Prescription charges frozen to help with cost of living crisis, Sajid Javid says (England)

[IrvineHimself]

I think you ar talking far larger numbers in the private sector, I know several pensioners who had low level jobs, (even cleaners and shop assistants,) who are now quite comfortably off because of various employment pensions. Sometimes they have income from as many as 5 or more pension schemes they have been enrolled in + the state pension.

In the early naughties, pension and health benefit liabilities were a serious drain on large companies. In the US, one of the main economic arguments in favour of universal health coverage and state funded pensions is the drain on the economy caused by employers having to cover these benefits. Companies like General Motors couldn't compete with European and Japanese car makers because of the cost of health coverage and employee pensions for the US workforce.

While the example I gave was the US, even in the UK, the wiggling and evasion the private sector has been going through to get out of accumulated pension liabilities is almost entertaining, or at least it would be if it didn't have such potentially dangerous consequences.

In fact, as a direct consequence of Brexit and our xenophobic Home Secretary, the demographic time bomb is about to become an awful lot worse. To pay current pension liabilities, we require a young, economically ambitious workforce. In other words: safe legal immigration. But, by closing down immigration and creating a hostile environment, we do not have the correct demographic balance to make the system work. Pre-referendum, I once tried to explain this to a rabid Brexiteer, his reply: "Oh, but the government pays my pension!"

 

[Deleted member 21371]

..................."Oh, but the government pays my pension!"

Obviously a civil servant.

 

[mikeyB]

Ah, a retired civil servant who has created his own non contributory pension, using the taxpaying workers to fund it?
Which is probably on better terms then a retired banker, or a businessman who has used workers to create his money.
So good in fact it was worth moving an NHS final salary schemes into it?
It's a shame nurses and other government employees don't get such a generous scheme or opportunity.

I effectively paid into the scheme, not the taxpayer. My income dropped by £15k when I went into that job. My pension would be higher than it is, but it’s still much higher than the average salary. I have loads more disposable money because I don’t have a mortgage, after two downsizing home moves.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

I effectively paid into the scheme, not the taxpayer. My income dropped by £15k when I went into that job. My pension would be higher than it is, but it’s still much higher than the average salary. I have loads more disposable money because I don’t have a mortgage, after two downsizing home moves.

I doubt moving jobs because you fancied working 9 to 5 and had to take a pay cut to enable it would count as funding your non contributory pension scheme to many people.
Indeed it is high as you claim £650 is less than a weeks payment.
£50k+ a year doesn't seem a hardship for a taxpayer funded scheme which uses taxpayers to continuously pay it now.
Not like a retired banker, or a businessman who has used (paid) workers to create his money, and now supports itself?
(And created jobs, salaries, and pensions for those workers along the way)

 

[mikeyB]

I was actually working out on the £550 I would receive, so my pension is actually lower than £50k. Just to irritate you more, I got a 3% rise this year, and it might be higher next April.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

I was actually working out on the £550 I would receive, so my pension is actually lower than £50k. Just to irritate you more, I got a 3% rise this year, and it might be higher next April.

It doesn't irritate me, I'm just suggesting the hypocrisy of you complaining about people who fund their own pensions.
Then moving on to boast about how yours is then still so much higher than the average wage, and how it increases so much every year, and paid straight to you by taxpayers on here that can barely manage to fund their own day to day living at the moment.