:00:00. > :00:00.bills, petrol prices and car tax. The disc is going but the tax lives
:00:00. > :00:15.on. We will take you through the details on the show.
:00:16. > :00:20.Hello and welcome to Your Money your weekly guide to making the most
:00:21. > :00:23.of your cash on Saturdays and Sundays on BBC News. Also available
:00:24. > :00:25.all week on the BBC iPlayer. Live longer, work longer. Today s
:00:26. > :00:28.Live longer, work longer. Today's young people may have to toil until
:00:29. > :00:33.they are 70 to get the state pension. We will look at the
:00:34. > :00:36.Chancellor's plans. Plus some of the other big changes
:00:37. > :00:41.from George Osborne this week. Benefits capped. But a smaller tax
:00:42. > :00:44.bill for some couples. We have all the details.
:00:45. > :00:48.And giving your home an extreme make over. But will you be able to sell
:00:49. > :00:56.it afterwards? Kevin Peachey finds out if it could exterminate the
:00:57. > :01:02.money you have spent. For many of us we will live longer
:01:03. > :01:06.and have a better life than our parents or grandparents. What a
:01:07. > :01:10.wonderful thing. Living longer means older age will probably be more
:01:11. > :01:14.expensive. George Osborne says we need to work even longer than he
:01:15. > :01:20.first suggested to pay for it. Government had already said the
:01:21. > :01:25.state pension age would rise to 67 by 2028. That will not change. But
:01:26. > :01:30.now he says that if we are set to retire in the mid`2030s, we will not
:01:31. > :01:35.get the state pension until we are 68 is old. The decade after that, if
:01:36. > :01:42.you are set for retirement in 2040s, the retirement age will be
:01:43. > :01:49.69. And official estimates are that by 2060s, the state pension age will
:01:50. > :01:52.have gone up to 70. So, young people starting their first jobs now will
:01:53. > :01:57.have to work up to 55 years before they stop. Some of today's
:01:58. > :02:03.pensioners only had to work 40 years. One estimate is that these
:02:04. > :02:08.changes could save the taxpayers ?500 billion over the next 50 years.
:02:09. > :02:15.If you are tired already the state pension will rise by ?2.95 in
:02:16. > :02:19.April. That takes the weekly pension up to ?113.10. The increase matches
:02:20. > :02:25.the rates at which prices were rising back in September with
:02:26. > :02:31.inflation at 2.7%. Helen Morrissey is editor of Retirement Planner
:02:32. > :02:36.magazine. The idea that young people today might have to work 55 years
:02:37. > :02:39.before they can retire, and some of today's pensioners may have worked
:02:40. > :02:44.40 years to get the state pension, there will be young people saying
:02:45. > :02:48.that is not fair. They would be right to think so. Nobody wants to
:02:49. > :02:49.find out they have to work until they are 70 to get their state
:02:50. > :02:55.pension. But be have to be real. pension. But be have to be real
:02:56. > :02:59.When the state pension came into being nobody expected people would
:03:00. > :03:03.live 30 years in retirement. It is not built to withstand that. Changes
:03:04. > :03:08.have to be made. Yes, we are living longer in retirement that the money
:03:09. > :03:12.is not been upped to pay for it in our working lives. But we are not
:03:13. > :03:18.talking about doing the same job at the same relentless pace, are we?
:03:19. > :03:23.Not at all. We have all seen the headlines. It is not as grim as it
:03:24. > :03:28.sounds. We are talking less of a cliff edge where you retire on one
:03:29. > :03:33.day. It will happen over a period of time. You might decide at 66 to go
:03:34. > :03:37.down to four days a week. Maybe glide down to retirement over five
:03:38. > :03:42.or ten years. So a new approach to the world of work. If you are doing
:03:43. > :03:48.to have manual Labour, for someone who fixes improve, the idea that you
:03:49. > :03:52.might do that beyond 60, that could be challenging. That will be the
:03:53. > :03:57.difficulty with these changes to the pension. We are living longer but
:03:58. > :04:01.not all of us are and what about the people in manual jobs. They might
:04:02. > :04:06.not be able to carry on until they are 65 or 70. There is an issue for
:04:07. > :04:11.mothers. To get the higher state pension you have to work a certain
:04:12. > :04:14.number of years. If you are stay at home mum the state covers some of
:04:15. > :04:19.those years for you until the youngest turned 16. If you have to
:04:20. > :04:25.work until you are 70, that gap to in the youngest leaving home and 70
:04:26. > :04:30.is pretty wide. You cannot really stay at home for all of that time
:04:31. > :04:37.and not see your pensions suffer. Absolutely. When the flat pension
:04:38. > :04:41.comes in in 2016 or you need to queue a late 35 qualifying years to
:04:42. > :04:46.get the full state pension. Working mums will have to put provisions in
:04:47. > :04:52.place to get the full rate. Which means going back to work?
:04:53. > :04:57.Absolutely. The economics might be forcing them to do it. In the Autumn
:04:58. > :05:00.Statement the Chancellor talked about working mums or people without
:05:01. > :05:04.the qualifying years being able to top up their state pension
:05:05. > :05:09.contributions but we do not know that much detail yet about how he
:05:10. > :05:12.will do that. Great to talk to you, Helen. Thank you for sharing your
:05:13. > :05:16.expertise. We will look at some of the other changes to Your Money in
:05:17. > :05:20.the Autumn Statement in a moment. Here are some of the other money
:05:21. > :05:23.stories. NatWest, Ulster bank and The Royal
:05:24. > :05:29.Bank of Scotland, customers could not use their bank cards to pay for
:05:30. > :05:33.things again. Much embarrassment at the checkout. Some customers also
:05:34. > :05:37.found their pay packets were late or had disappeared from their bank
:05:38. > :05:40.balance. The RBS group has apologised and says it will refund
:05:41. > :05:45.customers who were left out of pocket.
:05:46. > :05:48.For the big mobile that would reform the big mobile phone company say
:05:49. > :05:52.they have to limit the amount if mobile phones are stolen. The amount
:05:53. > :05:56.is still to be worked out but it will come in next year. They will
:05:57. > :06:01.also give us the option to tear up our phone contract if they put up
:06:02. > :06:10.prices halfway through. They are EE, Virgin Media, three, and Vodafone.
:06:11. > :06:14.That list is not include O2. The Government says it will take
:06:15. > :06:18.some of the green energy charges of energy bills and make a space for
:06:19. > :06:22.them through taxes instead. So energy bills went up, some will come
:06:23. > :06:34.down again eventually. British gas will cut its dual fuel bills by ?53
:06:35. > :06:40.from January. SSE, Scottish and SWALEC will cut theirs by ?50 but
:06:41. > :06:44.not until April. And npower says it will not raise prices until spring
:06:45. > :06:48.2015 unless wholesale prices go up. And no cuts that EDF but it did not
:06:49. > :06:52.put its prices up I as much as the others. Their bills went up by 3.9%
:06:53. > :06:57.others. Their bills went up by .9% which is half the size of the
:06:58. > :07:00.increases at other firms. There are six big energy firms and five of
:07:01. > :07:06.them announced price rises. The sixth was E.On and it has now joined
:07:07. > :07:18.the club. Their jewel fuel customers will see prices rise by an average
:07:19. > :07:28.of 3.7% in January. `` dual fuel customers.
:07:29. > :07:35.Now, have you ever thought about giving your home and extreme make
:07:36. > :07:41.over. Not just any make over but an extreme one. You could have a lovely
:07:42. > :07:46.home but it could be harder to sell. Can you sell a house like this?
:07:47. > :07:50.Surely this one is best viewed on a Sunday. This takes things to another
:07:51. > :07:55.level. And this could keep the selling Blues at bay. But how about
:07:56. > :08:00.this beautiful family home? It is a converted barn in the Devon
:08:01. > :08:05.countryside with period features and rooms which are bigger on the inside
:08:06. > :08:09.than you would expect. I grew up loving Doctor Who. I'm not
:08:10. > :08:13.particularly fanatical about it but I like the TARDIS. It is my
:08:14. > :08:19.favourite bit of British architecture. That is the main
:08:20. > :08:24.reason I built it. People like it. We laugh a bit but they like the
:08:25. > :08:28.look. Some people have walked past it and not even noticed it which I
:08:29. > :08:32.find hard to believe. Generally a positive vibe. Homes for sale with
:08:33. > :08:35.unusual features may attract viewings from the curious but our
:08:36. > :08:48.buyers looking for something to sell on later? Something more timeless. A
:08:49. > :08:52.seller needs a genuine buyer who is interested in the property rather
:08:53. > :08:57.than the extreme features. There is a danger that if you make your
:08:58. > :09:00.property rather attractive to four years, they will view it for the
:09:01. > :09:09.wrong reasons. You might not be able to spot a genuine buyer. So, a nice
:09:10. > :09:17.big picture and `` a nice big kitchen. How can you catch the eye
:09:18. > :09:21.of a genuine buyer? Freshly brewed coffee in the kitchen and baking
:09:22. > :09:24.bread is still one of the best tricks in the book. I think houses
:09:25. > :09:29.and flats are bought within the first 60 seconds of walking through
:09:30. > :09:34.the door. Yes, you can do the bread and coffee but also a vase of
:09:35. > :09:38.flowers. A clean smell is important. A nice fresh smell. And make sure
:09:39. > :09:44.the house is not too cluttered and has touches of personality. So it is
:09:45. > :09:50.via somebody lives there enjoys living there. That is what it is
:09:51. > :09:56.about. Back in Devon dot Richards is offering a warm welcome to potential
:09:57. > :10:10.buyers, but if all else fails, you may try travelling back in time to
:10:11. > :10:19.the heart of the housing boom. Here are some of the other announcements.
:10:20. > :10:24.The car tax disc is going. Tax dodgers can be caught by computer
:10:25. > :10:35.nowadays. No disk but we still have to pay tax. We will be able to do
:10:36. > :10:38.that by monthly direct debit. That other tax we pay to keep the car on
:10:39. > :10:42.the road, fuel duty, that has been frozen. A planned rise of 2p per
:10:43. > :10:45.litre for next year has been scrapped. And a cap on rising train
:10:46. > :10:48.ticket prices in England. Regulated fares will still go up but by less
:10:49. > :10:50.than expected. Fares that were due to go up by an average of 4.1% will
:10:51. > :10:54.instead go up by an average of 3.1%. instead go up by an average of 3.1%.
:10:55. > :10:56.This is just for regulated fares, that includes season tickets,
:10:57. > :10:59."anytime" single tickets around major cities, and off`peak Intercity
:11:00. > :11:04.return tickets. Also capped ` welfare benefits. There are new
:11:05. > :11:08.rules for young people claiming benefits. And some couples will get
:11:09. > :11:13.smaller tax bills ` thanks to a new married couples and civil
:11:14. > :11:16.partnership allowance. Gary Vaux, Head of the Money Advice Unit at
:11:17. > :11:22.Hertfordshire County Council That's all from Your Money for this week.
:11:23. > :11:28.The new rules on benefits for younger people, what are they? Those
:11:29. > :11:36.aged 18 to 21 will have to include they have the equivalent of GCSE
:11:37. > :11:42.grades a to C to get benefit. If they do not have that, they will not
:11:43. > :11:45.be able to claim benefits. It is supposed to make people more
:11:46. > :11:52.employable if they have those qualifications. That will come in in
:11:53. > :12:01.2015 and it will be in certain areas of the country. All 18 to
:12:02. > :12:07.21`year`olds? All. Caps on welfare spending have been in the pipeline
:12:08. > :12:11.for some time now. Pensions will be excluded, as will benefits for the
:12:12. > :12:15.unemployed. To set the figure and say we will not spend more than that
:12:16. > :12:19.or, if we do, we have to go back to Parliament to get approval. It is a
:12:20. > :12:29.good headline gesture but it does not mean a great deal in practice.
:12:30. > :12:34.That is for 2015. Then the tax allowance, the married tax allowance
:12:35. > :12:40.years ago and now it is back in a revised form to cover civil
:12:41. > :12:46.partnerships. It does not benefit that many people, reading into the
:12:47. > :12:51.detail of it. Those on higher incomes will not be eligible. It is
:12:52. > :12:55.only where there are basic rate taxpayers. It does not benefit those
:12:56. > :12:59.living together who are not in a married couple or a registered civil
:13:00. > :13:04.partnership. It does not benefit many low income families. If you are
:13:05. > :13:07.in receipt of housing benefit or tax credits, if you boost the income of
:13:08. > :13:13.one working partner it gives you a higher income which means less
:13:14. > :13:19.benefits and tax credits. It is a good headline grabber. It does not
:13:20. > :13:25.affect that many people. Even for those it does affect, the gains are
:13:26. > :13:42.mitigated in other areas. I'd macro where one person `` it can mean a
:13:43. > :13:46.big jump. As soon as you go to the higher rate tax band, you are going
:13:47. > :13:53.to lose the bonus of ?200 a year you will get for being a married
:13:54. > :13:58.couple. Some people will benefit and every penny matters when budgets are
:13:59. > :14:03.stretched. Do they need to apply or will it happen automatically? Yellow
:14:04. > :14:11.I suspect it will have to be applied for. The taxman does not really know
:14:12. > :14:16.who you are married to. Always a joy to talk about tax and its
:14:17. > :14:28.simplicity. That is all for this week. Advice on savings, borrowing,
:14:29. > :14:33.spending all we long on the website. `` all week long. You can get
:14:34. > :14:51.updates by following our feed on Twitter. Thank you for joining us
:14:52. > :14:56.today. This is BBC News. The headlines: Air travellers are facing
:14:57. > :15:01.cancellations and delays across Britain because of a technical issue
:15:02. > :15:06.with air traffic control. It is affecting all major airports.
:15:07. > :15:09.Celebrations of the life and achievements of Nelson Mandela
:15:10. > :15:16.continue across South Africa. After the storm, the clean`up. Following
:15:17. > :15:18.the worst tidal surge for 60 years. The bad weather is moving to Europe.