience of actually being pensioners?

Before I retired I spent more than a few moments with retired people asking them what it was like, what affected them so that I would have an idea when I got there, one comment I will always remember came from a retired Bank Manager who told me the thing that hit him most were the capital purchases, it was not easy to replace the money( cars, fridges, cookers etc) So when I retired I looked at what capital purchases I might be making in my life, how many of them and how I was going to pay for them. So far so good but the Bank manager was right its the capital purchases that reduce your funds the most.

It seems that some of the contributors here dont seem to have those problems and yet can still tell pensioners that they are well off, even though they are obviously not as well off as they are by a long shot from what we are told. A little more compassion and understanding is required young man (theblether and Bendix).

I agree entirely with what you say, though I think the cautionary tale of arriving in Thailand flush with the cash free lump sum from retirement and then hooking up with a young woman and a young woman's needs too often gets ignored or passed off with the attitude 'you can't take it with you'.

Regardless of what your retirement income or indeed what age you retire - The single most important financial consideration in Thailand is keeping hold of your capital.

There are people calling themselves 'Financial Advisors' working the expat community in Thailand offering to help them get easy, early access to their pension funds - Pensions designed to provide an income for life after 65 being cracked open a decade earlier - oh and don't miss the cash lump sum.

A midlife crisis turned into a late life disaster - and the sucker smiling as he hands over his cash.

Wise words indeed. NB.