The Elderly. Try and put yourself into their shoes.

The 'grey pound'... the spend accounted for by the 11m+ people of retirement age in the UK, is now worth £100bn apparently. And spend on consumer goods by people in the 65 - 74 age range is expected to increase by 40% this year. Health prospects in retirement are better and life-expectancy is increasing.

That's another perspective

Thanks very much Cityhobgoblin for responding to what I posted your advice is very useful.

Hmm, free university education and several hundred percent house price appreciation.

Things are looking pretty good to me from the elderly perspective.

MUMSINBED. Agree with you that a 'blanket' of putting up pensions is not targeted enough, their needs to be an inquiry into why 9 old people die a day, apparently from the cold. It's a disgrace, that needs serious consideration from the Government.

LOL at Ivanhoe being banned by SAGA! Please...I've not noticed ANY postings that MNs couldn't handle!

PMSL @ getting banned from Saga.

My dad (about to turn 65) can remember from childhood public information films telling people (in very clear and graphic terms) that unless they save for themselves they will have a miserable retirement as the state pension is only very basic. Now if that was in his childhood then all of his generation has had a whole lifetime and the one above him has had much of their working life to act.

There will of course be people older than that (aged 90+) and people who have always been too poor to save but they are a small minority. They do need to be taken care of but a blanket putting up of pension is not targeted enough.

There are dozens of internet forums where Ivanhoe has posted the same topic under different names. And whenever anyone disagrees with him he simply resorts to abuse. Saga had to ban him for being abusive to other posters.

"So what are we going to do not just about today's elderly, but about tomorrow's elderly?" The only thing we can do to preserve or reconfigure any sort of provision is form groups to debate & to formulate srategies.

Kerstina, I felt the same & some years ago joined the SWP plus a couple of campaigning groups in my area such as, currently, an anti cuts group & Stop the War. It is very satisfying to feel you're doing your best to keep the possibility of a positive future alive(how patronising am I!) .. we have plenty of SWP members locally in their 60s and 70s and they are more active than ever, & I can imagine myself in later life being glad I stayed involved. My county now has a ....shire Socialists group whose members have made our own constitution, manifesto & campaigns, & it's growing fast. We're comprised of Labour, SWP, Respect members & members of none - the SWP site has details of these local groups, only a few atm

You can & will reevaluate your position throught your time in whichever group/s you work with ,so don't feel too strait- jacketed by each of the parties' declared policies until you've spent a year or so debating and reading round your chosen party's approach to current to the issues you're interested in. I'd suggest you read the morning Star and Socialist Worker Online,the blog Socialist Unity,the sites of the major unions,online Green Party & Labour Party material, obviously and join your local anti- cuts group, where you'll meet members of each. Obviously I'd recommend you visit your nearest SWP branch meeting & seeing whether the weekly meeting which features a member's talk on an issue & lots of debate about it, interests you. Your local Labour branch will probably be easiest to relate to, with a more "typical" and "realistic" membership...you'll decide for yourself.

Clearly the Greens adress urgent issues y but I haven't felt personally that they present any coherent method of changing the world , nor am I by their methods of grass roots organisation, and I hope I'm proven wrong about them in time.
Sorry to sound so irritating, & I hope you find good people to work with.

As I've said in another post most of the elderly I worked with as a Social Worker were poor, impoverished and neglected.

If we are paying into the state pension, then why should we not get it? Whatever our circumstances, otherwise the Government are stealing our money aren't they?

I do feel that by the time I reach pensionable age, they will have 'done away' with it. Anyone with a private pension, will not get the state pension they have paid into.

I would never rely on the state pension, I think you can opt out can't you? I have put money into property. It's seems safer than paying contributions and then not getting your pension.

How do you know I'm British?

And I didn't say a pet topic couldn't be a national disgrace. As a matter of fact I do think that there is something very wrong with retirement planning in this country - but not simply because the Gov spends £££ on e.g. Overseas aid, which, I guess, is what you mean by upholding Third World countries. I, for one, as a UK taxpayer, am very happy for some of my taxed income to be directed at the Third World. Just as I am for some of it to go towards pensions for today's pensioners, particularly those who are totally reliant on the State.

And that's all I'm going to say on the topic.

That's a rather mystifying statement. :) Beware the Ides of March, etc. I don't think I do live in a black and white world. I live very much in a bet-hedging, risk-aware, anything-could-happen kind of world.

I told you I was mid-forties so would it be reasonable to ask how old are you? And have you had a particular misfortune with retirement planning that makes you so anxious about the future?

Gramercy

Hmmm, I wondered who Ivanhoe is. It seemed like a fair q when I first saw it, although, judging by the archives, one that s/he raises fairly frequently for whatever reason. But I guess most of us have our pet topics, People's Friend journalist or no.....

"//////But younger people... those born post 1960... have, for the last 30+ years, had every opportunity not to fall into the same trap. /////// Please elaberate ?"

Elaborating with pleasure. In 1979 the way pensions were calculated changed amid quite an uproar. That's 32 years ago. In the interim there have been any number of tax-free incentives to save... TESSAs, PEPs, ISAs etc.... we've been given tax relief on pension contributions, the 'portable pension', the 'stakeholder pension', 'top up contributions'. There are frequent news stories on 'the demographic time-bomb'. So someone retiring today age 65 - unlike those who retired 20 years ago - has had 30 years of opportunity, warning and less than subtle encouragement from successive governments to put a bit by for their retirement.

If you want to really experience some moaning pensioners, read Yours magazine. I was particularly proud of getting a really whingey letter published saying there should be special pensioner discounts on fishpaste and Spam in the supermarket (I put dh's name at the bottom!!) and getting a £10 shopping voucher. Tee hee.

My children are my pension, I make a point of being bloody lovely to them so they will look after me, my aunt is a care assistant who visits the elderly in their own homes. The ones who have no family who visit them you can usually see the families point after being with them for half an hour.

"And as stated, private pensions are totally insecure. It is only "The State" which is secure, but it is demonised."

Private pensions, like any investment, present a risk. A savings account presents less risk but possibly not the same reward. A home is not a secure investment but, historically, has been less risky than some. "The State" on the other hand is entirely dependent on what government happens to be in charge and - politics being what it is - short-term election-winning strategies often trump long-term measures, especially if they are prudent but unpopular. It is anything but secure.

I can spread my risk across savings, property, pensions best I can. And if unfortunately I fnd myself face down in the gutter I'd like to think the my family,friends, the state or a charity would give me a leg up again. But to put all my eggs in one basket and deliberately rely on a bunch of politicians to look after me in my old age I think would be a new definition of insanity.

My nan gets the People's Friend. There's usually a painting of a boat in rocky waters on the front and a teaser line like:

"COOKERY - How to use up the powdered egg from 1948!"

or "Slippers - Are you toasty toed?"

I wonder if ivanhoe might be a journalist for the People's Friend?

I don't think they will enjoy reading the responses on MN then

say they can't afford it - when I say Social Services might help them finance their care they tend to say that they have too much savings for that!

This is my MIL £50k in the bank but just thinks it's not right she should have to pay and trots out the i've worked all my life bollox, she worked all her life and so should not have to clean her own flat after an operation and should not have to pay either. I really do struggle to be sympathetic if i'm honest.

I wonder if ivanhoe might be a journalist for the People's Friend?