You are right, things are changing all over the world at the moment and not in a good way.

“Most pensioners are reliant on the basic state pension for the majority of income in retirement, but it pays below the government’s own poverty line.”

because that is surely the very reason why government-provided Pension Credit and other means-tested benefits are available to top the state pension up. Without that means tested element we’d be paying more state pension to people who don’t really need any of it in the first place. In 20 years though, I bet any personal pension at all is used to reduce the state pension entitlement by an equivalent amount, so people scraping away to build up a pot to provide just a few thousand extra per year will lose it all through deduction from what the state provides. ie, the ENTIRE state pension will be means-tested. That seems inevitable to me sooner or later, but it’s the likliehood that none of the pension providers want to talk about when they claim “it’s never too late to start”.

I have a gut feeling (which indicates that I am no economist) that most pension commitments are simply unsustainable the way the whole global economy and population is going and that one way or another (probably several ways) huge crashes of private company pension schemes and erosion of state/public pension commitments are inevitable, whoever is in power. The whole of Europe and America has simply been living beyond its means for many years, and yet the leaders are still stuck in the phase of thinking that they can borrow and reschedule debts to get out of problems caused by getting into debt. The only true remedy is to change the behaviour that built up the ridiculous debt, but I doubt that will happen until it is forced by unavoidable events, rather than any choices of politicians so often concerned only with the next election, rather than the future of the nation, or indeed mankind.

I understand the anger, but whether people strike or don’t strike, protest or don’t protest, many are going to be faced with major pension changes and disappointments one way or another, I reckon. We are not going to “grow” our way out of this calamity. The limits to economic growth in a finite world are finally beginning to rub up against the structure of an economic system that requires continual growth to survive. Yes, I am a prophet of doom, or at least gloom. I hope I am very wrong.

Here in the United States one can retire at 62 but longer you wait higher it will be. Here is an sample of what my husband might be getting for his retirement off of Social Security.
If he retires at 62 his check will be about $722 a month (466 pound) (544 Euro)
If he waits till he is 66 his check will be about $959 a month (621 pound) (724 Euro)
If he waits until he is 70 his check will be about $1,266 a month (820 pound) (956 Euro)

There people who may have private retirement accounts we call I.R.A (individual retirement account) or 4.O 1 K (retirement account though your job)
But this lot depends on the market how well these do.

Your posting was interesting looking forward reading more about this.