Any fears over the State Pension are unfounded!

A guest article from Mike Fenwick.

Any fears over the State Pension are unfounded!

State pensions … instead of saying we paid in – so the UK should pay out, we need a different perspective – follow the money! Simple maths drawn from GERS show the truth. 

Do you think that your State Pension is dependent on the UK Government?  It isn’t! 

Your State Pension is actually provided by everyone in Scotland who pay their National Insurance contributions. This year and every year it is money collected in Scotland that pays your pension!

Is that true? Here are the figures for the past 5 years.

2017-2018 – NI paid in Scotland – £10362m – State Pensions paid in Scotland – £7919m 

So more than enough to pay all State Pensions in Scotland!

2018-2019 – NI paid in Scotland – £10643m – State Pensions paid in Scotland – £8154m 

Again more than enough!

2019-2020 – NI paid in Scotland – £11211m – State Pensions paid in Scotland – £8313m 

And again more than enough!

2020-2021 – NI paid in Scotland – £11016m – State Pensions paid in Scotland – £8501m 

And yet again more than enough!

2021-2022 – NI paid in Scotland – £12243m – State Pensions paid in Scotland – £8715m 

So more than enough to pay all State Pensions in Scotland !

In each of those years (and in past years) the National Insurance paid in Scotland has been sent to the UK Government. The UK Government then control what is paid as the State Pension. With independence that stops. 

What the figures show – as fact – is that the amount raised through National Insurance contributions paid only within Scotland is greater than the amount needed to pay State Pensions in Scotland. 

There are many pensioners in Scotland who voted NO because they were (and are) dependent on the State Pension. That was their fear, they were threatened with the loss of that income, and it was all unfounded.

Conclusion:  I just hope that it is not just me, but many in the YES movement who will start to show the facts, and they are facts, to many of our pensioners who think that it is the UK who pay their pensions. It isn’t and never has been!

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The figures used have been taken from Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS)  2021-2022 which is a National Statistics publication. It reports estimates of the revenue raised in Scotland and the cost of public services provided for Scotland. For those with questions or who wish more information, use this link:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/government-expenditure-revenue-scotland-gers-2021-22/

MY COMMENTS

This is a most important message to get out. The worry Better Together created over pensions cost us dear in 2014. We became defensive when we should have been on the attack. UK Pension provision when reviewed on an International basis results in probably the last thing the UK would want to talk or boast about.

I am, as always

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