{"id":95943,"date":"2026-09-24T08:16:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T07:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=95943"},"modified":"2026-09-24T08:16:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T07:16:16","slug":"should-the-state-pension-be-replaced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2026\/09\/24\/should-the-state-pension-be-replaced\/","title":{"rendered":"Should the state pension be replaced?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Guardian newspaper<\/a> reported this week that:<\/p>\n

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A thinktank linked to Reform UK has called for the abolition of the state pension and \u00a375bn worth of sweeping tax cuts in a \u201cradical\u201d report likely to influence the party\u2019s platform for the next election.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

According to the same Guardian report, the Centre for a Better Britain (CFABB) said that:<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe issue with the state pension is that it\u2019s essentially a Ponzi scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Their suggestion is that current workers are unfairly funding current retirees.<\/p>\n

They suggest replacing the state pension with a \u201clifetime investment account.\u201d This would begin with a starter contribution of \u00a31,000 for children at birth, but with people later being required to contribute up to 15% of their earnings into their personal retirement pot.<\/p>\n

This would be a contribution rate substantially in excess of current National Insurance contribution rates, with absolutely no guaranteed outcome with regard to a pension at the end of the process.<\/p>\n

The scheme would, however,\u00a0 offer a windfall to the City of London for managing all the additional funds being directed at the stock market in the meantime, which would guarantee a share price increase until net selling began as money forcibly enrolled people reached retirement age, when a collapse would almost inevitably happen unless, for reasons unexplained, the UK\u2019s birth rate suddenly increased, contrary to all long-term trends.<\/p>\n

The state pension would, apparently, only remain as a \u201cmeans-tested safety net\u201d for the worst-off.<\/p>\n

Bizarrely, what this supposed think tank is offering is something that looks exactly like a Ponzi scheme, which they claim the current state pension to be, entirely inappropriately.<\/p>\n

So, what do you think?<\/p>\n

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Would you pay 15% of your earnings into an investment fund to replace the state pension, with no guarantee of what pension you might get?<\/strong><\/p>