55 year old women lose approx £30k in State Pension

dzug1

SandC wrote: »

. Unless posties have had instruction to run up flights of stairs that is.

Not as such - but in some areas rounds have been designed so they have to to meet targets.

cyclonebri1

artha wrote: »

Don't know the source but it was oft quoted by my father who was a shift process worker, cycled to work and was always quite fit as a result. Poor working practices cause the harm not physical effort

Sorry Artha if this is sensitive, but at what age did he die?

I hope you understand when I commented on,"hard work never killed anyone".


Well probably it didn't. But the constant physical effort required to hold that sort of job will do, either directly as a result of physical complications or shortly later, after a working life time of excess.

Sorry, it's my view.


Why are folks dying older?.

Because of the improvements in care, healthcare, and the reduction of high demand physical occupations:mad:

steve01ruislip

Having realised decades ago that the state pension would not be much I did an AVC - of course it was with Equitable life - then my next company had an AVC scheme - still with Equitable life but at least got the money out to Clerical - now of course the Final Salary Scheme is closed to all but those who had a cast iron guarantee in their TUPE so I carry the risk of investing in Defined Contributions - the first statement showed loss of £4k over payments in for a single year - no wonder the government & future UK generations are sitting on a time bomb of pension liability as we live longer - we pay for all the non workers now as children & grandchildren will pay for us in the future. Paying NI for your retirement - biggest Ponzi scheme going.

margaretclare

Why are folks dying older?.

Because of the improvements in care, healthcare, and the reduction of high demand physical occupations

The general improvement in living standards must have a lot to do with it. For instance, my mother, grandmother and great-grandmother all developed asthma in later life as a result of being sensitised to house dust and mites from feather-beds and feather-pillows. They used to shake mats and rugs and beat rugs against the wall, inhaling said dust and mites in the process. Untreated asthma led to chest infections and put a strain on their hearts. None of them lived beyond their mid-60s. Hard and heavy housework put a strain on them. Farm workers like my grandad suffered from worn-out joints. My great-grandfather used to walk up and down a field all day when ploughing - how many miles did he walk in a day through heavy soil.

I've just read a book called 'Call the Midwife!' by Jennifer Worth. She describes the terrible living conditions in the East End in the 1950s, based on her own experience as a community midwife. Men working in the docks doing heavy work unloading ships, and women doing heavy work at home with no amenities, washing having to be done by hand, repeated childbearing...it was a different world then.

artha

custardy wrote: »

in your analogy i think all will suffer
as the ages stand now i have 30 years ahead of me,however i expect to go beyond 70
more than likely every generation will face the same uncertainty in the decade before retirement

That is something that, I believe, is an issue that has not as acutely faced any generation in post war GB than those of us in the "baby boomer" generation. We are having the rug pulled as governments realise they can't pay for for us after giving away billions in such things as tax credits/child benefits to those who don't need/deserve them. I personally have tried to make sure I save for old age but the only thing I have expected from the state is my pension at 65 which I have paid for in contributions

As governments are realising there needs to be a move to more personal responsibility for old age surely there needs to be more use of "tools" rather than "crutches". This is a socialist approach that is non political in Labour or Conservative terms. In order to help people prepare I would like to see greater efforts in educating people in finances. Money would be better spent in giving people free access to financial advice in early years rather than topping them up after years of thinking about where the money for the next holiday is coming from rather than where the money for their future retirement is best invested. I could go on but I'm probably going off thread. Enough said

Pollycat

artha wrote: »

We are having the rug pulled as governments realise they can't pay for for us after giving away billions in such things as tax credits/child benefits to those who don't need/deserve them.

Now THAT'S a different thread altogether. :cool:

artha

Pollycat wrote: »

Now THAT'S a different thread altogether. :cool:

Possibly but I've worked alongside people doing the same job and earning the same salary and at a similar age. The fact that they have a dependant child at home whilst I had a dependant child at university meant that I couldn't afford holidays or a new car that they could. The definition of dependant is a joke

custardy

artha wrote: »

That is something that, I believe, is an issue that has not as acutely faced any generation in post war GB than those of us in the "baby boomer" generation. We are having the rug pulled as governments realise they can't pay for for us after giving away billions in such things as tax credits/child benefits to those who don't need/deserve them. I personally have tried to make sure I save for old age but the only thing I have expected from the state is my pension at 65 which I have paid for in contributions

As governments are realising there needs to be a move to more personal responsibility for old age surely there needs to be more use of "tools" rather than "crutches". This is a socialist approach that is non political in Labour or Conservative terms. In order to help people prepare I would like to see greater efforts in educating people in finances. Money would be better spent in giving people free access to financial advice in early years rather than topping them up after years of thinking about where the money for the next holiday is coming from rather than where the money for their future retirement is best invested. I could go on but I'm probably going off thread. Enough said

isnt that what the compulsary private pension is about?

artha

custardy wrote: »

isnt that what the compulsary private pension is about?

No. Definitely not. Most people do not understand what pensions are, what they entail and what risks are involved. Simply throwing people the option or right does not solve the problem without giving people the understanding of whta is involved

Pollycat

artha wrote: »

No. Definitely not. Most people do not understand what pensions are, what they entail and what risks are involved. Simply throwing people the option or right does not solve the problem without giving people the understanding of whta is involved

and even if they DO have the understanding of what is involved, that's no good unless they have the wish to fund their old age instead of expecting the government to do it.

And of course there are those people who may wish to fund their retirement but don't have the spare cash to do so.