Guest pelmetman Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Bulletguy - 2010-10-20 5:44 PM Meantime I will have to start looking around for any trees being chopped down as I have an open fire. Not even retired yet but i'm already looking at how I can penny pinch! *-) Ah........ thrift, now your talking my language (lol) If you have a open fire then I would get a log burner(multi fuel is best). Saves us a fortune :D We even cook our dinner on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 pelmetman - 2010-10-20 6:06 PM Ah........ thrift, now your talking my language (lol) If you have a open fire then I would get a log burner(multi fuel is best). Saves us a fortune :D We even cook our dinner on it. Nice one Pelmet. If I was intending on keeping my house i'd go for something like that. Mine is just a 'common' (not so common now!) Baxi, but the area I live in is sensibly non-pc and i'm able to burn wood or real coal!! :-D Any kind of open fire is a big plus selling feature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Bulletguy - 2010-10-11 1:23 PM This looks like another good rant for the forum. (lol) Government announced today that changes are to be made to Incapacity Benefits with the aim of getting people back into work. Bit of a snag here. With everyone 'living longer' (an oft quoted term I find quite amusing), folk already in work needing to work longer and pay more before they can retire, IF indeed they ever will, vacancies within the workplace are becoming less. So with the work environment now filling up with ageing arthritics hobbling around on zimmer frames dragging their coffins behind them, i'm left wondering where all these jobs are suddenly going to be conjured up from? http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/incapacity-benefit-changes-to-include-forced-interviews-604759.html You say 'Government Announced Today' but the link you quoted was published 8 years ago. What has changed? (?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted October 21, 2010 Author Share Posted October 21, 2010 Peter James - 2010-10-21 10:46 AM You say 'Government Announced Today' but the link you quoted was published 8 years ago. What has changed? (?) Wow......very observant Peter. Nobody else noticed that including me!! So here are a few more up to date links. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/oct/21/disability-benefits-million-losers http://news.scotsman.com/news/Spending-review-Case-study-39I39ll.6591998.jp http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7858141/Millions-face-incapacity-benefit-cuts-as-welfare-reforms-speed-up.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10433867 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveH Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Peter James - 2010-10-17 7:16 PM CliveH - 2010-10-13 8:50 AM Malcolm - I my professional opinion - Private Pensions are very bad value indeed - especially so for the Basic rate taxpayer. So is putting your money in a Bank or Building Society and getting less than the rate of inflation, then paying tax on it. If you offer a better deal to private pension providers than you do to ordinary savers (like Thatcher did) aren't you just lining the pockets of private pension salesmen at taxpayers expense? I would say a resounding YES! In my professional opinion - anyone who is "advised" to take out a pension if they are a basic rate taxpayer need to ask who exactly is going to benefit from that transaction? Only if the pension on offer is an employers scheme where the employer matches the employees contribution does it make sense for a basic rate taxpayer. If you are a higher rate taxpayer then things are a bit better because a 40% rebate from the taxman is hard to ignore. But for a basic rate taxpayer! - why the heck would anyone want to put money into a plan where the growth is taxed, you can only have 25% of YOUR money as Tax Free Cash, and then you have to by an annuity with the remaining 75% of the pot when you retire, or go into Drawdown. In any event the income will be taxable. Annuities have never been lower so you have to live longer than your expected life span to break even and with Drawdown if you die the new Coalition rules will tax the remaining fund at 55%. (whereas current rules will tax the pot at 35% if you die before age 75 and 82% after age 75). Complicated? - Yes Expensive? - Yes Highly taxed? - Yes Are there better options to plan for retirement - Most certainly Yes! If anyone suggests that personal pensions are a good idea for the basic rate tax payer, they are either talking out of their bottoms or they have a vested interest. And with most personal pensions being flogged by Bank Salespeople these days then both of the above would apply. Just one alternative would be an ISA - £10,200 allowance per individual per year. So husband and wife could put away £20,400 a year. Now it has to be said that that same £20,400 would only "cost" £16,320 from net income - BUT with an ISA the income you take is tax free so whereas a pension annuity of 5% would net down to 4% in retirement - With an ISA the income is TAX FREE!. So the tax relief "advantage" of a pension on the contributions is a tiny advantage compared to the huge disadvantages of the tax on the growth, the low annuity rates and tax on the income when you get it. Plus with an ISA, when you both die the money can go to your kids whereas with a pension annuity, if you both die, then the money dies with you! So with the demise of the likes of the man from Pru/Scot Wid/Standard Life etc etc and the direct sales being taken over mainly by the Banks - be warned! - make sure you actually NEED what they try to sell you rather than them selling you something they need to sell to make a target. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 So it appears (according to the linked article) that yet again it is a CON dem smoke and mirror exercise! Not all pensioners will be getting the Universal £140 pension! See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1323761/Pensions-apartheid-Current-OAPs-qualify-rise-140-week.html?ito=feeds-newsxml Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightrider Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 So I take it that present day pensioners like me will not be getting the £140 per week when it comes in at the end of this governments term in 4 or 5 years? That to me is a devisive con trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 That is what it appears from the article! You wil get the same as if the new £140 award had not come in and it will still be 'MeansTested' as now so all the b@ll@cks about the new being paid for by scrapping 'Means Testing' is as I said a load of Geriatric Shoemakers. Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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