BBC Money Box - Summer mini series...

[Octopus]

Everybody should listen to this ................. and the subsequent episodes:

Can We Afford Retirement?, The Death of Retirement, Money Box - BBC Radio 4 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08z8z8f

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

In simple terms . i seriously doubt it... pension age will keep rising, the country can't afford the pensions paid now. have private one but who knows if it will be enough. assuming the grim reaper don't get me with some nasty illness beforehand I sometimes think that with the way elderly get treated in this country; that it might be better to check out earlier and avoid the indignity later on.

 

[HandySparks]

State pension age has to keep on rising in line with the rise in average lifetime. The alternative is unsustainable. The problem we have now is that previous governments didn't address the problem early enough.

I don't plan to rely too much on the state pension. It isn't going to pay for anything more than a pretty minimal lifestyle. I'll be retiring when I think I can afford to. So I'm completely dependent on how much I can put away each year and on investment performance. Meanwhile, my secondary job is managing the pension pot. Actually, as time goes on, it becomes more significant than my main job.

 

[telectrix]

exactly the reason i'm still working @ 70. state pension is bad enough, but when you have missed a few years of NI contributions ( in my case, too proud to go on the dole when out of work) reduced pension just about pays for beer and smokes.

 

[Octopus]

Thing is you need 35 years of contributions to qualify for full state pension, so if you started work@ 18 you will have contributed enough ..... When you are 53.......... But you can't stop paying NO at 53, nor do you get any more pension.....

 

[dmxtothemax]

whats the alternative ?
Many people would not mind working
maybe at some reduced rate
But the market place is NOT interested.
Superannuation may work ?
But it is still in transition phase
And will take some time to build up to levels so that it is effective.
The government has NO choice now, they have to subsidise it till
better ways can be found.
They seem to have NO problems allowing retired polly's and beaurocrats
to live like kings when they retire.

 

[Squid]

Trouble is we where all lied to, when we started working at 16 back in the 80's we where told we could retire at 65, they have now moved the goal posts to 67, was that legal?

I suffer from Tinnitus which I believe was caused by having no PPE issued when working on industrial building sites, am I able to claim for anything, nope.

Interest rates are low so not worth having any savings and if you invest in a second property to have some sort of income they screw you over in tax and CGT, I have a couple of old company pensions I think one will pay me £120 per year.

 

[Midwest]

When I semi retired, I had to curtail my lavish life style. Gone are the bottles of Chateau de Chateau and tables of filet mignon. I've learnt the finer things in life don't have to be so expensive.

We now survive on cheap plonk from Harvey Nichols, and cooking our own delicacies.

Here's me knocking up a pizza