Increasing retirement age and health

Oh dear, ungoed, it sounds like you've had a very rough time of late. So sorry.

Do whatever you can to make your life more relaxing. They say we are all living longer but when I look around friends and acquaintances, I find it hard to believe; quite a few are suffering from life threatening conditions!

Yep, it's definitely time to cultiver that jardin.

 

While some schools may be losing staff, the national trend is very much the reverse.

From http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-26973916

.......This snapshot of people working in England's schools last November shows that the workforce grew every year in the previous eight years, regardless of changes in government or economic cycles.

The number of teachers rose by about 9,000 compared with 2012, driven by a surge in the birthrate and rising primary school rolls. There are now 451,100 full-time-equivalent teachers and 471,000 assistants and support staff. ...... overall staff numbers, including teaching assistants, have climbed continuously in the years since 2005 - up from about 700,000 full-time-equivalent posts to 922,000 in 2013........

 

Because you might not make it to retirement age you do need a plan B.

 

Sometimes I marvel at the fact that we are so bloody accepting in this country. We prefer the stiff upper lip and all that jazz. The French would never have it. They made enough fuss about the state pension age being raised to 62! We are so bloody passive. They have effectively robbed me of six years of state pension and I fail to see it any other way. I was always led to believe I would get my state pension at 60. Millions of British pensioners live on a much lower state pension than their European counterparts. Dunteachin, I have had a very good life. I have known better times than these. Very much better. I climbed Kilimanjaro at 50, travelled the world and have seen much more than most. So I can?t complain and there is not a hint of self pity in all this. I just can?t believe this country anymore. I mean that. The gap widens and people like myself seem to be required to make more and more sacrifices.

 

I'm very miffed that I can't get my state pension next year, too!

 

Ungoed, you say that you don't "understand" why the state pension age is increasing. This is a direct result of increased longevity. It's as simple as that.

 

welshskyline, I really don't give a damn. I mean that. I was promised one thing and now I face another. I am thoroughly disillusioned by a system into which I have paid and not reaped what I feel are my 'just rewards.' I will die quite young. I have lived hard. I have made no claims on the system. Longevity? I'm sure that won't be me. I still reel from what has actually gone on in this country. Perhaps euthanasia is preferable to poverty. I certainly would champion it for myself. Maybe making people dodder around on crutches is less compromising morally for our political parties. I have certainly signed my form regarding 'dying in service.' It is far from bloody simple actually and we British are so spineless in terms of our rights.

 

Keep the aspidistra flying.

 

God love us.

 

'To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again: and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself. That was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word 'doublethink' involved the use of doublethink.'

 

We are certainly part of a society which looks to the Ministry of Truth.

 

If it's any comfort to you, the French pension is a little more complex than you assume and unless someone has worked for the full number of trimesters their pension will be reduced from the age of 62 under the reforms and has been reduced from age 60 in the past.

You are in a position to take your pension and lump sum soon , with only a small actuarial reduction and you can stop work , if that is the cause of your stress/illness.

Remember that you won't pay NI on your pension.

 

I suppose that I am extremely frustrated by my condition, i.e. Plantar psoriasis. It seems totally absurd that a year ago I was fit and healthy and now I am laid low by this (which is chronic yet not life threatening). It is nonetheless extremely bloody painful. I can hardly believe it in truth. No skin on my feet, which are often cut and terribly sore. Not good for a teacher! In the last year, I have taken no time off. I have no tolerance for absence, which is why I can?t possibly go down the disability route. I have taken my decisions, but in truth, I am quite depressed by the whole business. Anyway, the state pension business is an issue for me. Can increased life expectancy really be blamed for Social Security's woes? Can increased life expectancy be the basis for increasing the age of retirement? I am really not convinced. We believe what we are told and simply accept it. Medicine may help us survive illnesses, but it does not hold back the natural aging process. Maybe longevity is a crisis in itself.

 

If you are ill, you should not go to work. If you are not fit enough - in the opinion of the medical profession - to work, then you should listen to them. No one likes a martyr! If you are disabled, then don't let your pride stop you taking it....

And, though your colleagues may not want to tell you this, it is likely that your pupils are suffering too as you may well not be performing at the level you think you are...

A good reason for getting out now, I'd say....

 

Here?s the odd thing. I work in three different subject areas and people like having me around (even though I might seem like a grumpy old bag on this site). I am versatile and get ?goods? in my observations. I make no fuss about anything and cause no ripples. I also mark consistently. Perhaps I am not what I was when I was young, but the kids seem to be happy with me and like me in the main. I enjoy young people. I am just mad that I am running out of steam because of my feet. I feel furious that I am plagued with this. Anyway I will deal with it and thanks for all your comments. I feel I am working through a process. However, I am very mad about the state pension business and I will never understand why people in this country do not realise how much they have been robbed. And it amounts to a great deal per person.

 

The earlier state pension age of 60 for women was unfair in the 21st Century : why should women have been able to get their state pension five years earlier than men, particularly as women tend to live longer than men?

The equalisation of men's and women's state pension ages was first announced in 1995 so it's not entirely unexpected, although it has been brought forward in recent years.

The original reason for giving women a state pension age of 60 is no longer relevant ( it dates back to 1940).

 

You know old_dobbin, I entirely disagree with you on this one. I have brought up two children on my own (the singular parent syndrome) since the ages of 5 and 7. I managed and did a reasonable job. I am no feminist however. I have just done my job, whilst working full time. I simply maintain that in general, women bear the brunt of most things (with the odd exception). Men tend to have better pensions with usually unbroken work records. Women hold approximately 1% of the world?s wealth and represent about 40% of the labour force. Get real. Of course we need different treatment. It stands to reason.

 

I always felt the pension age should be equal, but at the lower age.

 

And as the pension ages rises and we have to work to 68, 70 or longer who will be volunteering for all the 'Big Society' stuff Uncle Dave spoke about.

Off the top of my head, in my local area the following wont be able to function:

the Church and the Chapel in my community (though no believer, I recognize the sterling work they have done for the less fortunate,the sick, the bereaved etc)

the charity shops

local groups fundraising for charities (cancer research, Macmillan nurses etc)

4-5 wildlife/environmental charities, woods etc

numerous families where parents rely on grandparents to help with child care

the very elderly who survive in their own homes due to the voluntary efforts of he younger retired.

Such retirees' volunteering has a massive economic and social value to society.

 

Forgot this one.....

the local Conservative Association might struggle as well.