Retirement (or Last of the Summer Wine)

About a dozen years ago my brother and I were sitting in my sister's lounge reminiscing. His comment, "We've had good lives haven't we our kid," struck me as near to the truth as anyone can get. We'd never had a lot of money but we'd made the best of the situations we found ourselves in. In the 1960s the army had taken us both to parts of the world we would have never seen otherwise. He and I had been brought up to respect others, and to us that meant other people's cultures too. Wherever we were in the world we were willing to learn how other people lived. And, just like us, it was a case of them trying to make the best of the situation. Even if we couldn't speak each others' language we somehow managed to communicate. My brother was 'laid back'. Some of his army colleagues could not have coped with what they regarded as isolation running a troops 'bath unit' on the shores of the Malacca Straits. "What was not to like when the locals took me out fishing almost every day? And meals with their families - terrific!" Strangely that never appeared in any of the reports he had to write. Retirement gives us the chance to reminisce and to do the things we didn't get chance to do during our working lives. To some it means sitting in front of the goggle box waiting for bed-time to come around again. Not me! When there are any good programs to watch I am always too busy so have to catch them on iPlayer when I get the time. When it is my time to go I plan to be cremated. And when that curtain comes across I hope there is someone with sufficient wit to announce "That's all folks"

Today . . . . . . I paid 121.9p per litre for petrol - that's the lowest price I've paid in four years (almost to the day - I paid 117.9p on 15 Nov 2010) Today . . . . . . I received notification that my Winter Fuel Payment will be soon winging its way to MR Towers Today . . . . . . I booked an appointment with the dentist for a tooth extraction next week Today . . . . . . I had half of a big toe nail removed by a local podiatrist - actually, that should be a as it feels so much better! Isn't retirement fun?

Midland Red, hi, you said, isn't retirement fun. Sure is for me. I worked ten years for a firm, been paying me pension for over twenty-seven years since. Yeh! just received my notification, Winter Fuel Payment too. No car, no pay-out, steady walk along the cliff top, suits me fine, I don't have to bother where the tea-towel is, wife tells me. Cheers, Kaga.

No nursing home for us. We'll be checking into a Holiday Inn! With the average cost for a nursing home care costing £188.00 per day, there is a better way when we get old and too feeble. I've already checked on reservations at the Holiday Inn. For a combined long term stay discount and senior discount, it's £59.23 per night. Breakfast is included, and some have happy hours in the afternoon. That leaves £128.77 a day for lunch and dinner in any restaurant we want, or room service, laundry, gratuities and special TV movies. Plus, they provide a spa, swimming pool, a workout room, a lounge and washer-dryer, etc. Most have free toothpaste and razors, and all have free shampoo and soap. £5 worth of tips a day you'll have the entire staff scrambling to help you. They treat you like a customer, not a patient. There's a bus stop out front, and seniors ride free. For a change of scenery, take the airport shuttle bus and eat at one of the nice restaurants there. While you're at the airport, fly somewhere. Otherwise, the cash keeps building up. It takes months to get into decent nursing homes. Holiday Inn will take your reservation today. And you're not stuck in one place forever - you can move from Inn to Inn, or even from city to city. Want to see Scotland? They have Holiday Inn there too. TV broken? Light bulbs need changing? Need a mattress replaced? No problem. They fix everything, and apologize for the inconvenience. The Inn has a night security person and daily room service. The maid checks to see if you are ok. If not, they'll call an ambulance - or the undertaker. If you fall and break a hip, NHS will pay for the hip, and Holiday Inn will upgrade you to a suite for the rest of your life. And no worries about visits from family. They will always be glad to find you, and probably check in for a few days mini-vacation. The grandkids can use the pool. What more could I ask for?

Thanks for the tip Norman. Don't all rush at once folks!!

I was what you called in the fifties a drop-out, a lazy-so-and-so and all the other names I endured. But right from a kid there was never enough hours in the day for me. In 1977 I took on a ten-rod plot of allotment, also a job with an insurance firm. 1985 and it was obvious computers would take over the bulk of the work, people began to worry, not me, if money was on the table I would grab it, that's what happened, been drawing pension 27 years now, but at 60 I still needed more till I was 65, So I got a small part time job with St Dunstans plus a lot of voluntary stuff, had time to travel, plus time to do long distance walks some with blind ex-soldiers, great company. Never had a minute to spare, three years ago gave up the ten-rod plot, took on something much larger, but like everyone I had my bad times. I had Tb in 85, but retirement for me was and is some of the best years of my life, right now I've met you good people and I'm still learning.

Here's another name for you Kaga, a 'Plodder'. You plod on regardless, good luck to you.

Thank you dreamtime, hope you're not getting washed away out there, even if it is warm, thinking of sending you a picture of me in my 'longjohns', can't remember if it's a turn on or turn off we used to say way back.

Hi Kaga, more like shrivelled up rather than washed away. No rain now for at least the next goodness knows how many months.

Ha Dreamtime, look at the nice places you can go, the breeze from Freemantle, the ferry across the Swan, you must have seen the view out of my window, by MR. I sit there with my sack of coconuts and count the waves? So watch for me, might drift by sometime.

Pixrobin, yeh , like we used to say in the fire brigade, that damn fire's going to catch upon us one of these days, and as Sinatra said, 'the final curtain'. Hey that song really fits me like a glove.

Ah, you mean the Fremantle Doctor (name of the Freo breeze). Too many sharks out there for me lately. We are off to Guilderton for the Christmas hols, just up the coast a little way. If you see three ladies & three dogs frolicking in the sand that's us, give us a hearty wave (don't forget the wine)

Hi all This is not a new news article, but it is so obvious that ignorance is bliss on this issue of retirement pensions. So I am posting the link again on our forum here. It does not make good reading for so many folk. Revealed: Why millions won't get the £155 new state pension they're expecting I still keep hearing folk who are already pensioners, so convinced that they are in for a windfall in 2016. Part of the confusion is because MPs have not been clear about it. Vince Cable, in a speech claimed that is was such an achievement for the collision government, that it was the new flat rate pension for all. I heard him say that, so I do not need to rely on journalism. What he stated was a load of rubbish, as the news article makes clear! Whilst some changes might be made, I do believe that this news article from last year about sums it up. My hope is that our forum members & friends will at least be aware of the facts, rather than political blurb which so many folk are. Current facts: If you are currently receiving your state pension, or are entitled to receive it before April 2016, you will NOT receive the new flat rate. If you have not paid the minimum period of stamp payment requirements - you will NOT receive the new flat rate. The only folk who will receive the new flat rate are those who reach pension age in April 2016, & for those, unless they have sorted their correct value stamp payments, with regards to any private pension provision, may find that they lose out too. The BBC made this statement on 12 Jan 2015 - Only 45% of new pensioners will be entitled to the full, new, flat-rate state pension. That is less than half, but not half of all pensioners. Less than half of just the new pensioners coming on stream in April 2016. State pension: 'Only 45%' to get full new payout This is why the current collision government are not having nightmares in affording the new flat rate, as so few will be eligible to receive it. It will be a decade before it starts to cost, by which time it will be another governments nightmare.