What is a good salary?

[Blue Maverick]

I dont have that much of an issue with continued payment of NI, its just a tax and like all taxes it should be there to redistribute wealth to some extent to pay for services. However there should be some recognition of paying more NI beyond 35yrs.

Maybe a gold clock!

 

[Kompany Car]

Maybe a gold clock!

Now is that a reference to the 90s movie Backdraft. Wasn't the bad guy in that an ex firefighter who was pissed off as he was cheated out of some of his pension and got a crappy gold watch ?

Better keep an eye on you !

 

[halfmist]

Indeed it is, yet ours is one of the worst in Europe, you can look at your NI payment history online, when I first started in 1987 my NI contributions where around £500 a year, my final year it was around £4500! That’s 35 years almost exactly, (although from 85-87 it was paid by the government due to higher education) so 37 in total. They want us to go back to work in our 50s to help the job market, ok then I shouldnt pay anymore NI then, income tax should be enough. I know that will never happen but it’s just nit worth me going back doing anything as once taxed I’ll be working for fuck all.

To rub salt in to the wounds of some on here,I have to agree the system is unfair. I too had my early years paid for by the state whilst in education and then for many years me and my Mrs paid a salary that just covered minimum NI contributions and took the balance as dividends, all above board and legal of course.
I have received notification that I will receive my full pension in November despite contracting out of the state system for several years.
I suppose the State will argue that NI contributions are not just to fund pensions.
Yes, the whole system requires root and branch reform but no Government would be brave enough to be so radical as it puts them in the firing line.

 

[smevchenko]

Now is that a reference to the 90s movie Backdraft. Wasn't the bad guy in that an ex firefighter who was pissed off as he was cheated out of some of his pension and got a crappy gold watch ?

Better keep an eye on you !

Dennis Hopper, ex cop in Speed

 

[Kompany Car]

Dennis Hopper, ex cop in Speed

Thats the one

 

[cptaidan88]

I feel for the younger generation when it comes to state pension as they will be asked to work till they are late 60s or even seventies where a lot of people will die before they see a penny.

I'm 35 and resigned to the fact there either won't be a state pension, or the age you can take it will be too late. I think the government effectively acknowledged this too when they brought in auto enrollment onto company pension schemes a few years back.

The younger generation (which I include myself) really need to ensure they are contributing a good amount of their salary or they will have to work until they die. But it's difficult when salaries are relatively low, and cost of living is high.

 

[roach3]

I am afraid it’s always been like that as regards pensions whoever is in power.
It’s not all bad though, those paying in to a private pension will have had tax relief on the payments in and when the private pension pot is ready to pay out, 1/4 can be taken tax free.

Yeh I understand that mate but say you have a 100k pension pot and drawdown 10k a year
After the 25% tax free
Your gonna be taxed 20% on that drawdown
Effectively 2k of the state pension per year.
So you’re getting fuckall after paying 43 years of Nat insurance.
Of course they will argue these days it’s not just state pension it’s nhs etc but try get an operation these days it takes years.
Anyway I’m just ranting lol

 

[denislawsbackheel]

There are too many planks on here who think their NI contributions pay for their state pensions.
They don’t.
Their NI contributions pay for today’s pensioners.
To qualify for any state pension paid by tomorrow’s workers you need 10 years contributions yourself and 35 for a full state pension.

 

[BrianW]

Where is the money coming from for your people’s housing programme which sounds like something from Communist China

Simple.

1. Savings on Housing Benefit.
2. Rents from the tenants x 40 years (life of loan).

We used to do stuff like this without thinking about it. But then someone decided it was better to use public money - note, public money - to subsidise relatively wealthy and very wealthy private citizens instead.

As I said, most of my proposal is pure Thatcherism. What isn't is straightforward 1950s consensus politics, which gave us the best society humankind has ever created. Unlike the current shit tip, which is gradually turning into a damp and cold version of Brazil.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

There are too many planks on here who think their NI contributions pay for their state pensions.
They don’t.
Their NI contributions pay for today’s pensioners.
To qualify for any state pension paid by tomorrow’s workers you need 10 years contributions yourself and 35 for a full state pension.

Yeah I was gonna say. If you really wanted to have a national pension scheme, then you would have people contribute to a compulsory savings scheme that is held and invested until they retire. Then you can trade in the savings for a certain level of pension. But what actually happened is people were promised a cut of future tax revenue in exchange for paying for current pensioners. And if the future tax revenues aren't enough to pay for all of the pensioners, it's ultimately not economically viable no matter how much you personally paid in. We could easily end up in a situation like most of the world where older generations get very limited government help and basically have to rely on family to pay for them in their old age. It costs me 20 quid every time I visit my wife's grandma, for example (and she has two).