General Chat

*admiring....think you got a bargain there, Rita lol BCXX

Rita.
I admire you. You seem to manage very well.Having no rent to pay must be a help. We pay rent of €550 per month plus service charge of €350 per year,so as you can imagine, there´s not much left after the bills are paid out of a total pension of €1100.
Haven´t managed to get back to England for 3 years Holidays are out of the question. Didn´t even manage a honeymoon when we got married last year.
Not even a day out.
Still, we have each other & from what people seem to think, we are living a life of Riley. The truth is that life is pretty much the same wherever you live. it´s not a permanent holiday.

n

I'd like to add, but hope my comments do not get this whoosed !

I think that British peeps at home or abroad ,if they choose to do so, should get the pensions to which they are entitled , Fuel payments included if they have paid into the system where ever they choose to live.

Of course many living in this country, GB ,have not contributed and lived on benefits for yrs, many since birth get all benefits going.Ggrr.hiss.

Peeps entering this country under assylum or illegrant immigrants get benefits for which I have paid my taxes. I do not think that is fair.

My hubby's state pension may be reduced or stopped cos he took responsibity to look forward and plan for his future and get his own pension when he wishes to finish work !

There have been a lot of deletions on this thread,,so I don't know what has been actually said , but I stand by what I have said.

wisechild has a very valid point for whiich I admire her.

As an ex civil servant from the Social Security (everyone Boo!!!.lol )
I think that the whole system is cr*p and needs a total overhall.I won't get a state pensiion or aid from the state tho I paid my National Insurance and taxes cos I did the same as my hubby. We will not get a mega pension ! So we have made our own provisions !

Best wishes wildchild :)

Sandie.

Sandie, surely you will get a state pension if you paid the stamps or was covered by Home Responsibilities protection etc?

Rita, you do cope well, I am glad you can have a fairly good quality of life.

Lizx

As I said earlier, you don't contribute to your future pension, or indeed any other state benefits, as a tax payer you pay for those who are receiving it at the time.

Indeed most benefits are received by those who are not making any significant contribution at all - it is called taking from the those that have and giving it to those that haven't, in the interests of having a '"fairer" society....!

Whether or not this is right or wrong is another matter altogether, but like it or not, this is how it is.

Sadly, many of those who are having to foot the pension and benefits bill are struggling themselves. Any one who was so stupid to have tried to save for their retirement, such as myself, finds we get nothing from the state. Made redundant at 57 I have to live of my private pension, already reduced by 25% because I needed to draw it early, and like others in the same situation will see it reduced yet again if and when I receive any state pension. The only way we can make ends meet is to draw on our meagre savings month by month.

Yes, the whole system needs major overhaul. Perhaps those who have worked all their life and paid into the system should be paid far more than those who haven't, whether it be pension, unemployment benefit or whatever, but then oh dear, yet another two tier society and we can't have that....!

Inspectorgreenpen said ***Like others in the same situation will see it reduced yet again if and when I receive any state pension****

Do you mean by taxation, or someother reason? You're getting me worried here, OH being in a v similar stuation. We've recently been advised to consider 'draw down' because of inflation v growth.

Sandie says ***My hubby's state pension may be reduced or stopped cos he took responsibity to look forward and plan for his future and get his own pension when he wishes to finish work !****

Could you expalin please; have we missed an announcement?


Retirement age for men *might* be increased to 66. An official statement should be in October. This would effect those males born in 1951 onwards Grrr. In turn, this is going to effect other age related benefits - the heating allowance and bus passes where applicable.

Sorry, I wasn't too clear.

What I was referring to was that many private company pensions are reduced by a percentage when you reach state pension age. I think in my case I lose about half the amount of the basic state pension.

Thank you- we'll have to look into that before making a decision.

Interesting debate!

My mum after many years of hard work has finally moved home to Ireland. She gave over 40 years of hard slog to the NHS, lived miserly (and we as kids did too) and eventually was able to afford to move last April. Just recently she received confirmation she will still receive her fuel allowance. (Until the most recent announcements that is!)

She has paid (extortionate) tax and insurance into the UK system for nearly all of that time but because she paid married womans allowance she cant get full pension, she also has a limited NHS pension. Over here she wont get free health care or prescriptions til she is over 70 or any pension til 66 (I doubt she will be entitled to it anyway having worked only a couple of years as a teenager).

Should she be entitled to fuel allowance, I believe so, she has paid for it. She will no longer be making use of the NHS (for what its worth) and that will save them a fortune as she has many illnesses; which is another reason for her to come here as I can care for her and take further weight off an already overstretched NHS.

My hubby worked from 15 until 30 in the UK, paid tax, insurance and private pension but we are unable to 'benefit' from them now we are here..... System is nuts in most countries, here as much as anywhere else.

Dont come on here much anymore but was bored tonight... and have enjoyed some of the intelligent threads on here!

T.x

Theresa(cork) Please come on the boards more often. I am drumming up mre contributers as we are losing so many, and that makes debate much less interesting. Most come over as inresestin gpeople who care deeply about what goes on in the world, though we have a bit of silliness thrown in to lighten the atmosphere on occasions.
I paid married womans stamp and had to continue working all the way through my chemo when i was younger, because i had exhausted my sick pay from work, and we could not make ends meet unless I worked.
I am hoping the govmt will not turn its eyes towards disability payments, as mine makes life bearable at the moment. I worked in th NHS for years, also looked after delinquent children and have cared for sick and elderly at home, All for quite low pay, so no opportunity to save for a rainy day.

Rita, I like to see other peoples point of view, but unless a reply was profane or deeply offensive i would never report someone for having a different point of view to mine. Tolerance is all that distinguishes us from the uncivilised. Cruelty in any form I find offensive.