I am a retiree forced to return to work. I’ve only got SIX POUNDS to live on

A PENSIONER was forced to return to work after being left with just £6 a month to survive on.

Rob Trewhella said there was a time when he could buy a “nice pair of Levi’s” but now gets his clothes from supermarkets.

The 67-year-old from Penzance, Cornwall, said living on his state pension alone was not feasible due to the cost of a roof over his head and energy bills.

He explained that his state pension is £814 a month, but he pays private rental costs of £675, council tax of £104 and electricity of around £40.

He said: “It’s just a small flat with electric boilers, so if I don’t turn the heating on and keep it at £30 a month I’ll be left with £6.”

He went on to say that these days he has to be frugal, cooking in batches to avoid overusing his oven and even keeping his lights off.

He said: “If I’m cold I don’t turn on the heating. I have a smart meter here and I see how it ticks. When you turn on a microwave, the light turns red and it builds up, if I feel a bit chilly I put an extra layer on it.”

The ‘terrified’ Brit went on to say that there was a time when he could buy a ‘nice pair of Levi’s’, but now he has to buy all his clothes from supermarkets or cheap online retailers, reports the Mirror.

And because he wants to keep costs down, he admits to shopping for bargains and relying on a ten-year-old jacket to stay warm at night.

As he approaches his golden years, the former tree surgeon and butcher has now had to return to work, driving taxis 25 hours a week, earning £250 to keep the lights on in his house.

Money worries are getting worse for Rob as his pension will now be taxed once it exceeds the annual personal allowance of £12,571.

Pensioners don’t pay tax on their pension pots, but if they earn more than the personal allowance it is taxed at 20 per cent and treated like any other income.

Rob believes pensions should be safeguarded and says they should be “fully protected” because Britons have to pay premiums on top of the cost of national insurance throughout their lives.

He explained: “Now I’m at a point where I have to work to increase my state pension and I’m heavily taxed, the state pension should be fully protected, that should be the money you paid. your entire working life.”

The concerned taxi driver said he was “terrified” that the cost of living could force him to buy a tent and live in it.

He now has to consult the housing association’s register, but sees that more than a hundred people have bid for a suitable home and fears that he will not be able to get out of the private rental sector.

Rob said he had hoped to enjoy his final years, waking up late, spending time walking and tucking into a pasty with life in it.

Substantial new steps will be taken on the pensions front this year, after it was reported that a number of steps will soon come into play, impacting millions of Britons across the country.

The six big changes will see a rise in the state pension by up to £901, after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed in his autumn statement that pensions will rise by 8.5% – from April 2024.

The pension credit – a tax-free benefit intended to help with living costs if you are over the state pension age and have a low income – will increase by 8.5%, just like the state pension.

This means payments for single households will increase from £201.05 to £218.15.

In addition, the lifetime allowance (LTA) on pension savings will be abolished from April to keep people in work.

The chancellor announced plans in the November autumn statement to consult on a ‘pot for life’ scheme, which would give savers the right to choose the pension scheme they are automatically enrolled into.

There will also be changes to auto-enrolment, which could leave millions of Brits better off when they reach retirement age, as proposed rule changes would lower the age at which people automatically receive a workplace pension to 18.

It will also abolish the lower income limit (LEL) and ensure that a worker of any income amount can save.

A DWP spokesperson said: “We remain committed to supporting pensioners. That is why we implemented the largest state pension increase in history last year and achieved a further increase of 8.5% in April.

“We are also curbing inflation to further help everyone’s money, by increasing the Pension Credit – worth £3,900 for pensioners on the lowest incomes – and have made more than 11.9 million payments this winter towards the cost of living expenses made to help with essential costs.”