WINTER FOOLS PAYMENT

New Government in power 5 minutes and they’re already upsetting the grey applecart!

LOL. Come on - a new broom always sweeps clean and with the Treasury coffers sporting more holes than the other half’s underpants, it should come as no surprise that Big Brother’s beady eye has turned to winter fuel payments.

Gathering winter fuel

Ten points to Labour as this is the kind of sneaky move the Tories wished they could have pulled had they not been unceremoniously booted out of office.

Thanks to inaccurate journalistic reporting, the fact that it is ONLY the wealthier portion of the grey population who are likely to be affected by this policy change rather than EVERY state pensioner was only pointed out days later. Too late though, social media networks around our neighbourhood exploded with outrage like a suburban Krakatoa – winter fools engaging fingertips before brain.

Rachel (The Reaper) Reeves stands accused of causing death by hypothermia for anyone not sunning themselves on the Costa del Sol in January as that is probably what most winter fuel payments are used for by those pensioners who really don’t need this free cash.

What most whingers fail to remember is that benefits are not an automatic entitlement but should be there to help those who genuinely can’t help themselves financially so I feel it is quite right for the Treasury to means test state pensioners before dipping their fingers into the already empty public purse.  

When I look round our ‘hood’ and see the legions of cleaners/gardeners employed by elderly pensioners or find oldies strutting their wrinkly stuff at private fitness clubs or sat sipping cocktails on the outdoor terrace at The Ivy then that’s telling me that somewhere along the line, winter fuel payments are perhaps not being used for their intended purpose.

There are mechanisms already in place for those pensioners relying solely on a state pension with no other income streams to claim additional support from the state. I think it’s called Pension Credit. Naturally, there are going to be loads of peeps, like me, who fall just outside the welfare wall. Sadly, that’s life! There’s always going to be a line in the sand drawn somewhere and it’s unfortunate if you’re on the wrong side of it.

For younger generations blaming Boomers for this woeful state of events – I know some of you will be doing this - then sorry to burst your anti-boomer bubble but those of us who grew up with the mantra ‘greed is good’ worked our bloody socks off to build careers that paid well in jobs with private pension schemes. Not our fault that final salary schemes became extinct but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any private pensions you could take advantage of. 

Even prior to Auto-Enrolment, people could set up stakeholder pension accounts with any financial provider. You don’t have to be employed to set up a pension! You just have to have the willpower to set aside a few pennies each month.  People need to take responsibility for their retirement instead of relying on the State to continually bail them out.  I mean you do have about 50 years notice to prepare!

Since birth, I’ve been encouraged to save for the rainy day. For many of us Boomers that ‘rainy day’ meant retirement not a Netflix subscription or the latest iPhone. Now that I’m not far off state pension age, I thank my parents for such good advice. Spend a little, save a little is what I always told my own kids. For once, I hope they were listening.

But anyway, as usual I digress. Can’t help it. Soon as I get behind a screen, keyboard diarrhoea sets in. Should I trot down to the local pharmacy to see if they can help? Don’t get me started on that one!

Winter fuel payments, fuss over nothing if you ask me. Rich pensioners who don’t need this dosh. Give it to the poorer ones. Job’s a good ‘un!