[size=85:22jqxqwq]BBC news 24 June 2010

Pension age: Ministers to speed up rise to 66

The government is to speed up plans to raise the state pension age for men to 66, possibly by as early as 2016.

Ministers will also raise the option of extending it further, perhaps to 70 and beyond in the following decades.

The default retirement age of 65 - at which workers can be legally axed by employers - is also set to be axed.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said this would stop people being "
cast on the scrap heap"
and would help "
reinvigorate what retirement means"
.

More details on the planned changes will be made by the coalition team running pensions policy - Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, a Tory MP, and pensions minister Steve Webb, a Lib Dem MP.

They will say they want to legislate soon for the state pension age for men to be raised to 66, but it would not rise before 2016.

'Reinvigorate retirement'

Women will be moved up to that level a few years later.

The previous government's policy was to raise the pension age to 66 in 2024 and then gradually to 68 by 2046.

The new ministers will open up the possibility of a faster move in that direction, perhaps as high as 70 and beyond.

They will argue that as people live longer there is a need to "
reinvigorate retirement"
.

This essentially means working for as long as you want to, says BBC chief economics correspondent Hugh Pym.

The government also wants to scrap the default retirement age - which allows employers to shed staff at the age of 65.

Mr Duncan Smith, quoted in the Telegraph newspaper, said: "
People are living longer and healthier lives than ever, and the last thing we want is to lose their skills and experience from the workplace due to an arbitrary age limit.

"
If Britain is to have a stable, affordable pension system, people need to work longer, but we will reward their hard work with a decent state pension that will enable them to enjoy quality of life in their retirement.
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith Mr Duncan Smith wants to examine links between pension and life expectancy

"
That is why we are issuing a call for evidence on moving the state pension age to 66, and thereafter plan to take a frank look at the relationship between state pension age and life expectancy."


Life expectancy is currently 77 years for men and 81 for women.

A number of measures were announced in the Budget on Tuesday that affected pensions.

Most significant is the plan, from April 2011, for the state pension to go up by the increase in average earnings - or in line with prices or by 2.5%, if either of those two are higher.

Previously the state pension would go up every April by 2.5%, or the level of the Retail Prices Index the previous September.

This had been considered as unfair by some as prices had lagged behind average earnings.

Public sector pensions

The announcement comes a day after Prime Minister David Cameron warned public sector workers they can expect less generous pensions in future.

Mr Cameron said reform of public pensions was necessary as part of efforts to save billions in order reduce the record deficit

He warned that that the total bill for public sector pensions was becoming unaffordable and insisted that he wanted to start by limiting the pensions of those on highest salaries whose pensions, he said, could be worth £60-£70,000.

Pensions expert David Cule from the independent financial advisors Punter Southall told the BBC: "
One way of looking at it, is that he is sort of bringing [public sector pensions] into line with the private sector."


People already in retirement will not be affected, but those up to 30 years away from retirement will find that they will receive less than they expected - "
which is of course what has happened in the private sector over the past five to 10 years,"
he said.

I think that those of us that this applies to need to reassess our finances for the future :Shocked:

We always get screwed so this is no supprise,nice new government we have,same old crap,lets not bother to look after the old,but lets give all the imigrants benifits,houses,child benifit,social,and everything else the non workers can claim,

What that will mean to me is that in 2016 I will be 64, and although as a self employed driving instructor i could in theory work until i drop (which i might add I have no intention of doing), it means that I will not get a state pension (which I have paid all my working life into) and possibly another private pension which is due to pay out at the same time, for another year (or maybe more if some the interviews on TV are anything to go by). I am receiving a reasonable early pension at the moment and another smaller one , plus still working, and the house in London will eventually sell for a fair price, but it may affect the planned future income a little. The properties in Bulgaria are already paid for, so it should still give me a reasonable standard of living when I move there permanantly.

mickhev wrote:

We always get screwed so this is no supprise,nice new government we have,same old crap,lets not bother to look after the old,but lets give all the imigrants benifits,houses,child benifit,social,and everything else the non workers can claim,

More excuses to put off paying out, in the hope a few more will die and the rest who have to work, get money taken from them to pay
for all the benefits that honest working people never get.

This might be of interest well worth looking though

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mike&
tanya with regards to drawing a personal pension - a personal pension can be take from the age of 55 with penalties (new legislation as of April this year) and you can still take a PP at age 60 to 75 with no penalties. I understand that age will be raising to 77

Executive pension and Section 32 buy out bonds may have age restrictions ie depending if the pol has GMP (Gurantee Minimum Pension) this has to be met before commencing, once this is met, you can draw the pension,

Oddy

well, i never knew a pension could be taxed, the government encouraged people to pay more into the pension scheme for a better pension, only now to find out they charge tax at at high rate over and above the standard rate. the tax people have been on my back since i started recieving my small private pension ( a year away from state pension ) and saying, we know you are working, :Very sad:so my already taxed money is being taxed once again because it is more than the standard rate. the mind boggles.

Thanks Oddy, I have already taken 2 personel pensions when I was 55 but a third one did not have enough funds in it so it has to run the full course of 65 or perhaps longer now, I will have to find out when I get back from the holiday.

So to put it bluntly you retire at 65 your epected to live until your 77 so you work hard all your life for a mere 12 years pension does life suck or what

mickhev wrote:

So to put it bluntly you retire at 65 your epected to live until your 77 so you work hard all your life for a mere 12 years pension does life suck or what

Sucks mate

Oddy