Pensioners are not poor

They're just not. The average pensioner is less likely to be in poverty than the average non-pensioner.

Additionally, female pensioners are less likely to be in poverty than male pensioners.

Pensioners own property worth £1.3 trillion. Yet they complain about paying tax on this (council tax).

I should point out that those that can’t pay get council tax relief. Oh, and what is the winter fuel allowance about? Or free travel?

Why am I subsidising people for their stupidity of not saving enough during their lifetimes?

This from Axa on Friday - showing despite the bellyaching, UK pensioners are rather well off.

European cousins aspire to ‘affluent’ lifestyle of retired people in UK and want a common pension system

The UK’s current pensioners are significantly better off when compared to their European counterparts. The average retiree in the UK has £271 to play with after monthly living expenses have been paid and earns £868 per month in pension income.

Those in France and Germany earn a higher pension income than those in the UK – earning £1,051 and £978 respectively, however those in France, Italy and Spain state they do not have enough money to cover their living expenses.

European workers seem to think that UK workers have a better pensions system than them and the majority of countries on the Continent favour a common pensions system whereas Britons are firmly against the idea (58%). Those in favour include Portugal (86%), Spain (78%), Italy (66%) and France (51%).

Steve Folkard of AXA continues: “With the majority of Europeans having less disposable income in comparison to their UK counterparts, it is hardly surprising they favour a common pensions system that could bring their financial situation inline with the more affluent UK.”

Selfish old people

Retired people are among the least concerned with the environment, with the research indicating that pensioners may be some of the biggest carbon culprits, spending almost a quarter of their leisure income on travel, according to the Abbey Lifestyle Report.

For this group their personal health is the biggest concern and they are the section of society with the biggest fear of being victims of crime.

Retired people are the most pessimistic, with just 21 per cent believing that they will have a better quality of life next year.

Full figures show:

The retired community is least worried about their money, the second least worried about government policy (yet vote more than any other groups), most worried about their health, most worried about crime, most worried about terrorism, second least worried about relationships, and joint-least worried about the environment.

Groups studied were: Students; single adults without children; married/cohabiting adults without children; parents with dependent children; and retired Britons.

Gah!

Aparently it is bad that the poor, put-upon baby boomers have to help out their children.

This from Scottish widows today.

Merlin Stone, leading economist comments: “For over a decade, economists have been concerned about whether baby boomers, those born in the years immediately after the second world war and now mostly retired or entering retirement, have saved enough to fund their retirement. In general, the conclusion seems to be that they did, but now they face a financial Shirley Valentine situation, often following its physical version. For the same generation of children who came home to their parents to roost after university before departing to set up their own household are coming back with their hands out for help with the housing and furniture, car purchase and even holidays."

Well maybe if they had paid more taxes when they were accumulating their savings we wouldn't have needed student loans, and could have had grants like them.

Or possibly if they had stopped buying properites at the lower end to let we could have afforded rents - or even a deposit for our own home.

GAH!