Eating Soup

I have just finished one of the most relaxing vacations I have ever had. The only downside of the well needed break was to highlight to me the gap between it and my 'normal' life. I feel so much better for a week of fresh air and either walking or doing nothing...neither of which are exactly expensive activities. So why don't I do more of this? Simply the lack of time! Working harder and harder to earn money which if I am not careful will simply go to buy a temporary feeling of worth or status. In a car park I use often, the open roof on the top floor has been meshed over to stop the pigeons getting in and doing what they do best. Occasionally one does get in and finds it impossible to get out..they keep flying up but can't get past the mesh. What has always struck me as odd about this is the fact that all they have to do to escape is fly down one level where they would find a huge entry and exit..but they never do. They are, I guess, programmed to fly i...

Recently a major corporation has kicked it's employees in the pension pot by winding up it's final salary pension scheme. The rights and wrongs of doing this are not the central issue, it is the effect on the people who are on the ground rolling in agony. One of the less publicised issues was that the company is changing the level of pension you get if you retire early - from 3% a year to 6 or 7% a year.  There are two issues that are faced for these particular employees;  1) That their pension pot will be smaller than expected  2) That their ability to retire early has been affected These points may not sound devastating , but the reality is with the pressures on jobs, there is a now a risk gap between when people are likely to have a job until and when they can afford to retire. In may industries finding a job when you are 50 is tough, really tough. Not an issue if you have factored that into your pension planning and worked out you can afford to live wi...