“Building a society for all ages”

The deadline has now passed, at least for the moment, to make your voice heard to the government over their proposals outlined in “Building a society for all ages” a document which focuses predominantly on the issues surrounding our ageing population. The issues are very wide-ranging and extremely important.

We here, at in my prime, made our own representations in the fields in which we operate and if you are interested in seeing what we had to say please click here 

To read the original government document click here

Important opportunity to contribute to government thinking on age

 In July, in the midst of summer (?) the Government launched its strategy “Building A Society For All Ages” which is intended to help Britain prepare for our ageing society. The strategy builds on work already being done and sets out a number of new proposals which include:

• The launch of an interactive one stop shop for helping people plan ahead from 2010.  This will help people in mid-life to make decisions on financial, health, careers and other issues;
• A new Active at 60 package which will provide people with information about their entitlements and opportunities – helping them to stay active and involved in their later life;
• Working with local areas to develop a Good Place to Grow Old Programme with a National Agreement to promote the importance of ageing issues at a local level, and an innovative service delivery fund to test new approaches to delivering services for older people;
• A new UK Advisory Forum on Ageing will be responsible at a national level for providing advice to ministers across Government on additional steps that Government and partners need to take to improve well-being and independence in later life. 

These proposals form part of a full, formal public consultation in which views are welcomed from all on how government can implement these proposals and what more can be done to reach a vision of a society for all ages. They are keen to receive written responses and to hear views at a number of consultation events taking place across the country in September and October from local government, stakeholders, the voluntary and private sectors and the general public. 

This seems a real opportunity to make the views of older people heard. For further information and to contribute go to http://www.hmg.gov.uk/buildingasocietyforallages/consultation.aspx

The fun has just begun

This week has already seen two very major announcements relating to the older end of the age spectrum and it’s only Wednesday. Firstly, there has been the news that the government is bringing forward its review of the national default retirement age, currently 65, which heralds either its demise or a significant shift upwards. Secondly, there has been the publication of a Green Paper on the subject of care costs which is likely to impact on the whole population and probably require significant financial input from us all.

We are now, quite definitely, going to see a significant shift in the need for everyone – employers, employees and society at large – to think through the implications of these issues and to plan individually and collectively for all of our futures. We will now, each of us, have to make decisions about our attitude to retirement versus continued employment which will include our finances, our motivation and commitment, and our physical and mental ability to continue on.

These announcements come at a time when two new surveys suggest all is not as it should be and certainly there is a glaring inconsistency and incompatibility which will have to be addressed. A survey for insurer LV= suggests that the over 50s are struggling to save and that nearly 7 out of 10 are worried about their retirement prospects. In reinforcing this Scottish Widows also tell us that, from their survey, the average age that people wish to retire is 61 and that, on average, they would actually be angry if they had to work past 66. Something does not stack up here – even without thinking about the social benefits of continuing to be part of the employment mainstream.

Employer body reaction to the proposed review of the default retirement age is predictably one of hostility (feigned or real) but the reality of the situation will not change. What is required, sooner rather than later, is the need for all sides to start seriously to manage the implications which, when all is said and done, will be immensely positive for all concerned.

Even King Canute could not stop this one.

Saving for retirement – the biscuit tin approach

Hardly a day goes by now without another piece of depressing information about the state of the nation’s pensions. In the last few days alone we have seen more defined benefit schemes closing, more reports on the lack of savings that individuals are making particularly during the recession, and soaring bankruptcy numbers among pensioners. One report, highlighting the fact that many are now unable to foresee when they might retire or how they might have adequate savings to live on, has  coined the term “baby gloomers”  to describe the plight that people feel they are in.

The advice that comes from the financial industry is plentiful but very self-serving: “save more for a pension”; “release some equity from your home”; “tuck your money away in an ISA”; “invest in buy-to let”; and more. The government believes that the answer lies in personal accounts which everyone will flock to in a few years’ time – we will see.

Many people, knowing their savings are insufficient but not by how much, would like to work longer, certainly past 65. Yet the government is still dragging its heels in a most extraordinary fashion. This is despite the fact that change is inevitable. The state pension age will be increasing to 68 in the coming years but the default retirement age is currently 65. What are people going to do –starve for three years? One glimmer of hope that the recession is providing is that firms are beginning to see the futility of redundancy as an answer to their problems and are looking at more innovative ways of managing the current problems with flexible arrangements, part-time working, sabbaticals etc. all now featuring. These are also ideal tools for dealing with an ageing workforce.

However, the first problem that must be addressed is one of awareness. There is, in the country as a whole, an order of magnitude lack of understanding among people of all ages as to exactly what it takes in financial terms to retire in some form of comfort. A fundamental and far reaching “reality check” is needed to reconcile the aspirational dream of an interesting, financially secure retirement with the ongoing provision that individuals are making through their working lives.

Retirement financial planning involves running up a store of wealth, retiring, and then running it down again over the course of the rest of our life – as simple as that. Building up a retirement pot is very much like tucking money away in a biscuit tin each week to save for Christmas – except Christmas may last twenty years or more.

For more see  Saving for retirement – the biscuit tin approach

Power to the (older) people

We note with interest and enthusiasm the development and recent publication of VotingAge, a manifesto for older people, by the charity Counsel and Care. Although lobby groups and political parties have sprung up to argue their cases over issues such as “Europe”, and concerns about the environment, little if anything has been attempted in this arena, certainly not in this country.

While we would not wish the whole political spectrum to be defined along age lines we do see, with the demographics moving clearly in our direction, and a huge voting pool of conscientious citizens well used to harnessing the power of the ballot box, that this could prove to be a very influential way to change opinions and get things done.

Recent events have resulted in MPs and established political parties being held in very low esteem and they must work hard to re-establish faith in themselves and the democratic processes. And there is also now plenty of scope for new influences to enter the resulting vacuum.

As individuals, older people may be thought of by some as weak, vulnerable, insignificant and even invisible. We disagree and certainly, enfranchised and acting en masse, who knows, anything is possible.

For more click below.

http://www.counselandcare.org.uk/influence/news/

http://www.counselandcare.org.uk/assets/library/documents/VotingAge_Manifesto_final.pdf

How to run a business

New research carried out by PRIME (the Prince’s Initiative for Mature Entrepreneurship) shows that one in six new businesses in the UK is started by someone aged 50+, despite a systematic failure of business support providers to offer services to this age group.

Their ‘Generations Forgotten’ survey reveals that despite the needs of olderpreneurs being included in the government’s 2008 enterprise strategy, the main focus of business support services remains on younger enterprise.

At a time when older people are being encouraged to start their own businesses as a way of countering the prejudice and discrimination that still exists in terms of gaining new employment or retaining existing jobs, the over 50s need all the help they can get in order to create sustainable enterprises.

Much is talked about the suitability of older people for entrepreneurship (e.g. skills and knowledge, perseverance, stability, flexibility) and on paper, starting a business per se is generally pretty simple. But in arguably the worst recession most people have ever known, the focus has to be on helping older people to create low risk businesses that will actually make them money – and not just pin money but a living wage.

That said, probably the government aren’t the best people to advise on that…

Read more of the Generations Forgotten report at:  http://www.prime-cymru.co.uk/downloads/PRIME_report_Generations_Forgotten_2009.pdf

Pension Reform and Personal Accounts after the Credit Crunch

Last Tuesday (24^th March) the International Longevity Centre-UK (ILC-UK) and the Actuarial Profession hosted a Joint Debate at the Institute of Actuaries in London on aspects of pension reform and personal accounts and the implications of the current credit crunch.

Chaired by Baroness Sally Greengross and introduced by a speech from Nigel Waterson MP, Shadow Pensions Minister and Shadow Minister for Older People, the 2-hour session was remarkably interesting (if you’re into that kind of thing) and was extremely well-attended, mostly by people from within the pensions, actuarial and financial services industry.

As this was a debate mainly consisting of people inside the industry “looking out” there was a substantial element of “preaching to the basically converted” and much of the debate was about the “how” of saving for one’s old age and whether this did the trick. There was, therefore, a lot of comment regarding what one might consider to be the technicalities of structuring and operating a pension scheme. Also, running through, was the (unsupported) hope that people would move away from property as the means to save and back towards pensions.

In this latter respect research by the Pensions Policy Institute, represented by Niki Cleal, was particularly revealing. Her comment was, in a nutshell, that those who saved probably saved across the board, that is pensions, property and ISAs etc., in contrast to those who probably had little of any. This is not a case of substitution and changing asset allocation.

Rather, we believe,  this is due to:-

1)       the lack of sufficient resources for people to be able to save at the current time, or possibly any time

2)       the phenomenal lack of understanding, generally, of what it will take to support oneself in old age in an appropriate style and over an extended and growing potential lifespan.

It is, therefore, the “why” people need to save that must also be addressed. There is an enormous educational task to be undertaken among the population in general and, until this is carried out, even the best designed schemes will have difficulty in succeeding. But all this is manageable given the will.

We are not talking deckchairs, shuffling, Titanic…yet.

Too old to work

Today, when swearing, sex and medical abnormalities are the stuff of daily entertainment, it’s rare to encounter anything truly shocking on TV. Last night’s Channel 4 Dispatches programme, Too old to work was one of those times.  In a hard-hitting exposé of the appalling increase in the numbers of unemployed over 50s (a 30% increase in the past few months compared to 5% in the 25-49 age group) the programme also demonstrated the outrageous ageism which is rife amongst employers and recruitment agencies which serves  to prevent older workers from securing new  jobs.

Watching the programme was like trying to make sense of some bizarre parody being acted out in a play.  There was evidence aplenty that older individuals are just as effective and efficient in performance terms as their younger counterparts even before their greater experience is taken into account. Indeed the majority of the expert commentators were themselves in their latter years, proof in itself that those with the most knowledge are often older.  Yet the message was that employers see older individuals as being “past it” and lacking in value.

Similarly, on the financial front statistics were presented showing that although we are now all living longer, we are now increasingly being prevented from working longer. Yet the state pension – often all that people will have to rely on for several decades of non-working retirement – has to be funded somehow. So shouldn’t the drive be to keep everyone possible working longer rather than preventing them from doing so?

The government has stated that increasing the labour force participation of the over 50s is a target. This programme unequivocally underlined that it’s time they intervened in this appalling situation and took meaningful action to back up their intentions.