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I work for the NHS...

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Can imagine Stu on a picket line!

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best thing to do honestly is get bank/building society that pays a flat rate interest.

and put your own money into the account.

I started mine when i was 20 since i have been putting £50 a month into it, no idea how much is in there will never know until i decide to retire.

probably when im settled with a home i'll put a lot more in.

jobs done.

public sector has been scrutinised by governments for years their greedy eyes lurking over the wall they built eyeing other peoples money bloody cheeky.

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History:
Civil Service formed not sure when 1890's time, became a good working class job in the early days, low wages but good benefits, leave/flexi/pension/safe job. Mistake here was the pension scheme was non contributory. Much later private sector pay surpassed public sector pay, such was the difference, I remember when my dad was in the civil service they got something like a 20% pay rise. Modern times you would need to be at least three grades up HEO to match the national average salary, majority are low grades earning as little as £14,000.

It was only in 2003 that the government realised that the pension scheme must be changed. Since then existing employees pay 1.5%, new employees were given a choice of two schemes something like 3.5% and 5.5% depending on the terms they required. Note even the new employees will have to pay more again.

Thus all civil servants do pay into a scheme albeit one in huge deficit, in reality we are paying for the pensions being collected by the now retired civil servants. (nb the public says if we don't like it, opt out - fine if many did the deficit would grow and the pensions of those retired would be in danger, careful what you wish for Public it might be your dad/grandad who will have his pension reduced/taxed/stolen in future)

Current:-
our pension retirement age is 60, we can work longer but pension is paid at 60, you can retire before 60 but your pension would reduced for the longer collection period.

Proposed changes:-
Current scheme ends but what pension you have earned upto now will still be paid at 60.
New Scheme commences.
change to RPI from CPI a lower measuring index so a lower calculated pension.
pension age aligned with state pension age, thus for me the new pension will be paid at 66.
contribution increases to 2.7% (for me) then a further increase few years later.

Calculations show some people losing £20,000


the changes are too much, too fast, too many, some people will have to find another £60 per month, no staggering from 60 to 66 !

The maths are so complicated to work out, my issue is the existing scheme, whether any of you PS workers can answer this I don't know, I have just Emailed my MP.

If the current Classic Scheme ends which it will, does our 1.5% keep going into this OR will it go into the new scheme. We need to know, this is crucial and quite possibly where the money is lost (being moved). If contributions to this cease then your Projected Pension will devalue dramatically, if not then won't be too bad otherwise opting out might have to be the only way.

Here are FACTS from my last Pension Provider Projection for the current Classic Scheme to be closed !

currently have 27 years done

Retiring now (if I was now 60, I have 16 more years to go)
£7,903 per year
£23,709 lump sum

Projected Pension age 60
£12,686 per year
£38,058 lump sum


So, if payments into the current scheme cease the above projections will fall badly, retiring at 60 will be a no go, I suspect pension money is illegally being moved into the new scheme so as to bluff the higher contributions are paying for a higher pension when in reality it has been taken out of the existing scheme and withheld for six years.

yes yes, I know private sector has been hit and other side of this is many people do not even pay into a pension.

If your a lady public sector worker, jeez what a mess.

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Teachers hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or 10 months a year! It's time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do - babysit! We can get that for minimum wage. That's right. Let's give them £6.08 an hour and only the hours they worked; not any of that silly planning time, or the hours they spend before or after school. That would be £39.52 a day (8:30 to 3:45pm with 45 min off for lunch that equals 6 1/2 hours). Each parent should pay £39.52 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children. Now how many students do they teach in a day, maybe 30? So that's £39.52 x 30 = £1185.60 a day. However, remember they only work 180 days a year!!! I am not going to pay them for any holidays. LET'S SEE.... That's £1185.60 X 180= £213,408 per year. (Hold on! My calculator needs new batteries). Wait a minute -- there's something wrong here! There sure is! The average teacher's salary (nation wide) is £32,000. £32,000/180 days = £177.77/per day/30 students=£5.92/6.5 hours = £0.91 per hour per student--a very inexpensive "baby-sitter" and they even EDUCATE your kids!' WHAT A DEAL!!!

Interesting take on it lol

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Lol just read some of the mail online and saw jeremy clarkson said something controversial (yet again), i never saw it but a lot of people have got offended lol? im guessing it was a joke..

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lol yeh he said they should all be shot

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Teachers hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or 10 months a year! It's time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do - babysit! We can get that for minimum wage. That's right. Let's give them £6.08 an hour and only the hours they worked; not any of that silly planning time, or the hours they spend before or after school. That would be £39.52 a day (8:30 to 3:45pm with 45 min off for lunch that equals 6 1/2 hours). Each parent should pay £39.52 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children. Now how many students do they teach in a day, maybe 30? So that's £39.52 x 30 = £1185.60 a day. However, remember they only work 180 days a year!!! I am not going to pay them for any holidays. LET'S SEE.... That's £1185.60 X 180= £213,408 per year. (Hold on! My calculator needs new batteries). Wait a minute -- there's something wrong here! There sure is! The average teacher's salary (nation wide) is £32,000. £32,000/180 days = £177.77/per day/30 students=£5.92/6.5 hours = £0.91 per hour per student--a very inexpensive "baby-sitter" and they even EDUCATE your kids!' WHAT A DEAL!!!

Interesting take on it lol

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Now that's a good way of putting it.

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+1 I heard a good on on the radio yesterday

News reporter was asking a teacher that was striking 'why should a person in a high paid job subsidize your pension?' or something like that

The woman replied 'Because we educated them and they wouldn't have that job if it wasn't for us'

Great answer

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I'm self employed and get taxed the bollocks out of...

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You need a better accountant then mate! I paid £300 last year after earning 20k

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at the end of the day the public sector (STILL get good pensions... even if they do have to add more into the pot). At the end of the day... you're getting it back + government final salary contribution.

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Dispute isn't over having a good pension. P/s pensions are average to ok. It's having them changed to pay more and get less out of it. Conrtibutions are going up but your final pension goes down.
Put into into car terms. You buy an on finance for 25k. Half way through the finance company say sorry your not having the 2.5 turbo any more and were giving you a 1.6 petrol engine but you still have to pay the 25k. You'd be pretty pissed!

You get a state pension which comes out of your NI. £100 a week basic isn't much but is something. I can't comment much more on private pensions as i don't have any kind of pension scheme thanks to being out of work and going bankrupt a few yrs ago.

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The last government

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I'm self employed and get taxed the bollocks out of...

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You need a better accountant then mate! I paid £300 last year after earning 20k

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I know a good accountant. Managed to get a 45ft boat down as a business expence to claim the vat back. The company was a builders

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I'm self employed and get taxed the bollocks out of...

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You need a better accountant then mate! I paid £300 last year after earning 20k

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s**t a pay double that

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I'm self employed and get taxed the bollocks out of...

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You need a better accountant then mate! I paid £300 last year after earning 20k

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s**t a pay double that

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Us 4 partners end up paying a shed load more combined as we earn a lovely amount
Shame, as we work hard too
What can ya do...

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Your example of the to the 1.6 is a little vast. It would simply be an without the sat nav installed. They don't lose their added £100... they simply need to pay this in to get the top contribution which will allow them the full final salary pay. At current if they don't pay the extra £100 they won't get the full top up. Where is my pension in all this whinging by them?

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Private sector... well... we are getting f**k all at the moment... no contributions and no decent pension plans. So... if your willing to oppose my view then go for it... but i guarantee i'll have a better argument.

Solution... The last government employed FAR too many public workers and initiated stupid job roles. Over 1 million jobs were created during the recession to which ALL these people are entitled to the healthy pension. Well... get rid of all these job roles and this will free the money for essential services such as teachers, nurses, boarder staff etc.


Instead of the government asking for a larger contribution to the pension they actually reduced your wages by £2,000+ a year... This is probably what should be done to keep all public sector people in work. I could understand people kicking off then.

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I agree with raising the age, why should public be able to retire earlier than private, you can't say the jobs are harder, not saying they are easier either

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stay well clear of shared ownership schemes when buying a house.

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stay well clear of shared ownership schemes when buying a house.

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I do know. I lost 90k and had to go bankrupt because of that f****** ******* usless waste of space scam. (sorry if anybody took offence to my language)

Just saying that anybody can get them not just public sector workers.

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was just thinking "maybe I should look into one of those" then read this and changed my mind back

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The idea is good but the way it works isnt.
As the tennant you are resposable for the property. Paying for any repairs boiler services etc. The h/a doesn't put any money towards repairs no matter what % you buy.

But the biggest point is you don't get a house at the end of it. Even if you get up to 100%
You are buying into the lease which is the right to live there. The h/a can move you to another house. Sell the land from under it [freehold]. If you miss a few rent payments they can also take the house off you and not give you any of your money back

Shocking they can get away with it but it's all in their small print.

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Basically yes.
You get your money back when you sell much like a normal house but even then selling is a pain. Everything has to be approved by the housing association.

Also most will be mixed in with council propertys (before i get slated i know all council estates aren't bad be tbh most are) We didn't know this and were told the new estate was s/o and private rents which is why we got stung when the gypos arrived.

We had a 40% share and the rent was something like £318 a month. Oh yeah forgot about that. The rent goes up each year too. The scumbags kept that one quiet! And a small 24k mortgage which was £150 a month.

We paid 95k for our share. Due to how the area went and it was overpriced to start with sold for 47k. We got that desperate.
And after all the debt we racked up running two houses(we had to move for saftey reasons) we got a massive 3k back.

So not a happy s/o experience.

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all correct, however you can exercise your right to buy the freehold but only when you have bought 100% of the leasehold, typically you buy the leasehold in stages so you might buy 50%/75% of it first in return for this large discount though you also pay quite a high monthly rent. Negative Equity can also have a bigger impact on SO houses.

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lease premiums and increases are all listed in the actual Lease which should be read fully by the purchaser/solicitor.

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Scotty- your first comment was one of the most naive I've seen on this topic. I agree with you that the government made a lot of job titles that didn't need to be made, but why should teachers and police etc pay the price for it? Would you want to be picked up by a 68 year old paramedic? No I don't think so. How can you expect me to teach children to an outstanding standard at the age of 68? A 68 year old police officer? My dad was a police officer and completed his 30 years service saved countless lives and put a lot of criminals behind bars. I teach over 300 children per week and as already stated I could earn 4 times as much babysitting these children privately but I choose to work for the council. A hugely physically and mentally demanding job which carries a huge responsibility. I pay over £400 a month to the tax man and national insurance, and your telling me I shouldn't strike to make a point in protecting my and my family's future? Get the facts straight and opinions open before you slate people just because they work in a different industry to you. You chose to do what you do like all of us, but I'd gladly invite you to do my job for a week and see if your ill informed opinion changes then!

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I must say that from my experience in the nursing profession, those approaching their 50s and 60s are now reducing their hours, not because they want to, but because they are struggling to cope with the long hours. I work 12.5 hour shifts, not accounting for travelling time. My typical day starts at waking up at 6am and not returning home until sometimes nearly 10pm. I am supposed to have x2 30 min breaks per shift, but often don't get the second one because I don't have time to - patient care comes first. As for finishing on time, if the unit suddenly becomes chaotic due to a new admission or transfer, none of us will simply walk out because it is time to finish the shift. Therefore I work several hours per month for free - time owing is almost unheard of in our profession. I know of a few teachers who are working unpaid overtime - is that the same for you, Stu? As for the tax man and national insurance, I paid well over £700 this month

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We never had the option of buying the freehold. Checked every piece of paperwork we had with a fine tooth combe.

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Scotty- your first comment was one of the most naive I've seen on this topic. I agree with you that the government made a lot of job titles that didn't need to be made, but why should teachers and police etc pay the price for it? Would you want to be picked up by a 68 year old paramedic? No I don't think so. How can you expect me to teach children to an outstanding standard at the age of 68? A 68 year old police officer? My dad was a police officer and completed his 30 years service saved countless lives and put a lot of criminals behind bars. I teach over 300 children per week and as already stated I could earn 4 times as much babysitting these children privately but I choose to work for the council. A hugely physically and mentally demanding job which carries a huge responsibility. I pay over £400 a month to the tax man and national insurance, and your telling me I shouldn't strike to make a point in protecting my and my family's future? Get the facts straight and opinions open before you slate people just because they work in a different industry to you. You chose to do what you do like all of us, but I'd gladly invite you to do my job for a week and see if your ill informed opinion changes then!

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I must say that from my experience in the nursing profession, those approaching their 50s and 60s are now reducing their hours, not because they want to, but because they are struggling to cope with the long hours. I work 12.5 hour shifts, not accounting for travelling time. My typical day starts at waking up at 6am and not returning home until sometimes nearly 10pm. I am supposed to have x2 30 min breaks per shift, but often don't get the second one because I don't have time to - patient care comes first. As for finishing on time, if the unit suddenly becomes chaotic due to a new admission or transfer, none of us will simply walk out because it is time to finish the shift. Therefore I work several hours per month for free - time owing is almost unheard of in our profession. I know of a few teachers who are working unpaid overtime - is that the same for you, Stu? As for the tax man and national insurance, I paid well over £700 this month

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Scotty- your first comment was one of the most naive I've seen on this topic. I agree with you that the government made a lot of job titles that didn't need to be made, but why should teachers and police etc pay the price for it? Would you want to be picked up by a 68 year old paramedic? No I don't think so. How can you expect me to teach children to an outstanding standard at the age of 68? A 68 year old police officer? My dad was a police officer and completed his 30 years service saved countless lives and put a lot of criminals behind bars. I teach over 300 children per week and as already stated I could earn 4 times as much babysitting these children privately but I choose to work for the council. A hugely physically and mentally demanding job which carries a huge responsibility. I pay over £400 a month to the tax man and national insurance, and your telling me I shouldn't strike to make a point in protecting my and my family's future? Get the facts straight and opinions open before you slate people just because they work in a different industry to you. You chose to do what you do like all of us, but I'd gladly invite you to do my job for a week and see if your ill informed opinion changes then!

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I must say that from my experience in the nursing profession, those approaching their 50s and 60s are now reducing their hours, not because they want to, but because they are struggling to cope with the long hours. I work 12.5 hour shifts, not accounting for travelling time. My typical day starts at waking up at 6am and not returning home until sometimes nearly 10pm. I am supposed to have x2 30 min breaks per shift, but often don't get the second one because I don't have time to - patient care comes first. As for finishing on time, if the unit suddenly becomes chaotic due to a new admission or transfer, none of us will simply walk out because it is time to finish the shift. Therefore I work several hours per month for free - time owing is almost unheard of in our profession. I know of a few teachers who are working unpaid overtime - is that the same for you, Stu? As for the tax man and national insurance, I paid well over £700 this month

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Totally agree Steph, and yes it's exactly the same for me! As a PE specialist I obviously have to do a lot of school sport as an extra to my PE teaching time. Most of which is out of school hours. My working hours are 8am-4pm but 4 days per week I run before school cubs (Basketball, Football, Fitness, Tchoukball) which start at 7:15 so I don't get paid for this. 3 days per week I also run after school practices for school sports teams, those sessions are from 4-6. I have 2 lunch duties per week and 3 break time duties per week as per the school regulations. I very rarely get time to have a break most days, get time for a quick lunch which is about it. I also have school fixtures for Basketball twice a week and football EVERY Saturday none of the above I get paid for! At least 4 hours work on a Saturday morning for no pay whatsoever, but I don't complain about it as I do it for the kids that I teach, it's for them, not me! And before someone says "Yeah, but you signed up to do that", yes I did and I love my job, but I also work had and don't wish my hard earned pension to be spent by the government. And before the "you get lots of holidays" argument comes out, October half term this year I was away with a school tour for our new pupils, last easter I was in Paris with a school tour, feb I was away in America skiing with school, previous October I was in China with school and the previous easter I was in Florida again with school. Although this sounds like brilliant holiday time,each trip I have been responsible for the safety of 40 children at least. THAT IS NOT A HOLIDAY. I was working during all those trips and no I didn't get paid anything extra to my salary. I roughly do 20 extra hours per week that I don't get paid for. School holidays......if I'm away with school which I am every half term or end of term, that's 14 x 24 hours that I'm on duty x 8 weeks over an academic year that I don't get paid for in addition to that already mentioned.....you do the maths!

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Thats a lot of non-paid work! Well done to all teachers and nursing staff

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Tchoukball

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Quick Google.... Oh right

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Scotty- your first comment was one of the most naive I've seen on this topic. I agree with you that the government made a lot of job titles that didn't need to be made, but why should teachers and police etc pay the price for it? Would you want to be picked up by a 68 year old paramedic? No I don't think so. How can you expect me to teach children to an outstanding standard at the age of 68? A 68 year old police officer? My dad was a police officer and completed his 30 years service saved countless lives and put a lot of criminals behind bars. I teach over 300 children per week and as already stated I could earn 4 times as much babysitting these children privately but I choose to work for the council. A hugely physically and mentally demanding job which carries a huge responsibility. I pay over £400 a month to the tax man and national insurance, and your telling me I shouldn't strike to make a point in protecting my and my family's future? Get the facts straight and opinions open before you slate people just because they work in a different industry to you. You chose to do what you do like all of us, but I'd gladly invite you to do my job for a week and see if your ill informed opinion changes then!

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Well no I will retire when I can afford to retire

And the goverment will always change what they want, you can't seriously enter a contract with the goverment and think they won't shift the goalposts, because they can, and they will as they like, whether its right or wrong doesn't come into it

I don't think you should have to pay more or get less, but I can understand them changing the age
And yes they should make it only for people signing the contract now as well.... it is a contract

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Ridiculous argument and I'm not getting involved in it, to say the public sector should foot the bill which is effectively what you are saying is a joke. And again having a pop at us for striking and children couldn't go to school etc etc is even more laughable.

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How much debt we got?

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the way people acted was even worse, someone I know had to go rescue his wife as she was pelted with missiles for going into work WHILST carrying her 1year old baby

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Teacher is no more stressful then an Electrician as Adam said or a Software Developer like me. I have huge stress coding and meeting tight deadlines for business's critical things. I also work over (unpaid) pretty much every day.

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I disagree. There is stress in all jobs, but some jobs are more stressful than others, including Stu's and mine. I invite anyone to spend the day working with me Yes, we chose our careers, but it was to a make a difference and for job satisfaction (from my viewpoint - can't speak for Stu!). I was planning to start contributing to a pension scheme early next year, now that I have paid for all of my further training, so I'm not affected in the way that others are. But I don't think the current plans are fair for those already contributing. What really infuriates me is the bad press surrounding the situation - reports suggest that numbers of applications are down for medical, nursing and allied health professional courses at universities, whilst the drop-out rates are increasing and this is linked. Not sure if this can be transferred to all other public sector workers, but this is disgraceful. Other systems need badly revising, such as the benefits scheme