Page 9 | To feel angry at how few people make a plan for their own old age

Pussycat22 · 10/07/2024 22:32

OptimismvsRealism, SHUT UP !!!

RaininSummer · 10/07/2024 22:27

HateMyselfToo · 10/07/2024 22:19

Downsizing isn't that easy either. Parents have a 4 bedroom detached house and were looking for a two bed bungalow, but couldn't make it affordable when you take into account estate agent / solicitor/moving fees and stamp duty.

I agree. I would like to move to a garden flat or bungalow but can't really afford a bungalow and decent ground floor flats with gardens are hard to find. The costs of moving are so high it will be hard too.

MustBeGinOclock · 10/07/2024 22:21

Member869894 · 10/07/2024 14:35

Maybe because they can barely make ends meet in the present?

This

HateMyselfToo · 10/07/2024 22:19

Downsizing isn't that easy either. Parents have a 4 bedroom detached house and were looking for a two bed bungalow, but couldn't make it affordable when you take into account estate agent / solicitor/moving fees and stamp duty.

charitynamechange · 10/07/2024 22:13

Senile? Really, OP?
I haven't heard that word used for a long time. And not once through my dear dad's battle with vascular dementia.

Anyhoo. A bigger problem is the huge number of unhealthy younger people. Talk about ticking time bomb. At 58 I'm fitter than my 34 year old niece. And she's a doctor. Yup.

I'm keeping my house with stairs and my big garden. They keep me fitter than festering in a flat would.

Strawberriesandpears · 10/07/2024 22:11

I think there are potential problems coming down the line for only children of older parents (if the parents do not make adequate plans for old age, which realistically would involve saving a lot of money to pay for care). It's going to put an awful lot of pressure on young adults (probably in their 30s) to be looking after elderly parents whilst possibly trying to start or look after their own family and battling with whatever the future has to bring too.

Holyaperoli · 10/07/2024 22:07

Well you might not believe it @OptimismvsRealism but google can help you with that. Pretty easy to find the statistics out there, pension expenditure per person varies from country to country as does healthcare. I'm in Switzerland and quality of life, health care, social welfare are much better than the UK.

Biggleslefae · 10/07/2024 22:03

if you really want to blame someone look at the government
I agree with this from@Holyaperoli it's the government who set the parameters within which we all have to operate, try and make things work etc

Hedgeoffressian · 10/07/2024 21:54

It’s really none of your business OP

HungryLittleCrocodile · 10/07/2024 21:51

OptimismvsRealism · 10/07/2024 14:34

We are all going to end up in a bad way unless we're lucky enough to drop down dead unexpectedly

Why do most people live in denial?

What business is it of yours exactly @OptimismvsRealism ?

gmgnts · 10/07/2024 21:47

'Senile' is no longer an acceptable term for older people. This thread is horribly ageist. It is perfectly possible - common, even - to be fit and healthy and in great shape cognitively in one's 70s and 80s. There was a thread about it recently, where posters chipped in with stories of relatives in their 90s who live independent and fulfilled lives.

Original poster

OptimismvsRealism · 10/07/2024 21:41

Holyaperoli · 10/07/2024 21:39

As if it was that easy OP!
My mum is mid 70s, worked as a nurse for the NHS for 45 years, retired at 70 after getting cancer, got paid peanuts, crap pension. Unfortunately she didn't have a crystal ball to make plans for the brain hemorrhage she had at 47, or that she wouldn't be able to work for over a year ormy dad leaving her as a single parent, or having cancer.

I live abroad now and I can tell you there are better countries out there, with better systems, better pension provision, more support for those who need it and if you really want to blame someone look at the government.

I don't believe anywhere has adequate care. Everywhere is the same when you're senile.

OP posts:

Holyaperoli · 10/07/2024 21:39

As if it was that easy OP!
My mum is mid 70s, worked as a nurse for the NHS for 45 years, retired at 70 after getting cancer, got paid peanuts, crap pension. Unfortunately she didn't have a crystal ball to make plans for the brain hemorrhage she had at 47, or that she wouldn't be able to work for over a year ormy dad leaving her as a single parent, or having cancer.

I live abroad now and I can tell you there are better countries out there, with better systems, better pension provision, more support for those who need it and if you really want to blame someone look at the government.

BloodyHellKenAgain · 10/07/2024 21:07

Biggleslefae · 10/07/2024 19:56

I doubt that @OptimismvsRealism thinks that.

However, if you think it through it will (by default) be mostly the poor who are euthanised whilst the well off live comfortably in their later years.

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That's a pretty unpleasant thought.

Tagyoureit · 10/07/2024 20:43

OptimismvsRealism · 10/07/2024 14:53

I don't need their inheritance, I've got a job. They should spend everything they've got while they can enjoy it.

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They should spend everything they've got while they can enjoy it.

That literally contradicts what you say, spending all your money whilst you can is not saving for your old age, is it?

RaininSummer · 10/07/2024 20:33

I would like it to be possible to painlessly kill myself if I decide old age is too much for me (hoping for another 20 years yet though). Guess it will have to be pills, booze and bag on the head as I can't afford dignitas.

MereDintofPandiculation · 10/07/2024 20:30

Melisha · 10/07/2024 20:02

@MereDintofPandiculation That is nit the case in the UK unless self funded. You have to be in a bad way for the state to fund a care home.

????? I don't think I've said anything about the state funding a care home. Which post of mine are you replying to?

JustAnotherHappyFatty · 10/07/2024 20:19

My plan is a large bottle of wine and a lot of tablets unless I win the lottery 🤷‍♀️

charitynamechange · 10/07/2024 20:13

@MereDintofPandiculation absolutely! My sister was worse than my parents in obstructing the provision of proper care for them. Awful.

Melisha · 10/07/2024 20:02

@MereDintofPandiculation That is nit the case in the UK unless self funded. You have to be in a bad way for the state to fund a care home.

Rainbowsponge · 10/07/2024 20:01

MereDintofPandiculation · 10/07/2024 19:59

It’s easier as an only. Siblings rarely share the load equally and rarely agree on what should be done.

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Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t, as with anything in life you don’t know until it happens

MereDintofPandiculation · 10/07/2024 19:59

Strawberriesandpears · 10/07/2024 18:53

I think people with an only child should think very carefully about how much they expect from their child in old age.

I am an only child, as are some of my friends, and we are all extremely worried and under a lot of pressure regarding supporting our parents.

It’s easier as an only. Siblings rarely share the load equally and rarely agree on what should be done.

Biggleslefae · 10/07/2024 19:56

BloodyHellKenAgain · 10/07/2024 19:44

OP, are you seriously suggesting poorer, old people commit suicide?

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I doubt that @OptimismvsRealism thinks that.

However, if you think it through it will (by default) be mostly the poor who are euthanised whilst the well off live comfortably in their later years.

MereDintofPandiculation · 10/07/2024 19:53

RichieRich64 · 10/07/2024 19:41

Yes, but there is a good saying: expect the worst, hope for the best and take what comes. On average, most people won't get MND. And 97.5% of people over 65 stay in their own homes. That 2.5% will no doubt be heavily composed of the over 80s. Planning if its possible, is a smart move but I get that many people can't and can only live for the moment.

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That’s the percentage of over 65s in a care/nursing home at any one time, not the percentage who will need a nursing home/care home at some time. I can’t find the figure for the UK, but 39% of women in Australia will end up in a care home, and the figure for the US is nearer 60%.

FyodorDForever · 10/07/2024 19:52

A lot more people could save, they just choose to spend instead. Abroad holidays, dinners and night outs, branded food or clothes, etc. Of course we need to live but we don’t need everything right away. I suspect that a good number of people who can’t afford to save have a flight booked this summer for example.