Greedy middle class pensioners

[anobium]

After listening to a retired (at 50 ) teacher on the radio saying that despite a pension of £30k + state pension, in addition to his wifes small private pension + state pension, he felt that he was not particularly well off and that he was entitled to the free tv license and heating allowance, it got me thinking , just what do people think should be the cut off point for these benefits/
Pensioners in the main have usually paid off their mortgages, the children have usually left home so their disposable income is far greater than say that of a married couple who are bringing up family.
Are pensioners getting greedy?

 

[joinerjohn]

I assume this retired teacher, has retired some years ago as he's receiving the state pension.
If he's on £30 grand a year pension, he surely isn't struggling. If he is, I'd suggest he gets up off his a**e and starts work again.

 

[cantaloup63]

He must have been a headteacher for that kind of deal. As such, he'll have delusions of grandeur and will have bought a stonking great house and had several failed marriages. He'll also have forgottne to mention the £800 plus expenses he'll be getting for a couple of days work as an Ofsted inspector a couple of times a month.

To$$er

 

[joinerjohn]

The cut off point for OAP's benefits should of course be the equivalent of 40hrs on the National Minimum wage. That's what quite a lot of working people have to struggle on and pay their bills etc.

 

[anobium]

Apparently he is 70, his wife is 75, and they bought a house for £200k when he retired 20 years ago, which he said is now worth £300k
He didnt mention how much in savings he had.
He said he was a deputy head I think.
All this was on the Jeremy Vine BBC2 programme on thursday this week.

 

[enyam]

they bought a house for £200k when he retired 20 years ago, which he said is now worth £300k

Only if some idiot will pay that.

 

[Norcon]

I know a retired teacher and a retired nurse with combined pensions of nearly 60k. They also own some farmland with a sfp (single farm payment) income of nearly £100k per year.
No doubt they would still want more.

 

[gas112]

Why should there be any cut off point after all have middle class and rich pensioners not paid in all their working lives and in reality paid in a lot more money in 40% taxes and higher NI contributions and have probably invested their money wisely so they can have a comfortable retirement.
And continue to pay tax if they have a private pension that pays well and tax on their investments.
Where as a lot have pi55ed there money up against the wall over the years with no savings and increasingly have been claiming benefits for longer than they actually worked it is not unusual to hear of people who have never worked for the past 25 years

 

[joinerjohn]

Why should there be any cut off point after all have middle class and rich pensioners not paid in all their working lives and in reality paid in a lot more money in 40% taxes and higher NI contributions and have probably invested their money wisely so they can have a comfortable retirement.

Hmmm let's not have any cut off point for any benefits and just give everyone what they think they should get. Hmm, how many of us would retire early and claim everything we could?
The reality is, if this chap thinks he's struggling on £30k+ per year, he might want to struggle on the National Minimum Wage for a couple of years.

 

[Susiejb]

Why should there be any cut off point after all have middle class and rich pensioners not paid in all their working lives and in reality paid in a lot more money in 40% taxes and higher NI contributions and have probably invested their money wisely so they can have a comfortable retirement.
And continue to pay tax if they have a private pension that pays well and tax on their investments.

No one would begrudge someone a pension that they have worked for and paid in to .... However, it is rather galling that they find the need to complain about their 'plight'.
Pensioners who have not been so fortunate who are living purely on the state pension would I imagine be actually living on less than the national minimum wage.
Surely free tv licence, heating allowance etc. should be limited to those with no private pension or at least a very low income ....why should everyone be given constant free handouts.

 

[gcol]

Surely if you bought a house 20 years ago for 200k it would be worth a damn sight more than 300k today. Property has gone up more than that.

 

[LastMagicBean]

I genuinely feel sorry for the pensioners, who have worked their b*llocks off for years, and yet are too afraid to put the heating on to keep themselves alive.

 

[satansbrother]

I genuinely feel sorry for the pensioners, who have worked their b*llocks off for years, and yet are too afraid to put the heating on to keep themselves alive.

With only their cat for company.

 

[raebhoop]

I genuinely feel sorry for the pensioners, who have worked their b*llocks off for years, and yet are too afraid to put the heating on to keep themselves alive.

With only their cat for company.

No...Two collies,and I have to manage on just above half the minimum wage...you want to try it sometime.

 

[joinerjohn]

I genuinely feel sorry for the pensioners, who have worked their b*llocks off for years, and yet are too afraid to put the heating on to keep themselves alive.

But the chap in the original post is receiving somewhere in the region of £30k+ He doesn't qualify for any help whatsoever, yet complains he doesn't feel well off. Is he afraid to turn his heating on? I don't think so.
Remember, there are some reaching retirement age now who have not worked their b*****ks off.
The chap in the OP has a great pension paid for by me and you. Were he 30 yrs younger, he'd have been one of those on strike the other week.