What will Britain look like in 2026? The Office of National Statistics reckons that it will look a lot older. It projects that there will be around 14 million people aged 65 or older. In the absence of a geriatrically targeted plague at least one person in 5 will older than today's retirement age.
How will those future pensioners survive? Can they be confident that taxpayers in 2026 will be ready to fork out and pay for generous pensions provisions? Alternatively, can they rely upon their private savings, which will hopefully survive the ravages of inflation and taxation.
Perhaps the most reliable pension is a large family. It works in the developing world, so why not here in the UK. Have lots of children, instill in them a strong sense of responsibility for their parents, and in later life just sit back, relax and wait for a large inter generational transfer of income.
Let someone else worry about overpopulation.
18 comments:
It works in the developing world because it is a cultural expectation. I think the UK abandoned that culture sometime in the 19th century. You don't know what you had till it's gone.
There is an alternative here.
It's still frowned upon in some communtities in the UK ie packing parents off to a home. And I don't mean immigrant communities.
At anytime in history has a state pension scheme really worked? I'm wracking my brains now, admittedly financial history is not my forte, but the British state pension hasn't been in place for more than 100 years surely? Therefore there haven't been that many generations to have benefitted.
Perhaps we have to face facts, we either have an reasonable state pension payout, therefore we need a higher level of taxation to bring the money in.
Or we just accept that state pensions are not feasible and do away with them. If you haven't made your own provisions then tough.
I am sure that if we can waste 10s of billions on useless wars, weapons systems etc
even more billions in bailing out the bankers, financiers and city crooks
we can afford to pay decent pensions to people, who have paid into the system all their lives
If we cannot, we can always tax those billionaire non doms for being able to live in a peacable, law obeying country
The most likely outcome is a civil war between old and young. Sounds ludicrous now, but it will come to pass.
Chavs have lots of kids and start drawing their pensions with immediate effect.
It works !
Amigauser thinks we can just tax the non-doms to make up for all of the woes. Pity that their total world assets isn't enough to cover the pensions of the country for more than a few years. Hope you don't plan on living into your seventies...
Maths: people in other countries learn it.
I have 3 children (12, 10 and 7) and all 3 already have pensions that I am paying into. (Maths: the wonders of compound interest - some of us understand it).
So your suggestion seems reasonable to me. I have paid their pensions so they can pay mine. :-)
And I wouldn't worry about "overpopulation" - if it wasn't for immigration our population would be shrinking. That must be why the government appears to have a deliberate policy of replacing the existing population with a different set of tax-serfs.
Wildgoose:
I can't see the point in importing illiterate turnip pickers on minimum wage - this is hardly going to support anyone.
Unfettered immigration is all about propping up the failed socialist welfare system which makes it profitable to be idle.
Can anyone explain why a high skill/low population economy shouldn't be a good model ? In fact the ONLY model for for the latest stages in the development of industrialised nations ?
A) It is economically sustainable
B) It is green
C) It is socially stable
D) It is technologically progressive.
What we have now is quite the reverse.
Growth at all costs has been a disasterous mistake for Britain. Brown's 'growth' has been making fish soup out of an acquarium thinning it out with cheap stock.
"The most likely outcome is a civil war between old and young." Especially, perhaps, if the old are white and the young are multicultural. Will we be made to eat talcum powder?
It's OK we can all invest in property and that will become our pension!
Europe is f*****. Lots of old and enlightened whites who believe that brown/black youths will pay their pensions.
Pensions are only one piece of the ageing population problem. As the population ages how will the costs associated with health care be paid with a smaller tax base?
Pensions are only one piece of the ageing population problem. As the population ages how will the costs associated with health care be paid with a smaller tax base?
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