The Benefits System

[Glyn1]

This is probably flawed maths so please tell me where the massive errors are.

For convenience, if somebody works 1975-2025 = 50 years
If they retire on £50k pa, let's say their lifetime average is £25k pa = £1.25m total pay

National insurance has always been a %age, currently 8% but has been 10-12% at times and it was 9% for most of this period so let's say £1.25m @ 9% average = £112.5k paid in over 50 years

Assume pension is £12,500 pa as that is the figure being used a lot in this thread
£112.5k /£12.5 pa = 9 years so we agree on that figure.

So, this hypothetical person will have to live a minimum of 9 years after retiring to get back what they've paid in

Hopefully, most will live longer than that, but many won't. My father died at 58, my sister at 74, my wife at 54 and my best mate at 64 so none of them made the 9 years.

So, where is this huge amount more than paid in is being paid out? What am I missing?

Take a look at this YouTube video. Perhaps we're both right, or wrong.