About working once retired.

lessonlearned

My job at the building society all those years ago was in mortgage arrears. I had to deal with some very sobering cases.

That stint taught me that whatever happened paying our mortgage was my number one top Priority. Even when our finances were at their absolute worst I always paid the mortgage before anything else. I even did a few car boot sales to fund the mortgage payments and put food on the table at one stage. :rotfl:

I too paid the full stamp for most of my working life which is why I now have a reasonable state pension in my own right. At least the younger females won't fall for that trap like so many of our peers did.

RevTimms

Your problem is, LL is that you are criticising a poster for financial mistakes that you are guilty of. Whilst your husband's illness sou n rd unimaginably horrendous, there are many people who have gone through that and worse without having to sell their home because of financial mismanagement, and now living below the poverty line. But I do agree that it mAke s you well placed to give advice about living below the poverty line.
Yes, the poster has, for whatever reason, not made sufficient pro vision for themselves. We don't know the reason or the circumstances behind that, be cause, unlike you, they have chosen not to share.
You boast of a "stratospheric" career. But you chose not to plan for your pension. Just like the first poster.
You clearly don't like criticism, but you don't mind giving it.

margaretclare wrote: »

Couldn't agree more. I was a bit scared that my post on page 1 might have been seen as a bit unfeeling, and you've put it in a nutshell - personal responsibility. Candy asked 'what are pensioners supposed to do' and I pointed out that most people have half a century of a working life before retirement arrives.

I'm reminded very often of the women I worked with over many years, who laughed at me for paying the 'full stamp' and for paying into the pension scheme. Those women are not laughing now. I did it in response to my mum's example, as I described in an earlier post.

All the times in my life when I've been able to save, I've never regretted it. I've always regretted it when I didn't.

Oh, someone else who does not like criticism and loves to boast!

Can you remember margaret, when I came on this board asking for advice about attendance allowance for a relative. You told me how to lie on claim forms because that's what you do?
Did you also not say that you did equity release because you would still be paying mortgage at 80 years old?
Most people would see equity release as a very last resort to dire financial situation. And not everyone would be willing to lie on benefit claim forms.
Yet you still feel able to criticise and boast.
But, again, you are unable to accept criticism.

To both of you. If can't take it, don't give it.

margaretclare

dorothy52 wrote: »

Really enjoying this thread, as one who has to work till 66 and is now 58 I too am saving a lot of my salary to ensure a comfortable retirement. Love hearing stories of your parents. LL an Margaret. So much of what you say resonates with me. LL I was interested to hear that you went to uni in yor forties.......so wish that I had done that, one of my few regrets. Did it enhance your life an career? Margaret how is hubby now, you may have mentioned on another thread and I have missed it?

Thanks for this. After all that we went through back in the autumn/winter, all is well now. DH had reconstruction of left leg early Feb - not replacement, not revision, but complete reconstruction involving orthopaedics, microbiology and plastic surgery. Skin flaps moved from one place to another, 6 inches of his femur, which had a bone infection, was removed. The Nuffield Orthpaedic Centre was only opened in 2007 by the Duchess of Cornwall. Even a few years ago such things were not possible. Well, we went to Oxford on Thursday, 6 months after surgery. All is well. No infection, complete healing. What DH wanted was to meet his Maker on the 2 legs he had originally, not 1.5 or 1.25. He achieved his ambition. Will always have to use a crutch to walk, and for balance, but he can drive. After Thursday it was as if a weight had been lifted off our shoulders and we can look forward to whatever time we have left and enjoy it.

About equity release, it has worked well for us. We did this in 2003 after my second daughter died. It has saved us paying a mortgage all those years and we've been able to use the money for things like replacing the roof, various important things like that. Because the interest rate charged was pegged to the BoE base rate which has remained at its lowest level for so long, it hasn't rolled up at anything like the rate that the gloom-and-doom merchants warned. Because of the development of the little airport half a mile away (when Stobart bought it) and people needing places to live, there's still approx £200K equity left.

Thanks again for the kind words.

lessonlearned

Oh my.....here's another one.

one more time......I used the expression "poverty line" as a joke to try and illustrate how the figures the government use are actually of very little help in determining what should be an acceptable level of income.

So similarly the 10 per cent reference is also a flawed guideline.

I repeat I am not living in dire poverty despite what the government would try to tell me. I live very well. I am mortgage free, I run a car, I travel.....I am off for 6 weeks to the Amazon next January. I pay for my own medical insurance, I have just engaged some domestic help because I have a knee injury. When I travel by rail I always travel Class. I eat like a queen and I have wardrobes full of clothes, enough to last me the rest of my life. I genuinely want for nothing.

Could I do all this if I was genuinely poor. Hardly. My income is technically quite low, but then so are my outgoings, deliberately so. As I said earlier, I run a tight ship. I save so I can splurge. Always have.

When my income begins to suffer from the ravages of inflation then I will have enough in my nest egg to draw down and provide a top up to my income.

And ultimately this way of living, this thriftiness, the saving and investing, was actually to be my undoing. If my husband and I had not worked so hard and built up our assets, if we had squandered the lot like so many people do, then we would have had financial help he needed but because we were self sufficient we were penalised.

Do you actually understand how the benefit system works.....I admit it is confusing. You need to be a Philadelphia lawyer to work your way through that minefield.

In a nutshell if you have any assets other than your primary residence you get no help. You are on your own until the money runs out.

For your information we did not mismanage our money during the years when we were both working and my husband was hale and hearty. It was only when disaster struck that our finances took such a hammering.

If we had not been dealt such a devastating blow my husband and I would now be sitting on assets worth over £1m. Now you may accuse me of boasting but I'm not. It is a simple fact if you live long enough, and save hard enough then you will amass some money and build up assets. It's a mathamatical certainty.

However to get back to how we spent our pension savings. Have you any idea how much a tilt in space wheelchair costs, a stairlift, home adaptations, even incontinence pads can rack up around £30 a week. Not to mention nursing home costs, yes we got some help towards those, but we still had to forfeit his pension for our contribution.

As for criticism ........I am perfectly able to take constructive criticism, in fact I always welcome any opportunity for self improvement, hence gambling on going to university at the ripe old age of 40. :rotfl: I could have remained safe in my little niche plodding along until retirement.

What I do object to however, is keyboard warriors who crawl out of the woodwork to post vitriolic comments which have no merit nor which add anything of value to the topics being discussed.

As for your remark about "boasting".

Again you couldn't be further from the mark. I agree perhaps "stratospheric" might have been the incorrect word to use but to me, a council house girl who had pulled herself up by her own efforts, then it did seem like the I had entered another world. It did seem stratospheric to me, far exceeding anything I thought was possible for me.

The progress I made was completey unexpected and I can only put it down to my university gamble. TBh the change to my career was beyond my wildest dreams. I never, in all my fondest imaginings, dreamt I would end up in a job where I travelled to Europe on regular basis as an independent property consultant. At first I used to have to pinch myself because I couldn't believe it had happened. But, much as it was my dream job it did take its toll, I discovered I hated flying and I got fed up with living out of a suitcase and eventually went back to working for a local developer. I was more than happy to do so, I was still making a good living.

I can see that I am completely wasting my time trying to explain myself when people like yourself and Percy are so hell bent on twisting my words to meet your own agenda.

I don't believe in wasting my energy on people who aren't prepared to listen properly and who only want to score points. I have better things to do with my time so I shall leave you to it.

lessonlearned

By the way.....just as a little aside and something which may interest some of you.

Some of the richest people on the planet live surprisingly frugal lives.

I forget his name but one of the richest men in China, is a multi BILLIONAIRE and allegedly lives on 20 US dollars a day. His daughter drives a Lamborghini......:rotfl:

Warren Buffet still lives in the house he bought decades ago and lives very simply.

I have worked for multi millionaires who also lived quite modestly, preferring to save and reinvest as much as possible.

Its not always about income.

margaretclare

About going to university, yes, I did this 1978-81 as a mature student. Not university then - the local polytechnic, which is now Huddersfield University. We were luckier than today's students because we got paid a grant. Because of my first husband's health I was the breadwinner so I got paid a full grant. In the summer term I did night shifts as a midwife, and as a student, didn't pay tax on it. Gaining a good honours degree did me no good whatsoever in terms of work, but it did wonders for my self-confidence. For the first time in my life, since growing up as a 'little b*stard*, a real one in the days when it really wasn't the thing to be, I felt as if 'I wouldn't call the King my cousin' as the old saying goes. So, yes, it did huge amounts for self-confidence and even now, I'm able to argue my corner, as happened as recently as yesterday in a local tea-shop when a guy tried to push in front of me and I wouldn't have it. Also when we had all that argument about DH and a 'care package' back in December before we'd ever heard of Oxford or Mr Ben Kendrick, for whom we are eternally thankful.

My younger step-GD didn't want to go to uni. She wanted to learn to fly, be a pilot. She worked in a gastro-pub near her school and then went to Florida. She has just qualified as a helicopter pilot. My eldest GD has had a lot of difficulties, being dyslexic, and gay, then homeless...she's now working as a site supervisor in the building trade, having qualified as a painter and decorator. Both my GS and his mother, my surviving daughter, graduated later. I'm glad the trend now is away from everybody to uni. It's not the be-all and end-all. DH is practically-minded and he empathises very well with GD and her difficulties.

Someone mentioned NLP - as a Behavioural Sciences graduate I understand about that. And I think it is an absolute disgrace the way LL's husband was treated.

Some people seem to have the ability to recall every word I ever wrote, sometimes from years past, and to criticise me for it. I shan't respond.

dorothy52

Well said, both of you. Very well said. Enormous respect

RevTimms

LL, I am not sure why you think anyone is either a bully or a coward because the won't engage in a PM war with you. Nor is anyone 'turning around or fleeing'
This thread was turning into a slap fest of the first poster, with you rubbing your hands in glee when they didn't return to heed your advice.
If anyone has been bullied it was the first poster by a group of smug old women. Percy stood up to this slap fest. You need to be ashamed of yourselves. Standing behind each other. Would any of you stand up alone? I think not!
You did a similar thing on the widows thread if I recall.
In view of your rambling and lengthy diatribes after being criticised it is hardly surprising that he did not want to further engage with your rantings and boasting about how you would be a millionaire if only ........
Well margaret. What can I say! Lying on benefit claim forms is benefit fraud. You may not take this seriously, but I do, and remember when someone tells me to do it and boasts of their successes.
Anyway. I do not think there is any further purpose in debating your glittering career. So if that makes me a coward then so be it.

L-J-R

Please - isn't there enough vitriol in the world without adding to it?

lessonlearned

Again this accusation of boasting......ho hum.

Let me spell it out for you. It is a mathematical certainty that if you spend less than you earn you will eventually amass some surplus cash, which you can then invest for the long term. It is the long term investments which bring the serious returns (ever heard of compound interest) and which over an extended period can actually make £1m with relative ease. I'm talking of a time frame of 40 years plus.

It's maths dahhhhlings, not magic. If you don't believe me then look up the Rule of 72. And no I'm not going to explain it to you, do the work yourself. I had to. :rotfl:

As for these accusations of "slap fest" and gleeful hand rubbing. I saw no gleeful hand rubbing just an initial honest desire and willingness from the posters on here to help someone who came looking for support.

This then did indeed turn to exasperation from some of us when the OPs subsequent posts revealed something of what gave all appearances of being an "entitlement mentality". It is significant that she has not returned.

No doubt you will say it's because she was scared off but I think that it's more likely that she just wanted to let off steam and have a little rant and that she is not quite ready to tackle her finances yet.

I can perfectly understand that she is fearful of the future but the reason many of us have discussed her situation Is to demonstrate to her that her fears are groundless. Her income is sufficient. I certainly didn't see any bullying from a "bunch of smug old women" but rather a genuine desire to offer help, advice and friendship.

As for my stand off with Percy - well I am perfectly happy to "stand alone" as you put it.....I called him out and he bailed. Despite your protestations He is very much a bully and like all bullies he is a coward to boot. I gave him the option of engaging with me privately and he backed down. I threw down the gauntlet and he turned tail and fled. And, like a great many males when they are confronted with an assertive woman, his only riposte is to accuse her of being "hysterical". Typical.

I shall shut up now lest I be accused of writing a rambling diatribe...:rotfl: I won't bother to further elucidate on my so called "glittering career". Your words not mine. Except to say I worked damned hard. I put my heart and soul into my work and my employers saw fit to reward me handsomely for my efforts. Then later I went self employed and again reaped the rewards.

When you work in sales and you are reliant on commission to make up your income that's what happens. When you are self employed that's what happens. You sink or swim by your own efforts. You give it your all because if you don't then you fail.