Had you planned to retire earlier than you are now able to?
Changes in 1995 and 2011 to the state pension age mean women born on or after April 6, 1951 can expect to retire up to six years later than they had originally planned.
A group of ladies called WASPI (Women Against State Pension Age Inequality) have been tirelessly campaigning and have waged a fierce media protest in recent years against changes to the State pension age which were first brought about in 1995 to bring women’s state pension age in line with men’s.
It would have originally seen them working five years longer, from 60 to 65, before being entitled to a basic state pension.
Many of them were not informed about the change, leaving some in financial limbo at the verge of retirement.
News today suggests that older women lobbying the Government against rises to their state pension age have no hope of success, the new pensions minister has said, as he insisted they will not be granted any further financial help.
In his first interview since his appointment at the Department for Work and Pensions, Richard Harrington MP, told the Daily Telegraph he wanted to make “very clear” that the demands of the pressure group, known as the Women Against State Pension Age Inequality, would not be met.
He confirmed that the Government will make no further changes to their pension age or pay them compensation.
He added that some politicians had given them “false hope”, leading them to believe that their efforts may result in the Government giving them special treatment.
The state pension age is currently 65 for men and just over 63 for women. The pension age for women will keep rising steadily every few months and equalise at 65 for both sexes in 2018. It will then increase every few months for men and women, reaching 66 by 2020.
The next stage of planned increases, towards age 67, is due to begin in 2026 and conclude in 2028.
What are your views? If you are a woman born after 6th April 1951 how will you be affected by the changes announced in 1995 and then in 2011 to raise the State Pension Age for women to 67? How do you feel about the changes in state pension age for women changing to be the same as for men? What financial plans are you making now? How do you feel about your working life being extended? What impact will these changes have on your family? Is it time to be realistic and accept there is not enough money left in the pension pot and some of us will have to work longer?
What are your views?
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Like many women my wife was made redundant at 60 and never worked again as there is so much age discrimination out there. She had to wait until she was 63 to get her pension but we knew that even before she was made redundant. There was so much publicity about this change in the papers, on TV and on the internet it is hard to see how people did not know about it.
Remember this change was initiated and fully supported by Labour. There was a transition arrangement which is how my wife received her pension at 63 but it was unfair to many people and has caused a great deal of misery. The government should bite the bullet and look again at transition but no matter what they do some women will be disadvantaged. Men are also having to cope with an ever increasing state pension age too.
This occurred 6 months before I qualified for State Retirement Pension, so I decided to go for it. However, I now realise that I should have challenged this as I would have received more in compensation, as the original plan was to work for as long as possible. At the time, following the stress of a gruelling treatment regime & disgraceful treatment from my then employer, enough was enough & I walked!
Financially, it's a struggle, but I have peace of mind - my former work place is now a (metaphorical) with gross mistreatment of the staff, so in retrospect, glad to have my freedom!
It's time the government acknowledged that we have paid in, it's not their money it's ours, and they have no right to withhold our hard earned cash. As members of parliament they are privileged, they get a large pension after being in government for only a few years, ( not fully paid NI for 40+ years) so they are ok, how fair is that, a few years and full pension for life regardless of age. All of us who are suffering or about to suffer due to the changes in pension have the ability to target our votes towards those MPs who refuse to climb down from their ivory towers to support us ... The I'm alright Jack has to stop.
However thanks to those MPs who have pledged their support to continue use to help with our plight.
Make a noise, bombard MPs with letters and emails. Marches. Make enough fuss and they'll have to listen.
Oh dear, I expect this communication is being read by some government agency and I'll get a knock at the door and taken away for 're-education '. Think I'm joking? It's coming!
However this year I have been diagnosed with multiple plasmacytoma in my rib cage and am now undergoing chemotherapy. I have been given a treatment not cure diagnosis and a probability of 10 years of life left. It would be great to have some way of getting my pension early after all I paid into it all my working life and have a shortened life expectancy.