Good evening.
I was asked about retirement. When is a good time to stop work. How much money do you need to save before you can retire. I don't know what the official retirement age is at the moment, the Government keep changing the goal posts. I can only share my thoughts and experiences on the subject. A short answer is, you decide when you are going to retire, don't wait for someone to give you permission. Get your finances in order, pay off your debts, credit cards and loans, then get a pension forecast to see how much you will be entitled to.
For the third time this weekend I have been litter picking. It gets me out for a walk. My bag is full, I could have filled another one but it gets quite heavy with bottles and cans. I will have to go back another day.
Another letter arrived today from tv licensing. It was addressed to The Present Owner. Because I have ignored the last two they sent, they might be wondering if the house has new owners. The tone of the letters become more threatening, they are desperate to grab as much money as they can.
Please get in touch to avoid further action.
It is our duty to ensure that everyone who needs a licence has one, so we have started an investigation into your property.
To stop the investigation please do one of the following. Bla bla bla.
If we don't hear from you we will have to schedule a visit to your address.
Once you have contacted us we will cancel the investigation.
I am following the Black Belt Barrister on this subject because he is in exactly the same position as I am. Not had a tele for many years, always declared licence not needed, got fed up of this annual ritual. He is ready to sue them for harassment.
Now I must clock out because Mayze wants a cuddle.
Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip. ilona
I retired one month before my 66th birthday. Here we can retire at 65 and collect our full government pension, if you leave at 60 the monthly payment is reduced. My work pension would also have been reduced if I had left before 65 as I didn't have 35 years service.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a learning curve. Everything was paid for. I even went part time for the last few years because the reduced income would be similar to what my pensions amount to.
Well, we have two government pensions here. One that we pay into and another based on a mystical government calculation. I requested that my two federal pensions and my provincial pension start at the same time (tax reasons). Well, long story short, six months wasn't enough time for the feds. The paid into pension started bang on time with my provincial occupational pension. The secondary federal pension is now four months in arrear. Whenever I call them, it's the same story "there's a backlog and it hasn't been processed yet".
Meanwhile refugees claims start right away (and they receive more than I do after working nearly 50 years)
Thank you for telling it how it is in your part of the world. It seems like all Governments have a backlog for every transaction. They will try and wriggle out of fulfilling their obligations to us the people who have paid into the system for many years. Staying afloat becomes a mammoth task. I am sure they would be happy to see us quietly disappear
DeleteWe both officially retired in our mid-50's. With elderly parents nearing the end of their lives and needing lots of support and me being a carer for our disabled son, something had to give. Rather than our sanity we decided that it had to be work. Our parents have now died, but I am still a carer, so in that way I have not retired at all. The big difference now is that I have another person at home to help me.
ReplyDeleteSuccessive governments have talked about getting the voluntarily retired back into work completely ignoring the fact that there are often good reasons why those people chose to retire in the first place. They never talk about how carers allowance is much less than the minimum wage, how carers are severely restricted in what they can earn on top of receiving carers allowance, nor about how much people caring for family members save the state each year. Funny that!
There must be a heck of lot of people in a similar situation to yourself. This move towards a Great Reset, a Global Economy, is the plan which will bring the whole infrastructure come crashing down. Every disaster is linked towards that end. The rich will continue to rob the poor. I wish I could offer some solutions for you.
DeleteI retired four years ago due to illness. But then my hubby became poorly with mental health issues and I care for him. But like you, I have him to help around our home and garden. He is happy and so am I. We are both homebirds and content with very little.
DeleteWe see others always trying to keep up with the neighbours and feel blessed to be living a quiet and simple life.
I would like to nominate you for citizen of the year award for the valuable service you are providing the community, and a very happy new year to you and your little family
ReplyDeleteMarie Horsham Australia