I read in my newspaper recently that babies born today are not likely to receive a state pension until they are 77, and their children will be working into their eighties. In other words, people born today face working from 17 to 77 unless they make substantial contributions into a privately funded pension scheme. Such predictions make me feel quite young for my 73 years, however, I am unable to comprehend that one day in the future I would be required to work another 4 years before I could collect my state pension.
As I approached the age of 65, I was advised to take the money from my private pension schemes as the monthly pension benefits were not going to increase with age. I did, however, defer taking the state pension until I was 70, in favour of an increased weekly amount. This was no hardship as I was still in employment. With the combined total of all my pensions on reaching 70, I was able to reduce my financial burden on the company and take a salary cut. I was no worse off and my companys cash-flow was improved. I have still to decide on if and when I retire.
On the subject of retirement, Jeremy Clarkson (not my favourite person since he made derogatory remarks about my hometown Birmingham) had a feature published recently under the heading: Welcome to the 54th series of Top Gear. Im 77 you know. In it he speculates on his dream of when he can wake up without an alarm and spend hours pottering about in the greenhouse, killing insects and wearing a jumper with holes in it. No more 5am starts and no more deadlines.
Interestingly, his dream took a dive as he found himself in a period of temporary retirement. He goes on to say that it is without any doubt the worst thing in the world. He spent all day inventing things to do, and then inventing reasons why it is better to do all those things the next day. He looked in the fridge every half an hour to see if by some miracle he had missed a plate of cold sausages on his previous 16 visits. He looked at stupid things on the internet and read manuals.
He goes out and has a glass or two of wine with lunch, but there is no one for him to go out with as they are all working. Then he thinks, there is no reason not to finish off the bottle. Back home, he goes back on the internet and buys something else that he neither wants nor needs. Basically, its just ticking away the moments that make up a dull day, as a wise man once said.
Retirement may conjure up visions of lemon barley water and grandchildren and a nicely tended garden by the sea, but actually its a period of catastrophic boredom that has only one ending: death, writes Jeremy.
Im not sure I share his concluding sentiments, suggesting we should rejoice at the economic turmoil that means we now have an excuse to keep at it until we are 77. Neither do I think that emptying the lavatories at an Indian army base in the tropics, is better than not having a job at all.
I am sure that there are many people in this country who are finding satisfaction in their retirement. There are, however, a number of us, including Jeremy and myself, who do not relish the idea that the world no longer requires our industrial efforts. The thought of rising late every morning, pottering around in the kitchen and racking ones brains as to how to fill in the day, has no appeal to me whatsoever. Getting my disparagingly high golf handicap down would be an interesting challenge, but could not replace my need for the varied challenges affecting my daily working life.
So what is my general advice for those still in work? Firstly, if you are in good health, be sure you want to retire before taking such an important step. Secondly, dont neglect your contributions to a pension scheme. You dont need to retire to collect a pension, be it a private or state pension.
by John Swain