For many years everyone has complained about the country's over-complicated State pension system. Now the Government has published its White Paper on State pension reform, and people are still complaining!
The White Paper proposes a flat-rate pension of £144 a week for everyone from 2017. Naturally this pension has qualifications – you only receive the full £144 if you have paid National Insurance contributions for 35 years – but no-one ever got something for nothing.
There will be a vast saving in administration costs, as the complicated State second pension, which was related to earnings, disappears. National Insurance contributions will now be the same for everyone. This does mean some workers will now pay 1.4% more than they used to – but that goes to pay for the difference between the current basic State pension (£107) and the new amount of £144.
It seems the only real losers will be the higher-paid, who will no longer be able to earn State pension over the £144 limit. But shouldn't those people be in a position to provide for themselves?
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