DEATH OR BENEFITS

I have been lucky. I left college at 17 armed with more than a few O Levels and found a job in the Civil Service. Fair enough, I only intended to stay there a while until something better cropped up, but nothing ever did. As a result I've now got 26 years service to my name. One of the things I vividly remember was my grandfather telling me that I would get a decent pension, I was working for a decent employer and that civil servants were respected by all. He'd be spinning in his grave if he knew what had happened since.

Something else I was also brought up with was a strong work ethic. A fair day's pay for a fair day's work - and never rely on handouts or the generosity of everyone. That said, I recognise how lucky I've been to avoid the dole queue, the labour market and the job centre. I do however fear for my two children as they will be leaving school (because I can't afford to send them to Uni) during the end of this Cameron Government.

Now never having to need the services of what we now call the DWP, I look in despair at my autumn years. The Government will be raising my pension contribution by £68 a month. I've done the maths, and if I am honest, I am not sure how I am going to meet my out-goings, pay my bills, pay my mortgage and put food on the table. Somewhere, something is going to have to give. The only option I appear to have is to sacrifice my future pension contributions. I know this is wrong, I know this is socially irresponsible, I know that my plans for my retirement will need to change drastically and I know that come the time I am finally pensioned off (and when is pretty much anyone's guess) I will need to rely on state pension subsidies.

So, come my retirement I become dependent on the state. I become a drain on the resources of the next generatons.

And I am not alone. Across the public sector people are starting to do the maths. People are starting to panic about how their contribution rises will effect their households. All this against a backdrop of 5% inflation, a maximum of 1% pay rise over a five year period and spiralling energy costs. Many are coming to the same conclusion as me - give up your future pension in order to survive today. Its a terrible dilemma. And its a scenario the Government haven't considered. A recent survey suggested 33% of public servants will pull out of their pension scheme when the changes come in. That somewhat defeats all the mathematics and forecasts currently on the table. No one has thought about how to deal with mass resignations from the pension scheme. With no contributions, the pensions funds can't grow without state assistance; but accrued pensions will still need to be paid come the time. Its possibly the worse bit of financial planning I've seen since the day of Norman Lamont.

On a more personal and scarier note, the only way I am likely to avoid being a state dependent is not to make it to retirement. I don't consider myself particularly unhealthy now, but as a smoker with a fairly poor diet, I suppose that at some point chickens (southern fried, of course) will come home to roost. Currently I can retire at 57 (40 years service), but under the new "and improved" scheme, I am now looking at working until I am 67 or 68. I'm not backing myself to make it that far. Even if I do, I've little to look forward to.