The first pensions being paid at a post-office in London.
Source: Illustrated London News
9 January 1909.
January 2009 will mark the 100th anniversary of the first pension payment, following the passing of the Old Age Pensions Act in August 1908. On today’s Money Box Live, Paul Lewis was fielding listeners’ questions about pensions and discussing them with a panel of experts:
- Michelle Cracknell, strategy director at investment group Skandia
- Tom McPhail, head of pensions research, Hargreaves Lansdown
- Malcolm McLean, chief executive, The Pensions Advisory Service
You can listen to the actual discussion at this link, which will be available until January 5th. Thereafter the transcript should be available at this link in two to three weeks.
The reference to the frozen UK pension issue being daft comes about 15 minutes into the broadcast. David Wood of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia raised the issue that half of all British pensioners living outside the UK have frozen pensions while the other half receive pensions exactly like UK residents. Indeed if he lived a little to the north in the Philippines he also would receive a pension adjusted for inflation. He would also receive a subsidy for fuel even though that is clearly illogical. As Malcolm McLean said, there is no rhyme or reason in the way UK pensions are being administered for their recipients. It’s just plain daft.
Moneybox seems to be a great initiative and there are some excellent external internet links. In particular Paul Lewis, the host, has a large collection of articles on Money, which will be of particular interest to UK residents.
Related Posts:
- Frozen UK Pensions – European Court of Human Rights – Decision
- Frozen UK Pensions – Should Legality, Equity or Morality Apply?
G’day,
I disagree with your comment about it being daft.
To you it may be daft. To me its is robbery.
I paid – compulsorily amounts of money into my pension fund while serving in HM Forces.
At no time was I informed that if I went to one of only a few select group of countries that my pension would be frozen.
So, its correct nomenclature is “ROBBERY” by successive UK Governments.
John Feltham (you may publish my name and location).
Townsville
North Queensland
Australia
I agree entirely with what you’re saying, John. Daft wasn’t my word: that was what the BBC expert said about the way the pension policy is run. There’s no rhyme or reason to it.
Sometimes it works better if you dismiss people as stupid and laugh at them. Makes them think. Perhaps it will infiltrate the minds of those MPs discussing pensions and seed a few self doubts?
I hope so. Good to have publicity on a popular BBC programme. DAFT is a good undermining word – it says that those in power are being stupidly mindless.
Dian Elvin
Long Hanborough
Witney OX29 8BD
Oxfordshire
UK
By freezing the SERP element of our Pension, the Government is left wide open to legal action. Unless you contributed towards a SERP you were not entitled to use any of its benefits. By freezing the SERP the DWP pockets 18 million pounds each year and illegally uses it to fund other purposes. They refuse to acknowledge this anomaly to the outrageous situation by refusing me a Tribunal Hearing to explain my claim. Pamphlets issued by the DWP plainly state that unless you contribute towards the SERP you will not be entitled to its benefits. When asked where the “stolen” money ends up they make the usual claim that it is used to build hospitals and schools.I thought those were paid for out of general taxation. The word “decency” no longer exists in much of Parliament.