Thursday 9 July 2015

Budget Gripes And More Crafting

I have been mulling over yesterday's Budget statement and although I don't want to get into a political post I was quite cross with some of the news coverage when at least one person mentioned that the elderly 'had done alright' in the Budget.  For a start, I don't consider myself elderly at 65 years old just because I get a state pension! AND I paid 37 years of contributions to get it!  Other points were these:

1. The Personal Allowance for tax will increase from £10,600 to £11,000 next year.  As my income is less than £7,000 I will not benefit....

2. Inheritance tax will increase to a million £'s.  Our modest home is worth around £100,000 and we have modest savings so we will not benefit and anyway it would be the younger generation who will benefit, not the elderly.  You can't take it with you!

3. Free TV licences will remain but you still have to be over 75 years old to get one. Do they begrudge people of that age a free licence?

All pensioners have paid for their State pensions over the years with deductions from their pay. They are not handouts.  Give us a break Media people.......


Whilst listening to the Budget statement (and sometimes swearing at the TV...lol...)  I produced a veritable explosion of crafting.  Cards just appeared with hardly any effort it seemed....


 
One for my Nephew's 4th wedding anniversary....



And one for my Sister's 56th anniversary.....


My little GS will be 8 this month (where do the years go?)  so where can I find a dinosaur image to get me started??   Google, Google....help!

Did you follow the Budget yesterday?  Will you be worse off or better off? I think there will be more losers than winners amongst 'ordinary' people. What do you feel about it?

Have a lovely day, whatever you plan to do x

8 comments:

  1. Thanks for the rundown on the budget I never heard it. Like you I will not gain from it, I am lucky that I get a free TV license due to age.
    You were certainly busy and made a lovely assortment of cards. Thank you for sharing.
    Hazel c uk

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are welcome, Hazel, thanks for your comment :)

      Delete
  2. I'm afraid I agree with you. This budget (and those in the next 5 years) will favour big business and the better off rather than the elderly, the vulnerable and those who need it most; I'm very concerned for the future of our prescious welfare state. My advice is to keep crafting!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I will, Sue! I fear for the under 21's who will have their Housing Benefit cut. Not all youngsters have family support. Will they end up homeless, I wonder?

      Delete
  3. Good post, they steal every thing from us and we were the generation who did as we were asked. I can't have a state pension until I am 66!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it's dreadful to keep moving the pension age, Marlene, I just about made the deadline to get mine (albeit a 90% pension due to taking time out to look after my mother) I feel myself to be very lucky especially as I was made redundant soon after.

      Delete
  4. The increase in the Personal Allowance affects DH, because of his pension, a slight gain for him.
    The increase in Inheritance tax is the one that will benefit us, or more properly, benefit our DS. There are a lot of people like us, who have been in their properties for many years, who could have been affected by the old Inheritance tax rules. As married couples can pool their allowances, tax was only paid on estates worth £650,000 or over. Due to the ridiculous increases in property prices over the years that we have been in our house, and the work we have done to it, it's apparently worth close to £1 million. I wouldn't pay that for it, but perhaps that's because I know what we paid for it in 1984! It wasn't much more than a 1950’s three bed semi was going for, because it was a wreck!
    All the work on it was done with hard earned cash which we had paid tax on, so I really object to DS perhaps being charged Inheritance tax at 40%, because we had chosen to improve our home!
    If the government were to be pedantic about Inheritance tax, it should be paid on everything inherited, property, jewellery, art, cars, audio visual equipment, computers, everything!
    Many properties now are valued at over £500,000, and it really doesn't take long to reach the £650,000 limit if everything is totalled up.
    I realise it's helping the wealthier end of the population, but it should also be remembered that not all of us were born with silver spoons in our mouths, some of us have expensive properties due to buying 'heaps' and doing them up!
    I also am being 'swindled' out of six years of my state pension, can you imagine what would have happened in France/Germany etc if women there were told the goalposts had been moved and they were losing out on at least £30,000 worth of their pension?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wasn't saying that it's wrong for people like you to benefit from the increased allowance, Legaleagle, you have earned the right to pass on the benefit to your son, I was pointing out that they (the media) think that the 'elderly' have 'done alright' in the Budget when it's their offspring who will benefit from the inheritance not the 'elderly'. They think that there are so many 'rich' pensioners out there reaping in the cash when so many are cutting down on spending in order to keep their heads above water.
      I do agree on the unfairness of keep moving the retirement age. I worked around the children's schooling, always being there for them yet we needed the money I earned. My princely pension is less than £6000 per annum. Shortly after I retired it was announced that the basic pension for new retirees would be £7,800 after paying 30 years contributions. I had paid 37 years.....booger.... :(

      Delete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.

It's OK.....

  Angie 💓 xx