Enjoy the cruise Graham, you’ve earned it…
A Geo thermal power station in Iceland, worth a visit…
And keep yerself fit running around the deck…
Enjoy the cruise Graham, you’ve earned it…
A Geo thermal power station in Iceland, worth a visit…
And keep yerself fit running around the deck…
Let’s put it this way, Since retiring, I now work for the wife. The hours are long, the pay is rubbish and I don’t get many days off.
Frank summed it up “I did it my Way”
Hi Graham. I’m impressed with all your projects - Florida and others. And your photofraphy
Talking about pensions.
Co-incidentally, this morning someone asked a question at my coffee/cake get together to which no one knew the answer so we looked it up on our phones. It was about the UK pension and how it compares to the Australian one.
I vaguely remembered contributing to Graduated Pensions when I worked in the UK and I vaguely knew that the length of time worked affected the UK pension but this question was about the married pension (I receive a single pension).
We were somewhat dismayed to discover that in the UK there is no such thing, that the full pension requires you to work for 35 years and that a husband and wife receive a pension based entirely on their individual working life not as a couple. According to our Google if a person has not worked 35 years they get a proportion - ie after 20 years working they would receive 20/35 of a full pension.
It seems such a complicated system whereas here a single person receives a pension of $1149 (£574) per fortnight and a couple $1732 (£866) per fortnight, with everybody getting the same no matter how long they worked. There are no contributions so it is means tested.
We wondered how does a couple where the wife has never worked survive? Is there a supplementary benefit? How does the state pension suit you?
BTW I retired at 60 and am enjoying my retirement very much. The Australian pension is great as long as you own your own home - I also have a superannuation benefit which makes a big difference too.