| Discrimination law will open work to older people |
| Martin | [url]http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,3605,989411,00.html[/url]
quote:
The Guardian
Steps to outlaw age discrimination at work will be outlined by the government today.
Millions of older people will get new rights under measures set out by Patricia Hewitt, the trade secretary, making it unlawful to advertise for jobs as only suitable for "young energetic people".
Workers will be able to claim unfair dismissal if discriminated against on grounds of age, and no age limits can be set. Companies will be banned from stopping workers attending training courses on the grounds that they are too old.
At 40 I actually feel that I have less chance of getting some jobs because of my age, which is silly because I have so much experience. I have known employers who were even reluctant to take on anyone over the age of 25. |
| LDunlop76 | My husband's just spent 6 months out of work and we reckon it's was largely down to the fact he's 52. Fortunately he's in work again now....... down at Heathrow :-( (Never mind, it's Friday and he's home tonight!)
My husband has a degree, heaps of experience and he is supremely good at what he does, but people see the date of birth on a CV and don't look any further.... |
| noel | I've just decided to take early retirement from my work, I go mid-August. I have a degree ( in Faranheit) , but I certainly wouldn't want to have to work to 70. I think it's just a ploy to get the government off the hook for the mess they have made of pensions. My dad died aged 67, 2 years after retirement.
What would the governments motto be? Work till you drop? No thanks. In any case what sort of job would we old gits get? £4.60 an hour walking round B&Q pretending to be a central heating adviser?
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| noel | I've just noticed by the way, Martin's overtaken me. Still he did have 247 posts start. |
| William R | Hi Noel, following on my previous posting. Having been there and got more than the Tee shirt on early retirement, let me give you a bit of (advice?) as if you need it. When you finally leave and say goodbye to it all, you have two choices. You either sit down and ruminate and sink further into despondency thinking the world is a poorer place because you are not contributing to it, (BAD MOVE). Or you find a new interest you never thought about. You will wonder when time passes, how you found time to go to work, you`ll have so much to do. I don`t propose that you become second mate on the housekeeping staff but you`ve got to find an interest which takes your mind off things. I chose woodwork. Not my best subject, but it kept me busy, and you then begin to wonder why you didn`t try it before. Whatever else you do, don`t sit and regret. The door from work has closed behind you, now forget it. I`ve see too many people go downhill through lack of effort, I don`t think you qualify for that group. You may have thought of all this by now, as Martin says, it is only my opinion. Best of luck mate, from William R. |
| William R | HI Linda, Just seen your post. Hope Barry is liking it, he deserves it. The birds coming North now, nest building in hand. Bit late in the season though. Understand ornithology a bit ( cryptic) Cheers William R.
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| LDunlop76 | quote:
Originally posted by William R
HI Linda, Just seen your post. Hope Barry is liking it, he deserves it.
3 month contract, Bill. Long hours, but good money and who knows where it will lead.
Cryptic message understood [;)] |
| LDunlop76 | quote:
Originally posted by noel
I've just noticed by the way, Martin's overtaken me. Still he did have 247 posts start.
Noel, you're slacking! [:p]
BTW, Bill is right about finding an interest. My Grandad grew tomatoes and cucumbers in his greenhouse - to give Grandma a bit of breathing space, he often used to take a little stool and a newspaper down there and sit and read and watch his plants grow. Then a trip to the supermarket punctuated with a couple of halves in the Stonemasons' Arms..... he enjoyed his retirement and lived to 82.
Mind you, Dad has taken the opposite tack. He's self-employed and is still working at almost 70. In fact he's busier than ever and loving every minute. So I would recommend either a good hobby or being your own boss as the route to a fulfilling future. |
| noel | Hi Bill, I have something planned. There is a time in the tide of man which taken at the flood can lead to richer things. Umm I may have read that somewhere, thanks for your advice, I'll make sure I do find something. It may be menial, driving kids to school or something or it may be in my profession as a polymer chemist. I'm too young to sit and vegetate, apart from that I can't financially afford to. |
| Lady Griffin | Noel
Re work. I struggled on till 65 in a full time capacity then part time till 68-no early retirement options here -couldn't get off the treadmill and then circumstances meant there was no choice.
It was the best thing that could have happened when I realised I was dispensable - have loads to do and think about -met lots of lovely people through the forum -a new chapter opens in my life .Time is precious -enjoy it while you can.
You will not be sorry -wind down.
LG |
| Lady Griffin | Absolutely every best wish, Noel, it's a milestone.You know the cliche -another door always opens.
LG |
| noel | quote:
Originally posted by Lady Griffin
Absolutely every best wish, Noel, it's a milestone.You know the cliche -another door always opens.
LG
Thanks LG, but I could never believe you have turned 65? That NZ air must be doing you a lot of good.
Incidentally it was Lostock Hall carnival yesterday.
On the field the usual small fair included a reverse bungee. A capsule that seated 2 people and was propelled from ground level to several hundred feet or so by 2 giant rubber bands. £10 each person for instant suicide. No thanks.[:)] |
| LDunlop76 | quote:
Originally posted by Lady Griffin
Noel
Re work. I struggled on till 65 in a full time capacity then part time till 68
LG
Lady G 68!!!![:0][:0][:0]
You sure you're not adding a decade by mistake, Linda? |
| LDunlop76 | quote:
Originally posted by noel
I'll make sure I do find something. It may be menial, driving kids to school or something or it may be in my profession as a polymer chemist. I'm too young to sit and vegetate, apart from that I can't financially afford to.
Every success in whatever you decide to do, Noel. If you want to investigate the pros and cons of setting up as self-employed, I can put you in touch with my husband or my dad, who's an accountant - he helped hubby set up his own business. There must be a market for consultants in polymer chemistry, I would have thought. |
| noel | Thanks Linda. I'll give it some thought. First though some decorating to do. |
| Martin | I used to work for the post office in Preston back in the 80's. My time there certainly taught me a lesson. There were quite a few people of retiring age there, who would work every hour going and more. They spent too much time at work and when they eventually retired, well, lets say they didn't live long enough to enjoy their pensions. I don't want to live my life like that when I'm ready for retiring. I'll make sure that I keep busy doing the things that make me happy. |
| Lady Griffin | Well just thought you all knew that anyway.I feel a decade younger.Thanks for the flattery.[:D]Much appreciated.
Women here had the age raised on them for pensions to 65 from 60 within a year of the change-not slowly as I believe they are doing in UK with a lot of notice.I and others got caught in the middle of government greed to avoid paying out as many millions and give more to layabouts.
There is an interim benefit, but if you have a working husband nothing for a woman if she has to retire, no matter how long you have worked.It's tax- based here not contributory as such ,so at 65 everyone whether they have worked or not gets the same.
You now see women in their 60's trudging to work in the rain and men doing very strenuous work -maybe till they drop.
It's a bad move I think as the workplace does not open up to younger folk the same.They get to go to University or on courses to fudge the figures.
It would not be so bad if there was a genuine recognition by employers that an older person needs to wind down and have less pressure on them That seldom happens-more stress,more professional development and courses, more paper work and related expectations seem to be piled on.Sometimes you get the feeling it's deliberate.
Someone once said there is no point in work unless it absorbs you .Of course we all need to earn a crust but there comes a time whn you say to hell with that there's a life out there.
Well them's my thoughts
LG
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| Thornley | Good luck Noel, I'm sure just the right thing will turn up at just the right time. If things are a little slow, don't hesitate to let me know I can find you lots of decorating here[:D]
Vanessa |
| noel | quote:
Originally posted by Thornley
Good luck Noel, I'm sure just the right thing will turn up at just the right time. If things are a little slow, don't hesitate to let me know I can find you lots of decorating here[:D]
Vanessa
Thanks Vanessa. I don't come cheap. [:)] |
| Caroline | Best luck, Noel, and well done, having the imagination to get out while yer young . I don't feel I even started a 'proper' job yet! |
| anacortesdamp | A statistical study was done at Boeing about 10 years ago which compared years from retirement until death to age at retirement. A colleague who was still working at 69 commented "According to this I'm dead already". It was a real wake-up call for me, as I was getting into the high blood pressure game, long hours, excessive travel to unpleasant parts of the world and unrealistic expectations by management. One year, I spent 27 weeks out of the country, all in trips of less than 2 weeks' duration - and guess when you had to travel (not on company time, fer sure).
We did the arithmetic and decided to bail out a couple of weeks before my 57th birthday. Unfortunately, Wall Stree has take more out of my retirement funds than I have, so it's not as much fun as we anticipated.
After retiring, I did a few short-duration consulting jobs, including two 6-month sessions back at Boeing as a technical writer. For the last 2 years, with the massive lay-offs at Boeing (35,000 gone in less than three years) I've been completely retired. I start getting my US OAP in November (optional at 62) and after that may look for "interesting" short-term jobs. Our hobby is RV travel, but the old barge we have is a bit of a gas hog (about 6 mpg), so we can't afford to use it as much as we thought we would.
Still and all, I wouldn't go back to the rat race full time - the rats are still winning.
Frank Damp |
| Spitfire | Hi Frank, You almost wrote my script for me. The drastic fall in final bonus pensions came as quite a shock to the system and called for a rethink on how I was going to spend my retirement.
You mentioned the US state pension and I wondered how it compared to the UK one. Here the basic rate is a miserly £74 per month. Most people have increased this by various schemes, but it is still not the key to a life of luxury! |
| rocketmanjohn | I'm a few years younger than Frank, and looking forward to retirement in 18 months. The State pension is pretty much worthless in the USA and will just about cover our prescriptions, yes really. One is expected to save for retirement, not depend on the State. I am in my companies 401K [profit sharing plus savings plan] but due to our greedy board of directors, and a lot of creative accounting, shares are now worth a third of what they were. Hence my savings are down by two thirds, I should be retired now, but I'll have to wait.
John |
| noel | Do you qualify for a UK pension as well John? By the way I read somewhere that the UK pension lags well behind many parts of Europe where state pensions are as much as 2/3rds of your final salary. Not sure how state pensions can be related to final salary, but there you go. |
| Spitfire | Noel, I`d just like to clarify a point. I never related final bonus to the state pension. Hence the two seperate paragraphs. |
| LDunlop76 | If the NHS final salary pension scheme goes, I will be snookered. Being now just over half way through my working life, I'd have to cough up mega bucks to get anything like enough paid in, should our excellent current scheme bite the dust. With two children to put through university (thanks, Mr Blair - I really want to see my kids emerge from education saddled with £12k of debt - more for the youngest cos top up fees will be in place!) I can't afford to pay more to pensions schemes than I'm doing already.
But you can't win - a couple of colleagues paid extra into the NHS scheme so they could retire early, but the company managing the added years scheme went bust and the money was lost. :-( |
| Hayleypink | I have a private pension already - i dont pay much into it at the mo - but have it as by the time i am old i dont think the state pension will be around.
linda - the student can get a student loan when they go to Uni and they dont have to pay it off until they start earning a certain amount after they have got their degree = so you will be fine! a few of my friends have just left Uni and thats what they are doing - they say its fine as you have no time limit as to when to pay it off. anyway who knows the younger one may not want to go to Uni - its not necessary for all jobs.
i am still waiting to hear about my shcolarships - as unlike Uni, my sort of colleges charge £2-3k a term - over 3 years thats a lot of money! :-(
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| noel | quote:
Originally posted by Spitfire
Noel, I`d just like to clarify a point. I never related final bonus to the state pension. Hence the two seperate paragraphs.
Not sure what you mean by final bonus , however my point was referring to the statement I heard on Radio 4 that state pensions here are some of the lowest in Europe, quoted typically was that French and Germans got 2/3 to 3/4 of their final salary as a "state " pension. I'm unsure how one can compare a typical state pension to a typical final salary. |
| noel | Just get famous Hayley, you won't need a pension then. |
| Hayleypink | Noel, I wish! |
| LDunlop76 | quote:
Originally posted by Hayleypink
linda - the student can get a student loan when they go to Uni and they dont have to pay it off until they start earning a certain amount after they have got their degree = so you will be fine! a few of my friends have just left Uni and thats what they are doing - they say its fine as you have no time limit as to when to pay it off. anyway who knows the younger one may not want to go to Uni - its not necessary for all jobs.
Hayley, I know my kids can get student loans and pay it off once their earnings rise above £15K pa, but my point is I don't want them to be saddled with debts like that. You see, I was educated at a time when governments valued education and paid for students' tuition fees and gave them grants to live on. Seeing youngsters come out of uni with several thousand pounds worth of debt (for the younger it will be about 4K a year tuition fees, plus a similar amount in living expenses - that's £24,000 for a 3 year course!) at a time when they need money for mortgages etc. upsets me and we wanted to help our children as much as possible financially. Also the amount of loan you can take out is means tested and our two will only qualify for the minimum loan.
The younger child will definitely want to go to uni - she's already planning that far in advance! LOL! |
| rocketmanjohn | Yes Noel, I do qualify for a UK pension, but only a reduced one. I worked for 22 years in England, so if a 'normal' working life is 50 years, I guess I'll get about 44%, which is fair I think.
John |