Bus passes etc to remain

daphnedill I think when you get your state pension you will be very grateful for a free bus pass. It is wonderfully liberating to be able to travel by bus without having to worry about the cost, and a great enefit in reducing social isolation in the elderly.

I think they should all be abolished anyway and adjustments made to tax codes. That would avoid the "cliff edge" situation where somebody with income jut a few pence over the eligibility threshold for Pension Credit is worse off than somebody who receives means-tested benefits.

I won't receive my state pension until I'm 66. I've known it would be 65 for over 20 years (the extra year at 10 years' notice was a blow), but it's not exactly waiting. It's just how it is and has been for a couple of decades.

I know I'll be waiting longer but it still bugs me and I count will count my pension as being late by x number of years.

They're simply playing number games. You get to keep all those things because the things they're changing i.e. the care costs and winter payment will mean you lose a lot in the long run.

They're picking off the least contentious first then will gradually move on to the other benefits. Remember if a well off pensioner doesn't need a winter fuel allowance why should they need all the other things and before you know it everything will be means tested.

I didn't say I didn't know. Just that I had to wait.

You should have known since the mid 1990s that your state pension age would be the same as it is for men.