Following the Committee on Intergenerational Fairness’s call for free TV licences and bus passes to be abolished for pensioners, Partner at Quantum Advisory Stuart Price says the government should also reconsider the controversial pension triple-lock.
Stuart said: “The triple-lock guarantees that once in payment State Pension will increase by the greater of inflation, average earnings or 2.5% every year. While this is good news for pensioners, it’s not such great news for the Treasury which has to pay out billions of pounds extra every year to make up for the increase. This money could be diverted to the younger generations’ workplace pension arrangements via additional tax relief on pension contributions.
This additional cost is compounded by the fact that pensioners are living longer and therefore receiving the state pension for longer.
Despite the government committing to retain the triple lock for the remaining duration of this Parliament, I do think after this time it should be reconsidered. The triple-lock was introduced to help get many pensioners out of poverty and it has now achieved this to a certain extent.
As for the other ‘perks’ of becoming a pensioner, I think that the free TV licence should be abolished but the free bus pass should remain as many pensioners, especially as they get older, do rely on public transport to get around.”
Stuart Price, Partner and Actuary