When I was young, like many youngsters, I didn’t give much
thought to my old age and whether I would be financially comfortable or
desperately poor.
Old age seemed such a long way off, it didn’t seem worth
thinking about. I suppose I assumed that however my life panned out, everything
would be fine. If it wasn’t, the welfare state would help me out. I certainly
wouldn’t be living on the streets.
But things have changed so drastically since then that more
and more youngsters are giving serious thought to their old age and what it
will be like.
With more and more old people and fewer and fewer births, the
state will struggle to help oldies and
may have to rethink or even scrap its current provisions – welfare benefits, the
NHS, the state pension, travel passes, winter fuel payments, free prescriptions
and more.
A lot of youngsters are now thinking seriously about
providing for their old age. They’re setting up personal pensions, making
investments, buying property if they can afford to, living with their parents
so as to add to their savings. They’re less likely to be as cavalier about the
future as the young me and my age group.
But how shocking it is that young people can no longer
assume that if all else fails the state will ensure their old age is
comfortable and they don’t have to rely entirely on their own resources. What
an unnecessary burden that would be.
The US has never promised our old age would be comfortable. Still, it's looking worse for our kids than it did for us. For us now, the main problem is not enough workers to take the jobs that take care of us.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Linda: The same applies in the UK. We're heavily reliant on immigrant labour, especially in health care, but the government is making it really hard for migrants to enter the country.
DeleteLinda said what I was thinking. The US loves the myth of 'pulling yourself up by the bootstraps'.
ReplyDeleteSandra: In other words, it's up to you whether you succeed in life, and why should anyone else (i.e. the state) give you a helping hand?
DeleteToday the BBC had an article on that, with links to related articles. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8e2yp1gg37o
ReplyDeleteIf I was a young Britisher I would run not walk go go check with my bank officer, and my HR person if I had one.
In Canada there are ways to do nontaxable pension contributions. The government, seeing the math on the wall, tried to raise retirement age but they had to change their mind. So they encourage later retirement by giving a bigger pension the later you apply, up to age 70.
As for our US cousins, I think a part of their coldness towards each other is as a way to keep Blacks down. A physician explained how they are the only developed nation without organized government healthcare by writing a book Dying of Whiteness.
Sean: Paying a bigger pension the later you apply is a good idea. And as you say, the US is the only developed nation without state health care, which is inexplicable (except for the racist element).
DeleteThings are looking bad everywhere and it doesn't look like things are going to get any better anytime soon. So it doesn't surprise me that younger people are thinking about the future.
ReplyDeleteMary: It's shocking how all the things we youngsters were entitled to are gradually being whittled away.
DeleteI’ve been very lucky with the lazy decisions I made in my youth. I ignored advice and a jolly good thing I did too.
ReplyDeleteWith this in mind it’s absolutely impossible to know what the next 30 years will bring. If I was young now I’d be more worried about being war fodder than saving for a pension.
Sx
Ms Scarlet: I would say not much chance of being war fodder right now, as we're not about to be invaded and we're not about to support any other NATO country. But of course things could change very quickly.
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