Labour's treatment of pensioners hardly encourages workers to save

Telegraph

5 days ago

SIR – It appears that, despite various forms of compulsion, too few people are saving enough to keep themselves comfortable in their old age.
At the same time, the Government is said to be considering raising funds through additional taxation for those of us who have saved or are saving enough ('Treasury leaves door open to tax raid on pensioners', report, July 21).
This seems particularly cynical coming from a class of politicians and civil servants enjoying unfunded, gold-plated pensions.
Digby Harper
Benson, Oxfordshire
SIR – Raising the state pension age (report, July 21) would be grossly unfair on people in their fifties and sixties who are trying to plan for retirement.
The sight of the sunlit uplands slipping further and further into the distance would be very disheartening for those who are already finding it difficult to build their retirement pots and, indeed, often having to draw down from them.
A fairer and simpler option would be to abolish the triple lock and substitute an automatic annual adjustment for inflation.
Donald R Clarke
Tunbridge Wells, Kent
SIR – If young people are to be encouraged to start saving for their retirement, pension companies need to provide better returns on their investments. Historically these have been poor.
Jack Marriott
Churt, Surrey
SIR – Daniel Johnson (Comment, July 21) writes: 'Baby boomers, the story goes, stole their children's (or grandchildren's) future.'
It is not we boomers who are doing this. It is the Government, with its increased taxes on inherited wealth. And now it wants to tax us even further before we go. Hasn't it occurred to the Chancellor that she can't take the same money twice?
John Godfrey
Hitchin, Hertfordshire
SIR – I don't disagree with Roger Bootle ('Britain must stop subsidising pensioners to save the NHS', Business, July 21).
However, I would argue that the NHS should first do more about tackling avoidable waste.
I recently requested some spare tubes for my hearing aids (audiology is free on the NHS) and they arrived in a small Jiffy bag weighing less than 100 g. If sent by second-class post, this would have required a large letter stamp costing £1.55 – so I was shocked to see that the package was franked 'Small parcel: £4.99'. If this was not a one-off error, imagine how much it is costing nationwide.