Summer, Mars bars and pensions

There are some things the really used to be a lot better than they are now. Summers were hotter, winters did have more snow, Mars bars were a LOT bigger and pensions used to allow people to actually retire. I mention this last point because although I am quite a few years off retirement yet, it is clear to me that by the time I get there I will not be able to enjoy my retirement in the way the brochures advertise it.

And the reason is simple. In days gone by, people worked until they were 65, transitioned from 'work' to 'not-work' overnight and after a year or so of discovering that work had been a useful distraction from the rest of their lives, promptly stopped living. Today, and looking forward, the chance of a full time job until 55, let alone 65 is pretty remote and with modern health benefits, we (touch wood) will be outlooking 90+ not 70+. Twenty more years retirement from ten less years less time to save for it. Hmm, do the 'math' as our friend across the pond would say.

There are plenty of pension calculators around (Google 'Pension Calculator') but they all give the same depressing message; "No you can't afford to". But maybe it's time to shift our thinking? Maybe the idea of going from 40 years of "work" straight to a long period of "not-work" is not the right approach in any case? Should we be trying to learn skills why we are in work that offer employment opportunities as we get older? Two days a week working in a bar does not sound too bad, neither does working a few days in a supermarket or the like. There must be plenty of low hour and flexible jobs for more experienced people?

So maybe it's our expectations we need to be focusing on and not just the size of our pension pot? Not-work might not be such a great idea after all!

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