How to Get Through The Tough Times The Old Style Way.

ceridwen

Well I just found the government calculator site and according to that I will get my state pension at 65 (at the moment) so that hasn't changed for me and I can carry on with my plan to work like crazy for the next 5 years and pay mortgage off by 60 if possible (I'm 55 now), work full time for 2 more years and put the mortgage money into some sort of investment type thing, then work part-time till 65. Trouble is I remember my dad worked hard all his life, retired at 65 then died 4 months later so sometimes wonder if it all worth it.


ETA - oh no - just read the pension thing properly and will have to wait ill I'm 66 after all! Think I might have to move on to plan C now - have already tried A & B!

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I too was astonished when the Government made such an abrupt change to the Womens State Pension Age. Its such a cliff edge situation now for a certain age range of women - no gradual "blend in" - so it does end up with the unfair situation of women born only a matter of weeks apart having to get their State Pension months apart <puzzled smilie>. Women in this situation simply are too close to their expected State Pension Age to have the goalposts shifted now and its NOT fair.

Re your dad dying soon after retirement - there is statistical evidence that the older one retires then the shorter the life is. To have the longest possible life - one needs the youngest possible retirement iyswim. I DO wonder if that is part of the reason for the retirement age being upped - ie that the Government has read those statistics too and figures that means that average age at death will become correspondingly younger.

Errr...I've read that back and it sounds a bit convoluted - but I know what I mean and hope I wrote it clearly enough.

I tend to think that some people (probably men more than women) might not live for that long after retirement because they've lost one "purpose in life" and havent found a replacement one. Some people do want/need a "purpose in life" and I think its wise for us all to work out whether we are one of them and, if so, work out an alternative "purpose" lined up ready for our retirement. I've already worked out that I am one of the ones that needs a "purpose" - and have already worked out what that will be after retirement:). (I certainly wont be one of those people that gets so bored after 6 months of retirement that I'm looking for a part-time job just to fill my time...no chance...far too many other things I intend to do..:)). It DOES very much depend on the personality of the individual as to whether this feels necessary or no...

GreyQueen

Ahh, my first pot of tea is down the hatch, I've had a bath and I've caught up with all you lovely people on the thread. Hello, newly-delurked people! I've only been on the forums since January even as a reader but I just jumped in with both feet and mouth flapping.:rotfl:

Mardatha, I've got the hang of dunting; smacked the Nokia on the edge of the table, plugged 'er into the charger and it's OK now. Thanks so much for all your tips. The last thing I need right now is any added expense.

Know what you mean about pension ages. I'll be one of the 66 y.o. crowd and am fully expecting that they'll shove it back from there. I'm 22 years, 1 month and 1 day younger than Mum and they've added 6 years to my working life..........:( Barstewards. Of course, there are unforseen consequences to this;

1. A helluva lot of voluntary work is done by the 60+ female cohort. If you'll be nearer 70 before you're allowed to pull the armchair up to the fire, you'll be that much less energetic and (deservedly) feel like taking a rest. I used to work (and volunteer) at a CAB and every single half term and school holiday, we struggled to put a volunteer rota together. Why? Because a lot of the volunteers were early sixites and had to go look after their grandchildren so their dual-income parents could keep bringing home the bacon.

2. If you life expectancy is pensionable age + X years, never mind adjusting for reduced expectancy caused by overwork, you're going to need to make less provision for the retirement years as they'll be fewer of them! Bad news for those trying to flog pension plans.;)

I'm waiting on my rent increase letter (it'll take effect first Monday of April). Very troubled that council rents like mine, which have been historically 60% of market rents are going to be gradually increased to 80% of same. Not nice having the Govt with that degree of control over my living costs. Still, consider I am lucky to have my little flat and what I pay for it would barely pay for a room in a shared house, and I've done enough years of that. So, I'll have to suck it down. Have already had the elements of the rent package which cover the communal heating and the communal cleaning jacked up on Jan 1st.....:( I'll manage because I have to but with my wages static and too poorly to work extra hours, every £1 has to be squeezed that little bit harder.

Still, we're all in the same boat and we'll soldier on! My top grocery tip is Crosse and Blackwell baked beans are 4 for £1 in Iceland. Keep 'em coming; I shall be off to FF to get some bread later.

Checking out for a mo to put the kettle on.....

ceridwen

GreyQueen

It has always traditionally been middle-aged and youthful pension age people that do a lot of the typical voluntary work.

The voluntary sector has been saying for some time now that they havent been getting as many volunteers. I've certainly thought "Well - some of the middle-aged women who would normally volunteer can't because they are having to do a paid job instead in their time" - but it hadnt struck me that youthful retiree agegroup will be grandchild-sitting (I guess because my mother gave up paid work - rather than voluntary work - specifically to look after her grandchildren......). That IS a very valid point and my guess is that many working agegroup women are giving up free time to grandchild-sit (rather than "doing their own thing").

Obviously too - the fewer "carer" facilities there are available in Society (likely to get much worse methinks) then the greater the chance that middle-aged people will spend their leisuretime doing "carer" work rather than general "voluntary" work iyswim.

So - end result = the voluntary sector is getting hit hard just when it is likely to get more calls on it.:(

crickett1234

I have just gone to Directgov and found the pension age calculator. Wish I hadn't now. I am going to be 67 before I can retire. That's 29 yrs, 6 months and 1 day to go. I suddenly feel a little bit flat. I can't imagine myself doing my present job until then. Gulp.

I am just going to go into a corner and cry a little.

imataloss

:(All this talk of retirement ages worries me.
My DF didn`t reach retirement age, he died from a heart attack at 51. That`s a year younger than I am now.
My DM took early retirement at about 55, when she was being taxed so much on her PT job it wasn`t worth working anymore.
Looking at the calculator I will be 66 when I reach state retirement age. My DH will be the same age.
I have a frozen pension from a previous job which I get when I`m 60.
My in laws only had a short retirement together. FIL only retired from a PT job when he became ill. MIL gave up her PT job at the same time.
They have both since passed away in their early seventies.

Based on the above it looks as though everyone will not have much of a retirement to look forward too.

Think I will just have to become as moneysaving as possible and see what happens.

Red_Doe

I`m not expecting to ever retire, being one of those expecting to work until she drops. I don`t make enough to pay NI contributions and haven`t for a while.
To be honest, I did think it would come to this and fully expect one day for `retirement` to vanish altogether. It`s worrying...my health is deteriorating and I work a very physical job, so.....
Doom and Gloom though it sounds, I really do foresee the days when everyone simply has to do what they can to survive whilst the government continues to rake in taxes but give bug*er all back to those who have worked or cared for their families for most of their lives. Makes you wonder why they`re voted in, eh?

rachbc

average life expectancy has increased dramatically in the last few years - meaning increased costs to health care, social care, pensions, increased demand on housing, transport, food resources, population growth - it might not be fair but in has to be paid somewhere and although this will be an unpopular view to the 'ladies of a certain age' who dominate this thread my feeling is that they should pay for it just as much as I, my husband and our children will. Yes the goal posts have been moved but then so have they for students to be, public sector workers, working parents and pretty much all 'normal' folk

Puddleglum

A long time ago I had one of THOSE dreams where I was working. Realising that things were not quite as they should be I asked what year it was. 2047 came the answer. At the time I thought "what a load of rubbish" I'll
be retired long before I'm 80. Now I'm not so sure.....

Edit to add. I do love my work and as long as I have something to give then I am happy to keep going. Like Ceridwen purpose is good.

modern_millie_2

I am happy to work as long as I am fit and able to, but it does worry me that having reached 'a certain age', when my current emlpoyers retire - likely in about 3 or 4 years time - I won't be able to find another job, and will still have about 10 years before I'm eligible for the state pension. I've applied for a few things lately and have got nowhere. I do some voluntary work, and could do more, but that won't pay the bills! Downsizing is a possibility, but I suspect there will be many trying that route and it may not net as much as we hope. Best I can do for now is keep expenses low and take whatever work comes my way.

anguk

Red_Doe wrote: »

I`m not expecting to ever retire, being one of those expecting to work until she drops. I don`t make enough to pay NI contributions and haven`t for a while.
To be honest, I did think it would come to this and fully expect one day for `retirement` to vanish altogether. It`s worrying...my health is deteriorating and I work a very physical job, so.....
Doom and Gloom though it sounds, I really do foresee the days when everyone simply has to do what they can to survive whilst the government continues to rake in taxes but give bug*er all back to those who have worked or cared for their families for most of their lives. Makes you wonder why they`re voted in, eh?

And the problem is it doesn't matter who is voted in, they're all the same. We've got one party who massively overspends and plunges us into huge debt then the other party has to make massive cut-backs to get us out of that debt. :mad:

I can definitely see a life of school, work, then death for our children, with maybe a couple of years retirement IF they're lucky. I'm going to drum it into my kids to be frugal and save, save, save then hopefully they'll be in a position to retire when they're older and enjoy a bit of life.