If you are a British state pensioner, you have just passed the moment when a worker on average pay in the UK has overtaken what the government will pay you this year.
And the situation is even worse if you are an expat with a frozen pension.
The average UK worker earns £26,676 a year before tax, with a take home pay of £21,419.36.
Some expat pensioners in Australia and other Commonwealth countries draw just £39.80 a year, which takes the average worker just three hours to earn.
The full index-linked state pension is £8,546.20 a year.
Pensioners must fund at least 264 days
The average worker’s pay passed that amount on May 25.
The comparison reveals that after the first 101 working days of 2018, excluding Bank Holidays and weekends, the average UK full-time worker has already earned the equivalent of a full year’s state pension.
That means anyone who is retired must fund the remaining 264 days of the year from other resources if they want to maintain a standard of living equal to that of the average worker.
Financial giant Aviva carried out the research and found that nearly one in five retirees (17%) believe the state pension will be their only source of income when they stop working.
State pension is not enough
Alistair McQueen, Head of Savings & Retirement at Aviva, said: “How many of us could survive until December 31 with the amount of money we have already earned this year – or live for a whole year on just £8,546?
“The state pension is a national treasure and the bedrock of many retirement plans. However, most of us will find that it isn’t enough to meet all our financial needs in retirement.
“Auto-enrolment has helped the UK take a step forwards to saving more via workplace pensions, but the threat of financial struggles in retirement hasn’t gone away, especially for the self-employed.
“Saving more into a pension means having to make the rest of the monthly pay cheque stretch further, but a far tougher challenge will come when you’re no longer earning and have a much bigger income drop to deal with.”
“Some expat pensioners in Australia and other Commonwealth countries draw just £39.80 per year….”
Two points. Firstly I suggest that should be per week not per year and, secondly, it is not just Commonwealth countries that are affected but pensioners in about 120 overseas countries suffer the illogical and irrational discrimination of a frozen UK pension…Thailand, Mexico, Japan but strangely pensioners in the USA, VIrgin Islands receive the annual ındex lınked ıncrease but not those in the British Virgin Islands – how stupid is that?
It is theft, plain and simple. Highway robbery.
The frozen pension debacle is unjust and discriminatory in a way that is so random it defies all logic. It appears to be a particularly nasty form of bullying by the UK government, the chain of thought seems to be ”We are going to steal your pension because we can, you are little poor pensioners who can do nothing about it, see if we care”.
RobtheFox – spot on – and this punitive policy that is imposed based on location is totally immoral and indefensible theft by fraud however the government dress it up.
My late husband and I emigrated from London to South Africa in 1969. Two years later we were visiting family in London and decided to go to DWP and organize to make payments from South Africa in order to qualify for a full pension!!!! Nobody told us that our pension would be frozen !!!! We could have saved that money.!!! This is huge discrimination and Highway Robbery !!! Teresa Schejbal
The frozen pension is a national disgrace. I cannot respect any government that condones this shameful policy. It is not a matter of money. This debt to British pensioners should be prioritised over foreign aid.