Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

Frugalsod wrote: »

Why are people are worrying about retiring when there may be pitiful private pensions anyway? I suspect that a future government will be forced to increase retirement ages further. With life expectancies so much higher than they were and past governments failing to adjust the retirement age then it will mean that they will inevitably have to keep increasing them in line with life expectancy.

Well, people are all different. I caught glandular fever in my final year at university and it turned into ME. I've never been well enough to work full time, currently working 60 % of f.t.e and that's pretty tough. I've just come in and gone to bed for a rest, I was so tired.

I contribute to the local government pension scheme but as a part-timer with presently under 10 years sevice and somewhat under 20 years' working life (depending on where the goalposts get moved to) things are looking pretty grim.

I'm not going to worry about it overmuch. Because I have a life-threatening medical condition and may not live a normal life expectancy, and my ability to do much more than fret about it is curtailed by circumstance.

But many people now are struggling to carry on working in their late fifties and sixties, exhausted and counting the days until their retirements. Going to be pretty soul-destroying if they never have a prospect of getting there. And why bother paying contributions to a system which won't benefit you, in your turn?

One bloke my Dad worked with, real grafter, always scrabbling to get overtime, saving hard for his retirement so he and the missus could enjoy their old age. In the workforce at 15, worked all his life and died of a massive heart attack less than one week into his pension.

About 1 in 4 men do not live to see retirement now, at 65. SuperGran buried her BIL late last year, aged 67. With diabetes chewing its way through an overweight and unhealthy population, masisve upticks in liver disease caused by drinking and poor diet, I can't see life expectancy improving.

Some public health peeps can see the opposite happening, and that some people will be burying their adult children before their spouses or peers. I know of several people who have died of diseases, accident and suicide in their 40s and 50s.

And, if there are fewer jobs, what is the sanity of keeping young adults in their prime years idle whilst their weary grandparents drag themselves off to shops and factories and care homes and offices?

I guess a person's perspective on the retirement age issue is shaped by the age they are, and also the type of work they do.

A presently-young person may not have understood yet that the mid-thirties are classified medically as 'early middle age'. By about 35 you'll notice that your energy and vitality is dropping away. You'll take longer to recover from exertions, even happy exertions like a night on the tiles. You'll get knocked for six by infections. Your hearing will become a touch less acute, as will your eyesight.

You'll develop strange aches and pains. Sports you played in your teens may be making themselves felt in your knees and hips. You could have the start of degenerative diseases.

You don't feel as good as you did in your mid-twenties and you'll feel progressively rougher as you add miles on your personal clock. You start to understand that unless you are one of the luckier ones with a physically undemanding job and good health, you won't be able to carry on working indefinately.

People don't work to the end of their lives, even in the undeveloped world now. People didn't in this country when the alternative to family care was the workhouse. Politicians waffle about how people should want to carry on working to 70 and beyond as if anyone who can see this being very difficult/ physically impossible is a whiner who just needs to get the right attitude and get with the programme and all will be well.

As a post Baby-Boomer, I can see that I've spent my working life weathering a series of recessions with stagnant and falling wages, whilst making forced contributions to keep some in a standard of retirement I can't expect in my turn, and to keep others who are half my age with no medical impairments on the bliddy dole. :mad:

And if that sounds a tad bitter, it was meant to.

mardatha wrote: »

Life expectancy will start to fall again soon if it hasn't already. The Big Mac and junk food generation will start to die off at a younger age.

Can see that coming quite easily.

My rellies mostly live into ther mid-late eighties. A few make their early nineties. One of my great-grandads died aged only 67, but he was a very fit man - he was head-kicked by a horse at work and that's what did for him.

fuddle

Great post GQ, as always. There is nothing wrong with a little bitterness... bitterness is often supported by a wealth of experience and of the negative kind.

My knees creak, crack and give way to numbness and my back is unpredictable . Im 34 and a dom carer. I'm scared because I'm seeing me not being able to do this job when I'm 70+. Already I'm planning on supervisor roles and management in order to have some chance in the field when I'm an old and more rickety lady.


Can we take the zero hour contract culture into account here too and the issue of not earning enough for nics? That is playing heavily on my mind at the moment.

Hollyberry

I also think mar is right about the falling life expectancy. All of the things mentioned about poor diet, and GQ's comments on lifestyle factors mean that there will definitely be some rebalancing on the life scales. In some ways, I see it as nature regulating the normal ebb and flow of society, perhaps stopping us from growing an expanding (partly literally ) population, and particularly one which is demographically incapable of being self-sustaining (too few workers). Not that it makes things any more palatable for those of us it will impact upon (I think there are quite a few of us around 50ish on this thread?).

Our own family experiences are of very varied life expectancy, with some affected by factors that could be controlled and others not. I have a couple of life-limiting conditions which mean that I probably won't exceed the average lifespan myself. My tactic has been to change to a working pattern I think I can sustain beyond the retirement threshold without too much impact on my health, realizing how lucky I am to be able to do this. So hopefully I can make my contribution to us managing in the longer term. In the meantime, I'll keep up that gym membership.

Uniscots97

mardatha wrote: »

Life expectancy will start to fall again soon if it hasn't already. The Big Mac and junk food generation will start to die off at a younger age.

Definitely seeing that within people I know. OH's family are affected by illnesses not normally seen until people are in their 80's. His family all developed it in their 30's. His son developed issues in his early 20's. These can all be traced to lots of processed food in very early years (and partly genetics). Also seeing people I worked with passing away very young (late 40's and 50's). I can actually see for a lot of kids being born now to young parents that their parents actually outlive them. Not a nice thought but next time you are out shopping watch how many young parents think nothing of plying their kids with junk food. For my generation at least we had a variety (usually even a few veggies home grown if money was tight, I remember tomatoes getting grown on the balcony of my parents first flat!).

jk0

Thanks GQ. Interesting post as usual.

I was just mentioning to a friend the other day how powerful the flu bug is nowadays. It lays me low for two months, whereas as a teenager I was better in a week.

I hadn't considered it was my age (49) that was the problem.

God help me when I'm 79!

By the way, to those who recommended Sea Kelp, thanks very much. I have more energy now than before I fell ill.

Frugalsod

fuddle wrote: »

Can we take the zero hour contract culture into account here too and the issue of not earning enough for nics? That is playing heavily on my mind at the moment.

I think that zero hours contracts are going to hollow out the economy yet TPTB are too stupid or corrupt to do anything about it.

[Deleted User]

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

The Telegraph today has an article on the front page suggesting that interest rates are going to rise

That'll be good news for me, now that (for the first time in my life) I'm a saver. :cool:

fuddle

Zero Hours are appropriate for many a setting - a lot of people, myself included, rely on them for fitting work around childcare etc. My company couldnt work without zero hours - the work isnt guaranteed and can be pulled at any time... but its work that suits. The difficulty comes when we dont get the same rights as someone on a fixed salary and risk being penalised due to the amount we earn, or do not earn, further down the line.

paidinchickens

fuddle wrote: »

Great post GQ, as always. There is nothing wrong with a little bitterness... bitterness is often supported by a wealth of experience and of the negative kind.

My knees creak, crack and give way to numbness and my back is unpredictable . Im 34 and a dom carer. I'm scared because I'm seeing me not being able to do this job when I'm 70+. Already I'm planning on supervisor roles and management in order to have some chance in the field when I'm an old and more rickety lady.


Can we take the zero hour contract culture into account here too and the issue of not earning enough for nics? That is playing heavily on my mind at the moment.

I have an "unpredictable back" as well. It has gotten more unpredictable each passing year!

PiC x

[Deleted User]

The predicted rise for interest rates is for the bank rate to be up to 3% in three years and mortgage rates of 6% and more in the same period. Good for you BOB as you are lucky enough to have accrued some savings but for many many people it will be devastating and disasterous, and heaven only knows where it will leave the UK population financially.