There has been a lot of speculation of late about at what age should someone be eligible for their state pension, currently the age is set to rise to 68 with no mention of it rising further. However, yet again an ‘expert’ has suggested that the state pension age should rise.
Stuart Price a Partner and Actuary at Quantum Advisory a company specialising in pensions. He is basing his opinion on the figures issued by the Office for National Statistics whereby they confirm that 25% of the UK population will be aged 65 or older in the relatively short period of 30 years. The state pension is a ‘pay and go’ system, meaning the current work forces’ national insurance contributions pay for those who have reached that milestone of collecting their state pension. Unfortunately this comes at a cost, that cost is estimated to be £100 billion per year.
In April 2019 a committee of Peers from the House of Lords called for the removal of the triple lock and Ros Altman raised the point about the triple lock when she left office, Stuart Price has also suggested that this is untenable. The rise in state pension annually is based upon the greater of the average earnings, inflation or 2.5%, which in its initial inception was intended to ensure that pensioners were not subjected to a life in poverty in their twilight years. But in an age where workplace pensions are now more commonplace than ever before should the triple lock now be dispensed with? The rise in the state pension is set to be 3.9%.
During his interview with Wales247 he made what will be considered by some as radical, others may feel ‘that’s just typical’ of someone who doesn’t understand what restricted funds are and those of us that still have a long way to go may well feel he is just confirming the inevitable and what they have long suspected.
He suggested the following solutions:
“the amount of state pension will have to reduce; there needs to be an increase in taxes or NI contributions to provide additional funds to pay the state pension; and the age at which you can collect your state pension needs to increase beyond the planned 68.”
Of course it remains to be seen exactly what if any path the government follow, but it does have a feel of inevitability with so many calling for this or that to halt.
