Preparedness for when

Frugalsod

Yesterday I decided to count my hidden stashes of cash around the house. I now have around £500 at home and that figure is increasing at the rate of about £30 to £40 a month from all the change that I am keeping. So if they bail in the banks I will be fine for a few months.

ivyleaf

mardatha wrote: »

If they had any brains at all they'd stop it for pensioners who live abroad. But that might be too much of a stretch for their wee minds eh..

That sounds sensible, but not every pensioner living abroad lives somewhere with mild winters. For instance, my brother (he's 74) currently lives in Bavaria where it gets very cold in winter with a lot of snow. His income isn't great and he has mobility problems, so he's extremely grateful for the payment as it enables him to stay warm.

When his American wife retires from her job as a care assistant next year they are planning to sell their house (if they're lucky; they're in a village in the middle of nowhere!) and buy a house in Florida, near some friends of hers - I certainly don't expect they'd need a Winter Fuel Payment there. She's trying to stay at work as long as possible to maximise her pension.

Come to think of it, I think I read that it is being stopped for pensioners living abroad, but not sure when that's meant to be happening, will try to find out.

ETA It has now been stopped for those living in countries where the average annual temperature is higher than SW england. The countries where you can't get it are Cyprus, France, Gibraltar, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Spain.

Of course Northern France is no warmer in winter than here, but when the Govt was working out average annual temperatures they apparently included French dominions in places like the Caribbean, which of course raised the annual temperature!

Frugalsod

In the future expect more of this.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34441238

moneyistooshorttomention

Perplexed_Pineapple wrote: »

Glad to see you lot are still nattering on. RL has been very busy so only lurking occasionally of late. MTSTM, I don't want you to take this personally (because it certainly isn't intended that way) but something you posted caught my attention:

I don't personally know of many families where two generations are collecting their pensions, but I guess it is fairly common nowadays. It's a graphic illustration of the demographic problem - multiple generations out of the work force and probably for many families there are two generations of older dependents and one generation of younger dependents for each working age generation. That can't possibly be sustainable, so (coming back to the prepping), all of us who are more than 10 years or so from the state retirement age should be aiming to prepare for the possibility that the state pension simply won't exist when we we get there. For me that would mean mortgage paid off, no outstanding debt, energy requirements minimised, growing as much of our own food as possible and keeping ourselves as fit as possible (to minimise health care expenses). Just a thought!

:rotfl:'Tis okay...I'm not taking it personally. Its a source of some surprise to both my parents and myself that things are this way. :rotfl:

I doubt that is very likely anyway in the (very near) future - ie when even women retiring wont be able to do so until 66/67/68. If I'd had to wait until "The" State Pension Age to retire that might not be the case in my own family either.

I do tend to think that it probably (definitely!!) suits the Government very well to hear people say "Oh well...there may not be a State Pension by the time I retire". Its almost like this frequent "casting doubt" on the fact is a comment originating from the Government in the first place - as a way to get that possibility into peoples heads.

Lets face it = what option is there for most people if there wasn't a State Pension? Basic answer = if they haven't got a suitable work pension, then they wouldn't have a pension at all and would never be able to retire. Visions of people going on working until they literally dropped dead (or crashed a bus straight into a supermarket:cool:/those poor people - because they were still doing that job in their late 70s).

Far better to keep repeating (in the Governments direction) = "Of course there will still be a State Pension - as otherwise we will never release our jobs for younger people to have".

Frugalsod

The vast majority of people simply do not have sufficient pension pots accumulated to be independent of the state pension. Also with zero interest rates the annuity rates are destroying the pensions industry. So even if you had a good job I really would not know where to invest it safely. The stock market is seriously overvalued and when it gets back to normality and in lines with earnings and interest rates above 5% then pensions will be able to earn an income.

jk0

New Simon's Cat video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpCl5O6tTv8

Enjoy.

thriftwizard

Frugalsod wrote: »

In the future expect more of this.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34441238

That's a whole new slant on the idea of losing your shirt...

GreyQueen

jk0 wrote: »

New Simon's Cat video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpCl5O6tTv8

Enjoy.

:rotfl:I've had to do that thing where you try to fold a starfished and protesting cat into a toploading basket. Oh the joy..... when the parental cats go to the vet every August for their jabs, it has to be done like a covert military operation to catch the beggars.

[Deleted User]

Doveling wrote: »

Sadly, I will not be able to pursue my chosen career as A Tiller Girl :rotfl:

Yes you can.

Just buy yourself a canal boat.

[Deleted User]

mardatha wrote: »

If they had any brains at all they'd stop it for pensioners who live abroad.

And for those with massive, taxpayer funded, pensions.

Also, for those who are millionaires.

FGS, even Richard Branson and Simon Cowell will, when they're old enough, qualify for it. :eek: