On Tue, 01 Mar 2022 11:38:54 +0000, Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com>
wrote:

>Second daughter works for UKTV, managing Drama and Alibi channels. She
>emailed she had a meeting yesterday with the managing editor of TA,
>Jeremy Howe. I asked what it was about but no reply yet. As she works
>for tv and Jeremy used to be BBC Radio 4’s Commissioning Editor for
>Drama and Fiction I had a horrible thought. He would be a perfect
>person if they decide to televise TA...

He might be planning on leaving the BBC altogether. It's not just the
public face of the BBC - presenters, journalists and news readers and
the like - who are going but an awful lot of other people are leaving
Auntie too.

AIUI, the way the pension scheme has been set up has had the
unintended consequence of making it a prudent financial decision to
leave soon. A bit like the unintended consequences of the medical
consultants pension scheme has seen many of them unable to afford to
work longer hours without financial penalties.

Nick

On 1.3.22 13:21, Nick Odell wrote:
> AIUI, the way the pension scheme has been set up has had the
> unintended consequence of making it a prudent financial decision to
> leave soon. A bit like the unintended consequences of the medical
> consultants pension scheme has seen many of them unable to afford to
> work longer hours without financial penalties.

The "problem" over pensions is one of those which has been around for a
good few years. I was forced to stop making pension contributions for
similar reasons when the civil servants decided that £1m of pension
value was the permitted maximum without realising that for many
industrious people (doctors for example) the computed capital value of
the pension was likely to exceed that figure. £1m might sound like a
lot of money and as a lump sum it; however with women now potentially
capable of living for an average of about 25 years after retirement and
for the moment ignoring interest income (at 0% in recent years) that
equates to £40k pa pre tax.

Now most doctors probably earn (say based on my local surgery) £90k pa.
It used to be the case that the maximum pension one could expect was
2/3 of your pre-retirement pension - so £60k pa. That requires a
capital pot of £1.5m (which still sounds like a lot of money). But you
are not allowed more than £1m, so you might as well stop working.

Arbitrary limits without forethought meant that a large number of
doctors walked away. And who can blame them when the alternative is a
punitive rate of tax on their hard earned savings?

The problem is that an arbitrary limit was applied to a capital sum and
yet income tax will be paid when the money reaches the individual - and
you all thought that taxing income twice was not allowed.

There are many other perversities in the tax system which also need
addressing - not least child benefit and the erosion of personal
allowances both commencing at far too low a salary level to be fair.

--
Kosmo Richard W
www.travelswmw.whitnet.uk
https://tinyurl.com/KRWpics

On Tue, 1 Mar 2022 13:34:57 +0000, krw <krw@whitnet.uk> scrawled in the
dust...

>On 1.3.22 13:21, Nick Odell wrote:
>> AIUI, the way the pension scheme has been set up has had the
>> unintended consequence of making it a prudent financial decision to
>> leave soon. A bit like the unintended consequences of the medical
>> consultants pension scheme has seen many of them unable to afford to
>> work longer hours without financial penalties.
>
>The "problem" over pensions is one of those which has been around for a
>good few years. I was forced to stop making pension contributions for
>similar reasons when the civil servants decided that £1m of pension
>value was the permitted maximum without realising that for many
>industrious people (doctors for example) the computed capital value of
>the pension was likely to exceed that figure. £1m might sound like a
>lot of money and as a lump sum it; however with women now potentially
>capable of living for an average of about 25 years after retirement and
>for the moment ignoring interest income (at 0% in recent years) that
>equates to £40k pa pre tax.

[snip of further horrors]

I know little of pensions. I get a reasonable state pension which I'm told
is based upon the better of two husbands' contributions alongside my own
(which were enough to grant me something). I also get a tiny private
pension, arranged by an employer, which I only paid into for a couple of
years, when I was working part time (the employer also added to it). My
adviser told me it was better value to take it as a pension than as a lump
sum - he was probably right, I think it has already paid back more than I
put into it. I suppose KCC owe me a few quid too, from when they
auto-enrolled me in their scheme without consultation.

D#1 is currently on strike (again) over pensions - why do they always seem
to do this in the winter, when picketing is so uncomfortable?

--
Penny
Annoyed by The Archers since 1959

Penny <spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 1 Mar 2022 13:34:57 +0000, krw <krw@whitnet.uk> scrawled in the
> dust...
>
>> On 1.3.22 13:21, Nick Odell wrote:
>>> AIUI, the way the pension scheme has been set up has had the
>>> unintended consequence of making it a prudent financial decision to
>>> leave soon. A bit like the unintended consequences of the medical
>>> consultants pension scheme has seen many of them unable to afford to
>>> work longer hours without financial penalties.
>>
>> The "problem" over pensions is one of those which has been around for a
>> good few years. I was forced to stop making pension contributions for
>> similar reasons when the civil servants decided that £1m of pension
>> value was the permitted maximum without realising that for many
>> industrious people (doctors for example) the computed capital value of
>> the pension was likely to exceed that figure. £1m might sound like a
>> lot of money and as a lump sum it; however with women now potentially
>> capable of living for an average of about 25 years after retirement and
>> for the moment ignoring interest income (at 0% in recent years) that
>> equates to £40k pa pre tax.
>
> [snip of further horrors]
>
> I know little of pensions. I get a reasonable state pension which I'm told
> is based upon the better of two husbands' contributions alongside my own
> (which were enough to grant me something). I also get a tiny private
> pension, arranged by an employer, which I only paid into for a couple of
> years, when I was working part time (the employer also added to it). My
> adviser told me it was better value to take it as a pension than as a lump
> sum - he was probably right, I think it has already paid back more than I
> put into it. I suppose KCC owe me a few quid too, from when they
> auto-enrolled me in their scheme without consultation.
>
> D#1 is currently on strike (again) over pensions - why do they always seem
> to do this in the winter, when picketing is so uncomfortable?
>

Now is the winter of discontent?

--
Toodle Pip, Mike McMillan

On 1.3.22 14:35, Penny wrote:
> D#1 is currently on strike (again) over pensions - why do they always seem
> to do this in the winter, when picketing is so uncomfortable?

Because it discomforts the service user and gets them to put more
pressure on the poor employer.

--
Kosmo Richard W
www.travelswmw.whitnet.uk
https://tinyurl.com/KRWpics

On Tue, 1 Mar 2022 14:50:48 +0000, krw <krw@whitnet.uk> scrawled in the
dust...

>On 1.3.22 14:35, Penny wrote:
>> D#1 is currently on strike (again) over pensions - why do they always seem
>> to do this in the winter, when picketing is so uncomfortable?
>
>Because it discomforts the service user and gets them to put more
>pressure on the poor employer.

Fair point - at a guess, most of the 'service users' are off somewhere else
entirely during July and August, blissfully unaware the background staff
are still at work.
--
Penny
Annoyed by The Archers since 1959

On 1.3.22 14:56, Penny wrote:
> On Tue, 1 Mar 2022 14:50:48 +0000, krw <krw@whitnet.uk> scrawled in the
> dust...
>
>> On 1.3.22 14:35, Penny wrote:
>>> D#1 is currently on strike (again) over pensions - why do they always seem
>>> to do this in the winter, when picketing is so uncomfortable?
>>
>> Because it discomforts the service user and gets them to put more
>> pressure on the poor employer.
>
> Fair point - at a guess, most of the 'service users' are off somewhere else
> entirely during July and August, blissfully unaware the background staff
> are still at work.

I assume she is not part of TfL on strike today then?

--
Kosmo Richard W
www.travelswmw.whitnet.uk
https://tinyurl.com/KRWpics

Penny <spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 1 Mar 2022 13:34:57 +0000, krw <krw@whitnet.uk> scrawled in the
> dust...
>
>> On 1.3.22 13:21, Nick Odell wrote:
>>> AIUI, the way the pension scheme has been set up has had the
>>> unintended consequence of making it a prudent financial decision to
>>> leave soon. A bit like the unintended consequences of the medical
>>> consultants pension scheme has seen many of them unable to afford to
>>> work longer hours without financial penalties.
>>
>> The "problem" over pensions is one of those which has been around for a
>> good few years. I was forced to stop making pension contributions for
>> similar reasons when the civil servants decided that £1m of pension
>> value was the permitted maximum without realising that for many
>> industrious people (doctors for example) the computed capital value of
>> the pension was likely to exceed that figure. £1m might sound like a
>> lot of money and as a lump sum it; however with women now potentially
>> capable of living for an average of about 25 years after retirement and
>> for the moment ignoring interest income (at 0% in recent years) that
>> equates to £40k pa pre tax.
>
> [snip of further horrors]
>
> I know little of pensions. I get a reasonable state pension which I'm told
> is based upon the better of two husbands' contributions alongside my own
> (which were enough to grant me something). I also get a tiny private
> pension, arranged by an employer, which I only paid into for a couple of
> years, when I was working part time (the employer also added to it). My
> adviser told me it was better value to take it as a pension than as a lump
> sum - he was probably right, I think it has already paid back more than I
> put into it. I suppose KCC owe me a few quid too, from when they
> auto-enrolled me in their scheme without consultation.
>
> D#1 is currently on strike (again) over pensions - why do they always seem
> to do this in the winter, when picketing is so uncomfortable?
>

Unis are really getting their teeth into striking over Pensions now which
of course in top of covid has really shot them in both feet.

Sincerely Chris

Chris <chris.mcmillan@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> Penny <spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com> wrote:
>> On Tue, 1 Mar 2022 13:34:57 +0000, krw <krw@whitnet.uk> scrawled in the
>> dust...
>>
>>> On 1.3.22 13:21, Nick Odell wrote:
>>>> AIUI, the way the pension scheme has been set up has had the
>>>> unintended consequence of making it a prudent financial decision to
>>>> leave soon. A bit like the unintended consequences of the medical
>>>> consultants pension scheme has seen many of them unable to afford to
>>>> work longer hours without financial penalties.
>>>
>>> The "problem" over pensions is one of those which has been around for a
>>> good few years. I was forced to stop making pension contributions for
>>> similar reasons when the civil servants decided that £1m of pension
>>> value was the permitted maximum without realising that for many
>>> industrious people (doctors for example) the computed capital value of
>>> the pension was likely to exceed that figure. £1m might sound like a
>>> lot of money and as a lump sum it; however with women now potentially
>>> capable of living for an average of about 25 years after retirement and
>>> for the moment ignoring interest income (at 0% in recent years) that
>>> equates to £40k pa pre tax.
>>
>> [snip of further horrors]
>>
>> I know little of pensions. I get a reasonable state pension which I'm told
>> is based upon the better of two husbands' contributions alongside my own
>> (which were enough to grant me something). I also get a tiny private
>> pension, arranged by an employer, which I only paid into for a couple of
>> years, when I was working part time (the employer also added to it). My
>> adviser told me it was better value to take it as a pension than as a lump
>> sum - he was probably right, I think it has already paid back more than I
>> put into it. I suppose KCC owe me a few quid too, from when they
>> auto-enrolled me in their scheme without consultation.
>>
>> D#1 is currently on strike (again) over pensions - why do they always seem
>> to do this in the winter, when picketing is so uncomfortable?
>>
>
> Unis are really getting their teeth into striking over Pensions now which
> of course in top of covid has really shot them in both feet.
>
> Sincerely Chris
>
>

Unilateral changes were made to Uni pension schemes in 2010 as well, mine
was due to be a final salary based scheme pension agreement up until then;
huge changes were imposed on us and no-one seemed to be able to tell me at
the time how it would affect my retirement pension in 2012. Also, in 2010,
I was ‘promoted’ to junior management, I say ‘promoted’ as it was a name
change but no change to salary at all. As a result of the changes that were
made, I was invited to move to a different pension scheme (as more
appropriate to management posts they told me), when I looked at the monthly
charges and the resulting pension, I decided to stay where I was as the new
scheme would have cost me more for less pension! In the end, I, along with
many others, were stitched up and did not receive the indicated pension
pre-2010. The employment agreement imposed on me when moving to management
stated that I no longer had a stated working hours agreement but was
expected to apply myself to cover all demands that may be made on my
services. Though I did have to accept an increase in the working hours to
get the imposed load completed, I did impose my own limit and would ‘knock
off’ when I had had enough or felt I had performed enough including the
extra mile! I was given a grand title and this was supposed to placate me I
think; when I was asked if I would be prepared to work on beyond my planned
retirement date, I had to disappoint them!!!

--
Toodle Pip, Mike McMillan

On Tue, 1 Mar 2022 15:15:58 +0000, krw <krw@whitnet.uk> scrawled in the
dust...

>On 1.3.22 14:56, Penny wrote:
>> On Tue, 1 Mar 2022 14:50:48 +0000, krw <krw@whitnet.uk> scrawled in the
>> dust...
>>
>>> On 1.3.22 14:35, Penny wrote:
>>>> D#1 is currently on strike (again) over pensions - why do they always seem
>>>> to do this in the winter, when picketing is so uncomfortable?
>>>
>>> Because it discomforts the service user and gets them to put more
>>> pressure on the poor employer.
>>
>> Fair point - at a guess, most of the 'service users' are off somewhere else
>> entirely during July and August, blissfully unaware the background staff
>> are still at work.
>
>I assume she is not part of TfL on strike today then?

No, she did work at St George's in Tooting for a while, many years ago.
Back in Sheffield ever since.
--
Penny
Annoyed by The Archers since 1959

On 01/03/2022 13:34, krw wrote:
> On 1.3.22 13:21, Nick Odell wrote:
>> AIUI, the way the pension scheme has been set up has had the
>> unintended consequence of making it a prudent financial decision to
>> leave soon. A bit like the unintended consequences of the medical
>> consultants pension scheme has seen many of them unable to afford to
>> work longer hours without financial penalties.
>
> The "problem" over pensions is one of those which has been around for a
> good few years.  I was forced to stop making pension contributions for
> similar reasons when the civil servants decided that £1m of pension
> value was the permitted maximum without realising that for many
> industrious people (doctors for example) the computed capital value of
> the pension was likely to exceed that figure.  £1m might sound like a
> lot of money and as a lump sum it; however with women now potentially
> capable of living for an average of about 25 years after retirement and
> for the moment ignoring interest income (at 0% in recent years) that
> equates to £40k pa pre tax.
>
> Now most doctors probably earn (say based on my local surgery) £90k pa.
>  It used to be the case that the maximum pension one could expect was
> 2/3 of your pre-retirement pension - so £60k pa.  That requires a
> capital pot of £1.5m (which still sounds like a lot of money).  But you
> are not allowed more than £1m, so you might as well stop working.
>
> Arbitrary limits without forethought meant that a large number of
> doctors walked away.  And who can blame them when the alternative is a
> punitive rate of tax on their hard earned savings?
>
> The problem is that an arbitrary limit was applied to a capital sum and
> yet income tax will be paid when the money reaches the individual - and
> you all thought that taxing income twice was not allowed.
>
> There are many other perversities in the tax system which also need
> addressing - not least child benefit and the erosion of personal
> allowances both commencing at far too low a salary level to be fair.
>

I'm on a 50% pension so when I reached 60 I went to half-time and
starting taking all my pension and half-salary. Some urgent work came up
and I offered to work extra hours but someone from salaries warned us
that she was legally required to tell our pensions organisation and they
would deduct any extra salary I earned from my pension.

Eventually my line-manager agreed to allow me to build up a massive
flexitime credit that I could take off over summer.

"krw" <krw@whitnet.uk> wrote in message news:svl7dl$120m$1@gioia.aioe.org...
> On 1.3.22 13:21, Nick Odell wrote:
>> AIUI, the way the pension scheme has been set up has had the
>> unintended consequence of making it a prudent financial decision to
>> leave soon. A bit like the unintended consequences of the medical
>> consultants pension scheme has seen many of them unable to afford to
>> work longer hours without financial penalties.
>
> The "problem" over pensions is one of those which has been around for a
> good few years. I was forced to stop making pension contributions for
> similar reasons when the civil servants decided that �1m of pension value
> was the permitted maximum without realising that for many industrious
> people (doctors for example) the computed capital value of the pension was
> likely to exceed that figure. �1m might sound like a lot of money and as
> a lump sum it; however with women now potentially capable of living for an
> average of about 25 years after retirement and for the moment ignoring
> interest income (at 0% in recent years) that equates to �40k pa pre tax.
>
> Now most doctors probably earn (say based on my local surgery) �90k pa. It
> used to be the case that the maximum pension one could expect was 2/3 of
> your pre-retirement pension - so �60k pa. That requires a capital pot of
> �1.5m (which still sounds like a lot of money). But you are not allowed
> more than �1m, so you might as well stop working.
>

In my time in the NHS Hospital Consultants would award themselves a "merit"
award; a device used to boost pension in their final years of working.
AFAIR Merit Award "A+" gave Consultants the same amount of their annual
salary. Effectively they would retire on their salary.

Changed a little bit I daresay since the 1980s though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_Excellence_Awards

MJ