Tax and pensions are not exciting news to many of us, but I would like to bring your attention to a few matters concerning the subjects.
Firstly, are you aware you could have paid too much tax this year? The new HMRC computer system has sent the wrong code to thousands of us. Although HMRC has admitted it is aware of the problem, it is mainly leaving it up to individuals affected to contact it to right the situation.
Here are 10 tips from the accountant Smith and Williamson to help you check your PAYE tax code is correct.
There are notable basic changes in the State Pension, particularly in the rise of ages at which it can be claimed.
The 'qualifying years' have also been altered. Currently men normally need 44 and women 39 to receive the full basic state pension. However, if you reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2010, you will only need 30 qualifying years.
Quite a change. In the past men and women had to work most of their lives to receive a full pension - there was little allowance given for anyone wishing to undertake further education and even less for women who wanted to take a few years off to have a family. That now appears to have been addressed, but the monetary value of the state pension needs to be indexed linked to earnings. For too many years it was not and that caused distress to many pensioners, who were also suffering from Gordon Brown's raid on their well planned pension pots.
Check out your eligibility. It's never too early to know the future.
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11 comments:
Yawn.
Sorry, Rosie. It will never be enough.
If we are going to live longer then we have to work longer. There is no magic bullet, there is no way you can make it work. End of. It could never have worked. It is a Ponzi scam and always was, but it got people elected. The proles would never accept that they could be sold that far down the river, even if they secretly knew it to be true.
If you have a copy of Excel, you can work it out in a few minutes. But you'll be scared.
My theory is that is why we die.
Also, if you have paid ANY tax, it has been stuck in a big bucket and thrown at the banks. Might as well have enjoyed it while you could.
Yes, it is a Ponzi scheme, but it need not have been.Government could have changed this but didnt.
Governments will always run everything as Ponzi schemes 'cos its the only way they can be in debt and still justify huge borrowings , they know even when
they cock-up totally,the heavies won't come looking for them personally, it will be some other poor schmook that will have to pay.
The whole world has been living on a credit card for decades, accept it and be happy, the bankers are!
Rosa I'd check on the thirty year rule for the following reason.
When SERP first came out the promise was pensions would calculated on the average of the top ten years of earnings.
Since then under various rip off governments the ten has been expanded to 15 - 20 then 25 years and, I suspect, has now been advanced to thirty.
The purpose is of course to minimise the pension due.
It always had to be. It's basic sums.
Ha Ha, my coding came in today and guess what? It was wrong! They want 40% now. Not that long ago, it was only 10%! Ah, the power of enhanced IT systems nothing ever changes - crap in, crap out.
I have worked it out Marvo and yes it is scary. That's the reason I chose, many years ago, to build my own small pot, only for it to be devoured by Brown.
If I knew then what I know now.
You're right Apogee. There's no advantage in saving and paying outright for anything these days. In fact, not so long ago I was told paying cash was so old fashioned, they preferred a credit card.
Last time I checked RA it was 25 but it wouldn't surprise me either if it's now 30. Very easy to play around with something that many think of as part of being old instead of being aware that they too will grow old.
It is Marvo. Ah Dram, you're the second person this week that had that problem. The other one would never have thought to check because they trust authority.
Yes there are still people alive who think governments know best.
I may be nearly alone in knowing then what has since been proved.
When I was a younger Marvo, I bored people shitless with my theories about how this handcart was going to hell.
I could never understand why people, even those who had read Animal Farm and 1984, were convinced that everything was OK, when in those days you could work out with a slide rule that it was a scam.
People are too stupid to make decisions, I think. I guess they deserve what they get.
Is it the internet? Before that, people only knew what they were told by people who who were puppets of the scammasters.
I certainly think the internet has made a difference to many Marvo. Also I'd like to think there are slightly less sheeple these days.
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