Will the state pension still be available when you retire?
The last few years has seen some serious talk about the long term demise of the UK state pension, an income which has been falling in real terms for some time now. There has been talk that all EU members will be forced to bailout EU partner pension plans some of which, like the Italian state scheme, are literally dead on their feet and billions of pounds short of funding. The sad fact is that the younger you are in the UK today the less chance of receive a worthwhile pension in your old age, even if you keep your contributions up to date.
We have seen a major move by the authorities over the last decade to push more and more people to private pension but the death of the final salary scheme has caused great concern. Unless you work for the government or local authorities, where tax payer backed final salary schemes are still the norm, you will need to top up any work scheme with your own funding plan.
While you would assume it was not wrong to expect the state to provide a pension after you have contributed for all of your working life, many people are going to be in for a real shock!
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