to be feeling a bit french over having to work til 66!!

[babymutha]

Sixty Flippin Six!!! is the plan to make sure most of us die shortly after (or before) reaching retirement age?

Get your marchin boots on?

I can see why people who are on benefits stay on them as long as they can, though, tbh.

The retirement age for women was always planned to go up anyway, that's not new. It was just brought in a few years earlier than expected.

I think it's right that the pension age is the same for men and women and we know it's not possible to lower the retirement age.

Expat, I agree with you. I am sick of the thought of having to work bloody harder, for less money for the current pensioners to maintain their free bus passes, TV licences and winter fuel allowances when a number clearly don't need it.

Not everyone is in it together to help the country out of the mess it is in.

Soory, expat, I didn't make myself clear; you said you refuse to toil away etc, and the only alternative to toiling away, paying taxes and so on is to live on benefits yourself, surely? Or are you suggesting tax evasion?

(I think you're just expressing your anger, really?)

I could always leave the country, Lady.

You left that one out.

And no, I'm not just expressing anger, but feeling it.

I'm truly fucked off that pensions are the biggest proportion of the 'welfare' spend, and yet the only one left untouched save increasing the age by a smidge a few years earlier than they would have, anyhow.

I think universal benefits for pensioners should end, too. Immediately. And be linked to Pension Tax Credit or DLA.

The retirement age is 68 for people of my age. I expect it to get to 70+ by the time I get to that age. At least it gives us longer to save up!

Sorry if someone has already said this but:

The retirement age of 60/65 was set many years ago when life expectancy was about 68 years.

Therefore people were only ever expected to have a short period of retirement before dying. They were also likely to be pretty frail by retirement age. And many jobs involved tough physical labour.

In the meantime, life expectancy and health into later years has improved dramatically. Most people now in middle age will live into their late 70s or 80s, and are very healthy at 60. Also, most jobs are less physically demanding now.

For some strange reason, the retirement age has not gone up to match. As a result some people are spending up to a third of their life in retirement. This is madness.

It is entirely sensible that the retirement age goes up. The real question is why hasn't it happened before now.

The rationale some French students gave for supporting the action against raising the state pension age was 'If all these old people keep on working, there will be no jobs for us!!' Not concerned about the poor olddears running themselves into the ground but more moi, moi, moi. Whatever happened to fraternite?

Why shouldn't women have to work to the same age as men?

But there are some professions where people are forced to retire before they want to like medics and judges on grounds of mental competency. We can look after our bodies to 90 odd but I know very few who are still sound in mind and body at that age.

"pensioners were completely untouched."

Maybe they keep the controversial winter fuel allowance but with 25% cuts going down the pipe to local governments plenty of services enjoyed by the elderly will have to go. And the Health Service (mostly used by pensioners) may be getting an increase in budget but treatments are more expensive and there will be more elderly people to be treated.

I wouldn't be too envious of the over 65's right now if I were you.

66 isn't the retirement age, it's the age when the state pension will start.

We could still all retire earlier like the baby boomer generation but, like them, would have to have a personal pension in place to provide an income until we reach state pension age.

My parents passed away at age 58 (dad) and 63 (mum).

I am 49 and honestly can't imagine working until I am 66. Bits of me nearly fall off at the moment!! I have to constantly check I have not left any of my body parts on my patients by accident.

If I worked in an office, maybe. But being on your feet for 12 hours a day, sometime (most times) without a break at 66!!

Also think, if a patient had a cardiac arrest, how long would it take for a geriatric (me) nurse to go and get the arrest trolley.

I tell you, we're all doomed.......

(Thinking of taking up French lessons).

I'll have to work til 68.

Please, please please don't all go 'all French' and start demonstrating like they do here. Am currently living in France & yesterday woman at the checkout offered me money to tell her the name of my village where there was still petrol in the pump.

Its all a bloody nightmare. The sooner Sarko sends in the troops to run the refineries, the better. Our system is so much more sane.

Why shouldn't women have the same state pension age as men considering we have a higher life expectancy.

When I started work the retirement age for women was 60, then they upped it to 65 for women born after a certain year, now it's 66! I'm not happy with the one year rise.

We just sit back and let them eat away at our meagre state pension provision. We should take a leaf out of the french book they are striking about retiring at 62!

88 is not old. I'm 53 and have only recently got a pemenant job ( I don't mean I've never had a permenabt job before now but I've ben doing supply for years). Anyway I'm happy to work until I'm 66.

well- I think 88 is getting on a bit personally

66 - now that's still young.

on-he-hon-he-hon
[puts molotov cocktail into Chanel bag, dons beret and obligatory lipstick, saunters out into the chill night air leaving child asleep in bed to fend for self]