Grim statistics on retirement age and life expectancy

[Marco]

Well as strangers go, they don't come much stranger than me, and I live in Chorley, so you can see my problem. If you want to be kind to me, I can pm my bank details

Haha - you always were 'high maintenance', weren't you darling?

Marco.

[Marco]

However - within reason - it's better to keep active even if there are underlying problems, rather than to submit to the difficulties.

Hear, hear. That also applies in other areas. The older generation in general were made of sterner stuff. Try telling the above now to many youngsters, who give in at the slightest tribulation, especially when it comes to finding a job!

Marco.

[willbewill]

Going back to the subject of deferring state pension.

If you get full sp of £8.5k and defer for one year you get £500 a year more on your pension. Doesn't sound like a good deal to me, it would take 17 years just to recoup the year you've deferred, so if you're 66 when you reach sp age you need to live to 83 just to break even...or am I missing something?

[Len Co]

Going back to the subject of deferring state pension.

If you get full sp of £8.5k and defer for one year you get £500 a year more on your pension. Doesn't sound like a good deal to me, it would take 17 years just to recoup the year you've deferred, so if you're 66 when you reach sp age you need to live to 83 just to break even...or am I missing something?

I tend to agree, take it as soon as you can is my advice when it comes to pensions - obviously if you put it off you may never collect and I don't believe any deferral scheme will be designed in the interests of the pensioner; someone wants you to have more money? I don't think so.

[struth]

Probably end up givi g most of the extra back as tax anyway

[dave2010]

Going back to the subject of deferring state pension.

If you get full sp of £8.5k and defer for one year you get £500 a year more on your pension. Doesn't sound like a good deal to me, it would take 17 years just to recoup the year you've deferred, so if you're 66 when you reach sp age you need to live to 83 just to break even...or am I missing something?

Very much depends on multiple factors - health, other income, tax status. I think the extra income year on year is effectively compounded. Also what do you mean by break even? If you save/invest any surplus, then you may be right. If it is spent, then it may be better to take a chance on the deferral.

[Marco]

Ok Tom, before going any further, I'd just like to make it clear that my stance is from the point of view of those who are in an unhappy situation, yet continuing to do a job they hate, and where the pressure and stress is immense, simply to live in a big house and drive a fancy car, etc, rather than retire and live more frugally, removing all the pressure in the process, and ultimately feeling happier for it.

It doesn't apply to you or anyone else who is perfectly happy with the situation they're in work-wise, or indeed any other way, so none of the following is directed at you, and just my personal observations

Yes of course budgeting/sensible expenditure but there are just times in life (if you have kids especially) when earning and spending are simply unavoidable and where skinflint/retire early planning is simply inappropriate.

"Simply inappropriate" in what way - could you explain?

I understand and appreciate the first bit, to an extent, but I'm sorry I don't buy the 'if you've got kids you're always broke' angle. Or that you have to live like a pauper or work into your dotage, in order to provide for your children's future. It doesn't necessarily have to be like that.

Yes they're obviously going to cost you a significant amount of money and be a big responsibility, but I don't remember my parents being skint after having me - on the contrary they enjoyed a great life, as when I was old enough I remember them taking me with them to all the nice places they liked to go, holidays abroad, restaurants, buying nice clothes, etc.

I never went without either, and my dad was the only one working. He had his own business, but he wasn't rich. He worked hard for what he had, and paid his dues, but was still able to enjoy himself, without getting into debt either, same as both of my uncles when they had kids. They got by perfectly well, all in reasonably paid jobs, but they weren't loaded. And all, bar one, including my dad, retired before they were 65, so they could enjoy spending time with their wives and families, just as I've done, only I managed it sooner (semi-retired).

And their kids have all turned into well-adjusted adults, and done very well for themselves, too. One of them in fact is now head of the EU exit programme team at the Scottish government, and another works in London, as the personal secretary to the CEO of a huge international banking company - very driven, ambitious people. I guess it runs in the family...

However, it shows that you can support and do your best for your kids financially, yet still be able to retire at a reasonable age and enjoy your own life.

You just have to bite the bullet, minimise what spend you can and soak up the rest So what if I have to work a bit harder and longer in life? (right now daughter is in the US as an exchange student but it's BLOODY EXPENSIVE to keep them at uni more generally).

I understand all of the former, and that you want to do the best for your daughter and help her, but doesn't she have a part-time job to help cover some of the expenses? Most students I know work in bars or restaurants (and such like) at night, to help support themselves, not just rely on their parents.

Also it's remarkable just how many people who have done well in life and take all the credit themselves for their situation somehow reveal a different story when you dig into the details ... they might have parents who helped with start-up capital, or useful connections, or who knew things about specialist areas that the average person can't access, who give their children a first rate education affordable to the person next door.

Now *that* is a very good point, and one I couldn't agree more with! However as you say, you've still got to do something with it. In that respect, I'll be completely honest with you.

I've been fortunate in many ways... Good health (so far), thank God, for one, which has helped me to be in the position I'm in, and I was lucky to have been brought up by two wonderful, loving parents, who couldn't have looked after me better, particularly in paying for a private primary education, in a small school where I received one-to-one tuition, and which provided the foundation and many of the skill sets that enabled me to go on and achieve what I have.

However, hand on heart, as soon as I started working, I've never once asked my parents for money, nor did they fund my career in any way, and that remains true to this day. Emotional support and encouragement, yes (which was priceless), but financially, no. Even when things were tough, and I was working 16-hour days and all-nighters in my business, to pay the bills, I never once asked them for financial assistance. It would've been easy, as they'd have given me it, but I wanted to stand on my own two feet and be successful (or not) without anyone else's input.

Del was the same. As soon as she was old enough, she supported herself and went her own way, without relying on her parents. The only time we inadvertently received some financial help was when we moved from Scotland to Wales, in 2000.

Del's mum was living on her own in Wrexham (in the house we are in now), and not in very good health. She'd had cancer three times, and it got the point where being up in Scotland, nearly 300 miles away from both of her parents (her dad also lived in Wrexham) was getting Del down, as she was always worried about her mum. So we decided to sell up and move to Wales, to be nearer both of her parents and look after them in their old age. I could easily transfer my business there, and Del was confident she could find another job, which she did.

The house we'd sold in Scotland was in a desirable and affluent area of Glasgow, which we'd bought at the right time for a good price, and done up considerably, so consequently made enough to pay off the mortgage and still be left with a significant sum - enough to buy a decent house in Wrexham outright, which was our intention, as property prices there were much lower than they were in Glasgow, and through all our hard work, we could now look forward to being mortgage free! And I was only 35 then.

Therefore, to save time and allow us to do a bit of house hunting locally, we moved into Del's mum's place. It was only meant to be a temporary measure, but her mum suggested that we make it permanent, thus allowing us to be there in case she needed full time care. I wasn't keen initially, as I like to have my own space, but Del wanted to do it, and I knew how important it was for her to be near her mum. Plus, we both liked the house, as we love old properties, and had stayed there many times in the past.

So I agreed to it on one condition: that we used the money we'd made from our house sale in Scotland, to buy the lodge from her, or a significant proportion at least, and then pay her back the rest, and that's the arrangement we settled upon. Unfortunately within a couple of years of us moving in, Del's mum got cancer for a fourth time, this time in her brain, which was terminal, and after many months of caring for her in a truly awful state, she died.

Now, like me, Del was an only child, and so in her will, her mum left her the house and what remained of the money we'd given her, which will be the same for me, with my dad's place, when he eventually passes away (although I'm certainly in no hurry for that to happen), and that's how we came to live here. So yes, we were fortunate in that sense. However, by that time I'd already made a success of the business and paid off our mortgage, so inheriting the house from Del's mum didn't change things from that perspective. It has, however, provided us with security for the future.

Anyway, you're right, you don't always know what life's going to throw at you, so you can only do your best and hope that things work out. I'm glad that you've done well, through hard work, and so is your daughter, and long may that continue

Marco.

[struth]

Yup I much depends on your financial nouse and of course how my h strain is on the purse and how big the purse is.
Think the point is majority of people still want to do best for kids financially and are usually not in as strong a position as a small business owner or have great paid jobs.
This means working more to get what "little Johnny" needs or wants.
It can be a huge struggle lasting the proverbial lifetime.

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[Marco]

Yup I much depends on your financial nouse and of course how my h strain is on the purse and how big the purse is.
Think the point is majority of people still want to do best for kids financially and are usually not in as strong a position as a small business owner or have great paid jobs.
This means working more to get what "little Johnny" needs or wants.
It can be a huge struggle lasting the proverbial lifetime.

Sure, I have no issue with that, although sometimes "little Johnny" needs taught that he can't always have everything he wants. Nothing worse than raising a spoiled brat, and making a rod for your own back!

Marco.

[struth]

Sure, I have no issue with that, although sometimes "little Johnny" needs taught that he can't always have everything he wants. Nothing worse than raising a spoiled brat, and making a rod for your own back!

Marco.

very much so.