National Unison’s website has a press release pointing out that FTSE-100 companies’ executive directors can expect to get average pensions of around £175,000 a year.
These big pensions mean that pension tax relief helps those who earn a lot already rather than ordinary workers. Higher rate taxpayers benefit from 60% of the tax relief on pensions contributions – as pension contributions are paid out of pre-tax income.
And, while these directors trouser these massive pensions themselves, many of them are denying their workers any pensions at all. Only one-third of workers in the private sector are in an employer’s pension scheme – compared to 97% of their bosses.
So, the next time you hear a businessman or a commentator say that public-sector pensions are too high and unaffordable, remember that company bosses are going to be taking home an average of £175,000 in pensions when they retire – compared to the average public-sector workers’ pension which is just £4000 in local government and £7500 in health!