State Pension Gripe
 

Just started getting my pension - grateful for it - but why can't they pay it monthly instead of weekly, 4-weekly or 12 weekly? Most, if not all, other receipts to & payments from my bank account occur monthly (on fixed dates) but the default 4-weekly pension payment date will keep moving around so I can't count on it to cover a direct debit at a particular date & I will have to be continually checking what my balance is.

I find it really antiquated & pretty annoying :mad:

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

A lot of people work from week to week, to be honest I don't actually know what your gripe is, ya might have somat to gripe about if they weren't paying you;)

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

It's based on a weekly pension- a calendar month isn't four weeks so your pension would vary every month and you'd never know whether it was right or not.

Also you'd only get 12 monthly payments, now you get 13! The 13th is a bonus(??).

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Spot on both of you. Also monthly would probably be more expensive to administer as there would have to be a different calculation each month.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

DLA is paid 4 weekly Gordon, not callendar monthly, the payment date varies so you do actually get 13 payments per year

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

So you get an extra one free as well!

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Ya DLA is paid that way Gordon, always has been, well since I've been on it that is, I suppose its easier really, as you said earlier there would be more different payments if it was paid calendar monthly, the Backs system is just programed to pay out every 4 weeks usually on a Tuesday

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Open a second account and transfer a set amount every month to cover your standing orders.Simples.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Just about to suggest the same thing.

Have your pension paid into one account, and transfer whatever's in there, on whatever date you want it paid into another account.

As others have pointed out, state pensions are paid so much per week.

Unlike a salary, which is just divided by twelve, and means you get the same amount, regardless if it's a 28 day, or a 31 day month.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

To my way of thinking the weekly payment is an historical relic from when every pensioner trundled off down to to the post office on Thursday morning to queue up and collect their allotment. Life ain't like that now for most of us - we have been used to getting wages/salaries paid monthly & most bills also get paid monthly by direct debit. It wouldn't be difficult to calculate what the weekly pension equals per month and pay it in 12 instalments instead of 13. S'only arithmetic!

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

What the hell difference does it make whether you get paid 52 or 13 payments a year, your still getting your money, there are always some people who moan at the least thing, god help you if you ever have a real major crisis in your life.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

If it's such a big problem, have it paid into an account, and don't touch it for a year.

The following year, divide it by twelve, and 'pay' yourself a monthly salary.

;)

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Write down the day you were last paid.

Add 28 - Subtract the number of days in that month.

That should be the date you get paid next month.S'only arithmetic :rolleyes::D:D.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

I think it is paid 4 weekly if you choose to have it paid into a bank. Mine is always paid on a Friday every 4 weeks - just mark a calender so that you can always know when it is paid in.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

That's what my mother has done for years. She just marks the dates off in her diary counting every 4 weeks. I can't understand why being paid every 4 weeks is being made out to be such a problem.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Its only a problem Michael if people make it a problem themselves, others just get on with it;)

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

All I'm saying is that there are better ways which would be more convenient for many people. I would do away with 4-weekly & 12-weekly payments and just have weekly and monthly options.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Only ever heard you moaning about it:idunno:everybody else seems to manage okay;)

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Its paid weekly because some people can't manage their finances properly, paying by the 12 monthly payments 4.34 weeks per month, would be a big temptation to overspend, and be broke before their next monthly payment.
Think of a better system, that covers all possibilities, and sell it to the goverment.
Retlaw

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

4 weekly is fine by me......it is much easier to know you have been paid the correct amount when it is done 4 weekly.......13 equal amounts.
I am sure you will learn to live with it, and find solutions to your problems with the direct debits....you have been given a few solutions that are workable already.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Obviously I will cope but if you look at some of the 'solutions' posted here - marking calendars, counting days, not touching your pension for a year, a feeder account to another bank a/c then it seems to me that there IS A PROBLEM which people are having to deal with individually when it could all be sorted centrally at a stroke. I wonder how people whose mental capacities are on the decline go on?

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Dont be discouraged by the opposition - I too find it 'inconvenient'.

The only saving grace is the delight in the month you get two:D

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

No it isn't a problem, its only you and Margaret (surprise surprise) that have a problem, the rest of us just get on with it, it would be a problem if you didn't get it;)

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

I'm pretty sure that if you went to see the financial advisor at your bank they would come up with an equitable solution.
It seems that you are in a minority of people who see the 4 weekly payment as a problem. If more people found it to be a problem then I am sure someone would have done something about it before now.
I am just thankful to be getting a pension.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

I wish I was so lucky! I have missed out on receiving the state pension at age 60 by six weeks, having been born in May 1955 - anyone who was born after April 1955 has to work to age 66. I can't afford to retire at age 60 now on my local government pension alone so I really really wish I could be moaning about it being paid to me every four weeks!
Can you tell I feel extremely bitter having worked since the age of fifteen and don't relish doing what I do until I'm 66 years old- I've never in all that time been out of work and claimed benefits.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Now thats what i call a proper gripe.;)

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Me too!

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Thank you Cashman I try not to think about it too much or it would make me very very bitter especially when the people I work with tend to be long term unemployed by their own choice, I'd better shut up on this one quickly or I'll be off on a rant!

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

I agree with you. You are paid monthly while you work then the stupid government make it hard work when you retire. All my bills are paid on the 8th of every month because I get paid on the 6th. Time they did a simple calculation and paid it monthly. No it would not vary each week at all. Just decide what the pension each per year not per week and divide by 12.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Millions of people in this country are paid a weekly wage but manage to organise payment of their monthly bills.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

When I was working I was paid monthly....but now I get my pension every four weeks.
You have to budget and be careful with your finances. You adapt.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Well thats no suprise to me.:D

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

I think you might find that monthly pay is now more common than weekly.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Exactly

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Let's have a poll - how many people here are paid weekly & how many are paid monthly ?

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Do you mean work or pension?

This thread is getting tedious. I get a pension payment every four weeks and I'm bloody grateful for it. End of.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

If it's tedious to you stop looking at it! You can't get your state pension paid monthly so the poll is for wages or company pension.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

If you are so wound up about it why don't you do something about it.
Contact your MP. Get a group of like minded people to do the same.
Write to the DWP......get a group of like minded people to do the same......that is, if you can find any.
Like Susie 123 says I feel darned lucky to be getting a pension...and I think I can find other things that need fixing in the country before wasting energy on something as pointless as this.
Last post. End of.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

I'm not wound up about it - just think it's silly. Posting on here doesn't waste any of my energy. I did write to the DWP about it. Not minded to take to take to the streets!

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Your obviously short of somet to do now your retired if you've to resort to moaning about something so trivial. Be thankful your receiving your damn pension, by the time the government finishes messing I'll be lucky to claim mine, either I'll be dead having to work til I'm 70+ or there will no longer be such a thing as a state pension. Get a hobby & occupy your mind with something worthwhile.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

I have hobbies - my mind is too big to occupy fully 24/7. So I must nitpick:D

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

I am not going to fall out about this. Because I look after my mum, I now work part-time at a Post Office depot and I am paid monthly. However the majority of people at the depot where I work (over 70 of them ) are paid weekly. Dave, I am sorry that the payment of your pension every 4 weeks causes you problems, and I hope you manage to resolve this. All I can say is that mum managed to sort out her finances until her stroke 3 years ago, when I took over looking after her pension payments and direct debits. I maintain a record of her current account balance, ensuring there is enough to cover payments. What is left over I transfer into her savings account. She managed all this up to the age of 80 (she is now 83).

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Paid? Hourly. Those Big Issues are difficult to shift outside Wilkos.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

And nitpicking is one of your hobbies??

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

:rofl38::rofl38::rofl38::rofl38::rofl38:Give me strength, I wait with baited breath for when you get really hacked of, that should be some debate:D

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Thanks for the K Margaret. Shan't waste any more time on this.

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

Ya think its run its course susie,

Re: State Pension Gripe
 

No it will be back next month on the 2nd and twice in March.:p:D