pension crisis ? uk

[redborder]

i am trying to put a piece together regarding the so called pension crisis in the uk. can anyone give me some info or links on this subject, as i am a firm believer that the working class are being stitched up again. am i right or is the media correct when they say we are all living to long. many thanks for any contributions.

[pcb]

Pensions crisis came about due to companies being allowed to take a contributions holiday. due to the high returns on the stock market, companies found that they could only invest a certain amount. Therefore they relied upon the growth returns to pay their contributions. Then they JUST FORGOT to pay in when the markets fell. You are right in thinking that we are getting stitched up. We have been paying in all this time yet the companies are able to say that it was not thier fault. The governemt should have insured that the monies the companies could not use on the markets was iether saved or change legislation and allowed the money to be invested. The Government leaders will all be able to retire when they want to and also those pricks of the CBI. The raising of the age of retirement smacks of another way in which our money is being syphoned away from us. Just to show you how stupid the CBI is, a letter sent to the PM signed by 16 senior businessmen complaining about the gulf between public and private sector which created a diversive 2 tier system. It turns out that they have personel pension schemes which allow them to retire at 60 on 26 times the average public sector worker pension. Hope this helps.

[tatu]

Britain's state pension is one of the lowest in Europe. The pension age might rise to 67.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4505471.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3197943.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4444970.stm