Interesting Subsistence level income

[Jaws]

I have seen on the telly recently several mentions of many poor souls whose income has fallen below the governments minimum subsistence level of income since the pandemic struck
Why is it folk are up in arms about this, while 18% of the population ( over 12.5 million ) are pensioners and are given only just above 1/2 of what is ( according to government figures ) needed to sustain life, and no one seems to be even slightly concerned ??

 

[Lee337]

Think I read somewhere that UK pensioners are amongst the poorest in Europe. I know very few who can get by without their private pensions & even then they're not that much better off.

 

[Jaws]

Think I read somewhere that UK pensioners are amongst the poorest in Europe. I know very few who can get by without their private pensions & even then they're not that much better off.

Your words prompted me to investigate further
Lowest in Europe...
Go further afield and it is below Mexico !

 

[Lee337]

Both Germany & Spain are not far off what my weekly wages are & that's management level civil servant at the top of the pay scale.

Now if only they'd aligned UK pensions with those of Europe, I think we'd have a different story to tell.

 

[ogr1]

Wages and private pension taxed at 20%.
Its a capitalists dream.

 

[Lee337]

Wages and private pension taxed at 20%.
Its a capitalists dream.

Only above a certain level, I believe the current personal allowance is £12,500, so anything over that is at 20% and no NIC to pay, like us that are still working (unless you're self employed, then you still pay Class 4 I think).

 

[ogr1]

Only above a certain level, I believe the current personal allowance is £12,500, so anything over that is at 20% and no NIC to pay, like us that are still working (unless you're self employed, then you still pay Class 4 I think).

Still working and private pension, but it is no where near £12,500, 20% tax classed as disposable income.
I took out my pension at 55, but that cost me a whopping 52% deduction on the final payment, this also obviously reduced the monthly income, but feck em, I needed a cash injection at the time.

 

[Minkey]

The minimum wage also should be increased to the living wage £8.72 /hr doesn't go very far especially if you can only get part time work. With regard to the state pension it should be increased and yet some people think it should be scrapped altogether.

 

[Bluelagoona]

We have had decades of governments touting low taxes as a mantra and this is reflected in the crap state pensions.
If you dont put in enough to start with then you wont get much out at the end.
The only answer is higher taxes ... not popular come election time.
I had a very nice private pension till a certain Mr. Brown took a 100k chunk of it.
I decided to stop paying in after that.
Becoming a dad late in life has put paid to any thoughts of retiring anyway.

 

[Malone]

The sum shown for GB is incorrect. It’s showing as £141 pw. The latest value is £175.20. However, that number is flawed as it isn’t the maximum payable as my forecast shows I will receive £198.45pw.

 

[Jaws]

The sum shown for GB is incorrect. It’s showing as £141 pw. The latest value is £175.20. However, that number is flawed as it isn’t the maximum payable as my forecast shows I will receive £198.45pw.

I can tell you exactly what I get.. £164.15 a week
Or to put it into context, about half the minimum wage

 

[Minkey]

I can tell you exactly what I get.. £164.15 a week
Or to put it into context, about half the minimum wage

As far as I know there isn't a weekly minimum wage, only a minimum hourly wage

 

[ogr1]

As far as I know there isn't a weekly minimum wage, only a minimum hourly wage

Oooooh! Hit a man down on his minimum pension why don't ya.

 

[Minkey]

The sum shown for GB is incorrect. It’s showing as £141 pw. The latest value is £175.20. However, that number is flawed as it isn’t the maximum payable as my forecast shows I will receive £198.45pw.

My state pension forecast is £175.20, and it states that is the maximum and cant be improved, even if I keep paying NI as I've already paid more than enough, how you get £198.45 is a mystery, must be a man thing

 

[Malone]

Apparently I’ve got several excess years contributions over the minimum required despite not having worked for the last 3 years.

 

[slim63]

As I have mentioned before (many times) my pension is forecast as sweet fa, exactly the same as they give me now I am unemployed, the reason? apparently I have not paid enough NI contributions despite working full time all but maybe a couple of months from the age of 16 until just before I was 50 …………. I have offered to pay whatever I owe although I cant see where or when I could be behind, all they have to do is tell me where & when I fell into arrears & by how much, they cant or wont tell me so I refuse to pay a made up number!

The mrs is also unlikely to get a state pension for the same reasons, she is behind in NI contributions, they asked her to pay in just under £3 a week with no idea of when she would be up to date or where the arrears came from, she quite rightly in my opinion told them exactly where to shove the £3

 

[Malone]

You can look up your NI contributions Online inputting your NI number and create a DWP login - go into the DWP website.

the lookup will show every years details and where the shortfall lies. From memory you can voluntarily pay up 6 years of shortfall.

currently you can only phone the DWP for assistance if you are within 6 months of retiring. Outside of that and they will not help. This is first hand from me and my recent phone calls to them, they would talk to me, but not about my wife as she’s a couple of years younger than me.

 

[Jaws]

As far as I know there isn't a weekly minimum wage, only a minimum hourly wage

True, I was going on a standard 40 hr week

 

[DEG5Y]

As I have mentioned before (many times) my pension is forecast as sweet fa, exactly the same as they give me now I am unemployed, the reason? apparently I have not paid enough NI contributions despite working full time all but maybe a couple of months from the age of 16 until just before I was 50 …………. I have offered to pay whatever I owe although I cant see where or when I could be behind, all they have to do is tell me where & when I fell into arrears & by how much, they cant or wont tell me so I refuse to pay a made up number!

The mrs is also unlikely to get a state pension for the same reasons, she is behind in NI contributions, they asked her to pay in just under £3 a week with no idea of when she would be up to date or where the arrears came from, she quite rightly in my opinion told them exactly where to shove the £3

Surely they have to tell you because of the 'freedom of information' rules!

 

[slim63]

You can look up your NI contributions Online inputting your NI number and create a DWP login - go into the DWP website.

the lookup will show every years details and where the shortfall lies. From memory you can voluntarily pay up 6 years of shortfall.

currently you can only phone the DWP for assistance if you are within 6 months of retiring. Outside of that and they will not help. This is first hand from me and my recent phone calls to them, they would talk to me, but not about my wife as she’s a couple of years younger than me.

I am nowhere near retiring age yet which is partly why I am trying to sort it now the other reason is I am not making any contributions at the moment so the shortfall is getting bigger by the week, I have been trying to sort it for a couple of years now & have got absolutely nowhere

Thanks for that info I will look it up & see if I can find out what the problem is i am now wondering why they couldn't just tell me that themselves if its really that simple