Retirement - Live Life or Penny Pinch

barnstar2077

Pat38493 said:

barnstar2077 said:

michaels said:

MarkCarnage said:

bluenose1 said

Think there are lots of factors the actuaries dont use in considering life expectancy, for example dont think they take into account where you live which has a bearing on your life expectancy  -From ONS data  male life expectancy between 2018 and 2020 was highest in England (79.4 years) and lowest in Scotland (76.8 years). Within England, sizable regional differences are present , including a three-year gap between the North East (77.6 years) and the South East (80.6 years). 

From what i have read grip strength is a good marker for life expectancy, being able to balance and how easy you get up and down from the floor. .

Oh yes they take account of where you live! Postcode analysis is used extensively in mortality expectation calcs and hence annuity pricing etc., both for individuals and for pension schemes seeking insurance buy out of liabilities. If a scheme doesn't have decent data, they will quickly find that the pricing is loaded against them. 
As an actuary said to me quite recently, gaming the system means 'acquiring' an address in a certain area in Glasgow for a year or so when about to buy an annuity.......I'm sure there are quite a few other areas too. As an example, life expectancy varies from not far over 60 in one area of North Glasgow, to over 80 in Bearsden, less than 5 miles away. 

So I wonder if it is worth paying 18 months rent and 'documentarily' moving to a property in a low life expectancy area when purchasing an annuity?!

Or fraud, as it is also known as! : )

I saw a story on the BBC last year about a young women who pretended to live in a council property in order to gain a discount on it's purchase.  It didn't end well for her! 

Right, but what if you actually do move there for a year?  They can't really say you don't live there, and there is no way to prove or disprove whether you intended to stay there or not.  That said, it's probably not just "Glasgow" - I suspect if you moved to a really expensive area of Glasgow for a year it might not make nearly as much sense - you would have to "slum it" for a year if you want to put it that way.

I don't think that would be an issue.  The problem the lady in the news article had was that they installed cameras outside the property that showed that she went there for ten minutes once a month, if that.

I guess the real question is, could you live in a poor part of Glasgow for a year? :  )

Ganga

barnstar2077 said:

Pat38493 said:

barnstar2077 said:

michaels said:

MarkCarnage said:

bluenose1 said

Think there are lots of factors the actuaries dont use in considering life expectancy, for example dont think they take into account where you live which has a bearing on your life expectancy  -From ONS data  male life expectancy between 2018 and 2020 was highest in England (79.4 years) and lowest in Scotland (76.8 years). Within England, sizable regional differences are present , including a three-year gap between the North East (77.6 years) and the South East (80.6 years). 

From what i have read grip strength is a good marker for life expectancy, being able to balance and how easy you get up and down from the floor. .

Oh yes they take account of where you live! Postcode analysis is used extensively in mortality expectation calcs and hence annuity pricing etc., both for individuals and for pension schemes seeking insurance buy out of liabilities. If a scheme doesn't have decent data, they will quickly find that the pricing is loaded against them. 
As an actuary said to me quite recently, gaming the system means 'acquiring' an address in a certain area in Glasgow for a year or so when about to buy an annuity.......I'm sure there are quite a few other areas too. As an example, life expectancy varies from not far over 60 in one area of North Glasgow, to over 80 in Bearsden, less than 5 miles away. 

So I wonder if it is worth paying 18 months rent and 'documentarily' moving to a property in a low life expectancy area when purchasing an annuity?!

Or fraud, as it is also known as! : )

I saw a story on the BBC last year about a young women who pretended to live in a council property in order to gain a discount on it's purchase.  It didn't end well for her! 

Right, but what if you actually do move there for a year?  They can't really say you don't live there, and there is no way to prove or disprove whether you intended to stay there or not.  That said, it's probably not just "Glasgow" - I suspect if you moved to a really expensive area of Glasgow for a year it might not make nearly as much sense - you would have to "slum it" for a year if you want to put it that way.

I don't think that would be an issue.  The problem the lady in the news article had was that they installed cameras outside the property that showed that she went there for ten minutes once a month, if that.

I guess the real question is, could you live in a poor part of Glasgow for a year? :  )

I suspect a lot of people do!

enthusiasticsaver

Albermarle said:

She defied the odds and was given simple balance exercises (which were easily proven to work - length of time standing on one leg and then with eyes closed (hands close to grab rails)) and didn’t have another fall for 10 years. Maybe we should all start…

The ability to balance on one leg for 10 seconds ( or not ) as you get older, is supposed to be a marker of how you could be as you get older still.
In other words if you can not do this say when you are 60, it indicates that you will develop more problems as you get older, than someone who can do it. That's the theory anyway.
Not sure if you are supposed to do it with your eyes closed, or maybe with your hands on your head ?

Interesting.  I had heard that before so just tried balancing on one leg for 30 seconds first on right and then on left.  DH tried it too so will try and do that regularly as a few people I know not much older than us have started having falls. Harder with my eyes closed though. 

Pensions_matter_2

I heard that from a fitness instructor a few years ago who recommended standing on one leg while brushing your teeth! I dont have any difficulty with this, but try closing your eyes and its a different story!

Somebody

Pensions_matter_2 said:

I heard that from a fitness instructor a few years ago who recommended standing on one leg while brushing your teeth! I dont have any difficulty with this, but try closing your eyes and its a different story!

I do this.  Use an electric toothbrush with 30 second interval indicators. So top teeth one minute on left leg, eyes shut after the first 30 seconds. Then swap over to the right leg, closing eyes for the final quadrant of the mouth.

Nebulous2

Somebody said:

Pensions_matter_2 said:

I heard that from a fitness instructor a few years ago who recommended standing on one leg while brushing your teeth! I dont have any difficulty with this, but try closing your eyes and its a different story!

I do this.  Use an electric toothbrush with 30 second interval indicators. So top teeth one minute on left leg, eyes shut after the first 30 seconds. Then swap over to the right leg, closing eyes for the final quadrant of the mouth.

My son had some ankle problems while hillwalking, and was told by his physio to do this. 

Article about balance and older people. Balancing is a complex skill, with a lot of components..... 

Can you stand on one leg for 10 seconds? Why balance could be a matter of life and death – and how to improve yours | Health & wellbeing | The Guardian

DT2001

Somebody said:

Pensions_matter_2 said:

I heard that from a fitness instructor a few years ago who recommended standing on one leg while brushing your teeth! I dont have any difficulty with this, but try closing your eyes and its a different story!

I do this.  Use an electric toothbrush with 30 second interval indicators. So top teeth one minute on left leg, eyes shut after the first 30 seconds. Then swap over to the right leg, closing eyes for the final quadrant of the mouth.

Well done. Now after Nebulous2’s link progress to doing with a bent leg.
My OH is a physio and she says if you can progress the exercise it is good whilst at the same time making it easy to do. Easy = doesn’t take too long or you might not bother carrying on so linking it to doing your teeth is good.

I see that skiing is suggested as good to assist balance. I’m glad as have been today and the body feels quite stiff and need the motivation not to just move straight to après ski tomorrow.

MikeJXE

TheCuriousSausage said:

Silvertabby said:

Note that the State pension is taxable income.  It's only tax free for those who's only income is the State pension and,  even then, only if the pension is below the personal tax allowance (there are many 'old' pensioners out there on way more than £12,570 per year, due to SERPS/SP2 and/or deferring at over 10% per year).

Yep - my state pension (after tax) will just about cover my council tax....

At the minute I am taxed on £100 of my state pension but when I get the increase of about £20 per week the tax man will want  £17, my landlord will probably put the rent up £60 and then there's council tax to pay so I guess thats it's all gone. When you retire you have to live within your means or not, enjoy doing what you can afford to do or you will be left to your fate with social services. I'm only  82 so could live a lot longer or not, I  only have state pension plus another £1250 per year but I'm ok, sadly some are not. I can also balance one one leg as others can who don't reveal their age so can't judge them 

Universidad

Ganga said:

barnstar2077 said:

I guess the real question is, could you live in a poor part of Glasgow for a year? :  )

I suspect a lot of people do!

I suspect the key takeaway here is that if you're planning to downsize as part of retirement, check your postcodes, and do it the right side of buying an annuity.

theoretica

Another option is to continue to look for some ways of earning income part time while you have the energy, retirement doesn't need to be all or nothing.