<\/p>\n
Government figures on pensioner wealth show that the average weekly income for the wealthiest pensioners has grown faster over the past ten years than those in the lowest income group.<\/p>\n
Sources of pensioners\u2019 income<\/strong> These wealthy \u2018pensioners\u2019 have seen their weekly income increase by 15% over the last decade \u2013 from \u00a3858 to \u00a3988. In contrast, the poorest 20% have seen a lower 14% increase from \u00a3234 to \u00a3267 for the same period. This means the current difference between the income of the top and bottom 20% of pensioner couples has risen by almost \u00a3100 from \u00a3624 to \u00a3721 per week.<\/p>\n Highest income distribution band<\/strong> Reaching the State Pension age<\/strong> Many of these pensioners may have reached State Pension age before 5 April 2016 and be receiving the \u2018old\u2019 State Pension or have had insufficient National Insurance records to qualify for the full rate.<\/p>\n Source data:<\/strong> A PENSION IS A LONG-TERM INVESTMENT.<\/p>\n THE FUND VALUE MAY FLUCTUATE AND CAN GO DOWN, WHICH WOULD HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE LEVEL OF PENSION BENEFITS AVAILABLE.<\/p>\n PENSIONS ARE NOT NORMALLY ACCESSIBLE UNTIL AGE 55. YOUR PENSION INCOME COULD ALSO BE AFFECTED BY INTEREST RATES AT THE TIME YOU TAKE YOUR BENEFITS. THE TAX IMPLICATIONS OF PENSION WITHDRAWALS WILL BE BASED ON YOUR INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES, TAX LEGISLATION AND REGULATION, WHICH ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE IN THE FUTURE.<\/p>\n THE VALUE OF INVESTMENTS AND INCOME FROM THEM MAY GO DOWN. YOU MAY NOT GET BACK THE ORIGINAL AMOUNT INVESTED.<\/p>\n PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT A RELIABLE INDICATOR OF FUTURE PERFORMANCE.<\/p>\n ANY LEVELS AND BASES OF, AND RELIEFS FROM, TAXATION ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Income gap between the wealthiest and poorest pensioners is growing The members of Britain\u2019s baby boomer generation who are now entering retirement have been called \u2018the richest generation in history\u2019. But the income gap between the wealthiest and poorest pensioners is growing, with those in the top pension income band now having an average weekly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarksonhall.co.uk\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2793"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarksonhall.co.uk\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarksonhall.co.uk\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarksonhall.co.uk\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarksonhall.co.uk\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarksonhall.co.uk\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2793\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarksonhall.co.uk\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarksonhall.co.uk\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarksonhall.co.uk\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe richest 20% of pensioners, equivalent to 840,000 couples, now have an average net income (after Income Tax, National Insurance and Council Tax) of \u00a3988 per week. This equates to an annual income of \u00a351,376. These government figures include all sources of pensioners\u2019 income such as pensions, investments, earnings and benefit income.<\/p>\n
\nOver the last ten years, pensioner couples in the highest income distribution band have seen their average weekly income increase to \u00a3988 a week. This large proportion of retired couples can legitimately consider themselves \u2018pensioner millionaires\u2019.
\nIn fact, while many people may assume their house is their most valuable asset, for many it could actually be their pension.<\/p>\n
\nHowever, the figures also show the bottom fifth have an average weekly income over \u00a3700 less at just \u00a3267 per week per couple, or \u00a3134 per individual, which is substantially under the full rate of the new State Pension, currently \u00a3168.60 per week.<\/p>\n
\nDepartment of Work and Pensions Financial year 2017\/18, 28 March 2019 \u2013 https:\/\/assets.publishing.service.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/attachment_data\/file\/822623\/pensioners-incomes-series-2017-18-report.pdf <\/em><\/p>\n