What are you all up to today? - part 3

Well there won't be soon...see you all on Wednesday, at some point?! 

Thanks ,  Brue and Millie, just hoping I can get everything done tomorrow that I wasn't able to do today . 

We will be away for frenzy day!  Haven't given next year much thought yet, only that we want to get up to yorkshire at some point .

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If you want to go to Yorkshire Helen I can recommend Serenity camping at Hinderwell. They have a website.

It's one of the sites on our list Millie. 

Quiet on here Got my £10 Xmas pressie from the 'guv' today

Just checked our account OH got his but nothing for me

We get our pensions weekly, last year it was paid with the first week in December, so we thought it might come today.......and it did!

Trying to decide what to spend it on now!

OH says it is already spent on our fuel bills!  

Well there won't be soon...see you all on Wednesday, at some point?! 

Write your comments here...

Thanks, Millie

Quiet on here Got my £10 Xmas pressie from the 'guv' today

Just checked our account OH got his but nothing for me

Write your comments here...

I've just checked our accounts and we both have our £10.  'We're in the money'....

Decided to look it up,

It was launched by Ted Heath's Tory government in 1972, back then the £10 Xmas boost was worth more than the £6.75 basic state pension. The basic pension is now £95.25 a week.

I think you will find its £155.65 per week now.

Seems like we are both wrong, mine was a copy/paste from an ancient source , basic single pension seems to be £119.30 per week on the current gov site.

£119.30 is the old pension Dave, I was born after 6th April 1953, just. I get the new state pension £155.65   (1951 for men)

Yes Brue I edited.

Unfortunately, most of us really old OAPs are on the old scheme......there are now 3 different ones operating.

We are on the original scheme where a man needed 44 years for full pension, but could claim for his wife as a dependant.

I only have 37 UK years so am on a reduced pension, but could claim an extra 60% for OH when I retired.  Once she reached 60, that became her pension, and her tax liability.

Then there were a few years when you only needed 30 years for full pension,my friend is on that scheme, he could not claim anything for his (much younger) wife, she has to wait till she reaches her own state pension age.

Now we have the so called flat rate pension that TG is getting, more generous for some but those contracted out can suffer.  To get this you need 35 years contributions for the full amount. And as far as I know there is no addition for spouses?

It is all really confusing!  Is it fair?   I have no idea!

Just glad that as I worked in Norway before coming to live here, I can claim some pension there too, though no extra for OH.

It is subject to currency fluctuations, so the amount cannot be depended upon unfortunately.

My basic, due to reduced years is around £105, but with graduated and non contracted out years, I get just over £160. OH only gets 60% of my basic, so just over £60.

The way my company pension is structured means it delivers 60% of my final salary, taking the full single person state pension as part of that, so I do seriously lose our there.

Fortunately the Norwegian state pension is good compared to the UK one, so even though I only get a fraction of the full amount, it does make up for what I have lost here.

Yes the contracted out bit can make a big differance to the new pension. Luckily I only lose a small amount, however my company pension is considerably greater. OH loses more than me but again his Military pension more than makes up for it. As I worked in Germany for a period and paid German tax I could in theory claim a small part towards my pension, but as under the new pension I already have full contributions I haven't bothered.

Quiet on here Got my £10 Xmas pressie from the 'guv' today

Oh good, more grist to the mill, whenever it arrives!

Oh mine again.