Retirement Income From A Job or Social Security?

Morning Bee. As I'm sure you know, England is the only part of the UK that charges for prescriptions. Certainly here in Scotland, ALL people get free prescriptions, eye tests, parking at hospital etc... This is great if you have a chronic condition, serious problem or an accident . However, if you have a non life threatening complaint, then you are at the mercy of a system where the administration couldn't organise a drink in a brewery. This is the time that private medical cover is useful and you can get treatment when you want it.

I'm not saying that this is a good situation. It would be nice if everyone could get treatment promptly on the NHS, but doubtless that would cost us all a lot more.
Similarly, state pension should be much higher and I like the idea that it could be taken early, but instead future generations will hve to work till they drop.
 
'morning Capt, yes you are quite right I am aware that it is only in England we pay for prescriptions but unfortunately for people in the same position as myself we cannot possibly afford private health care, there for speaking for myself I am very grateful to the NHS and in my area I have nothing to complain about, fortunately with fingers crossed I cost the NHS very little.

My daughter lives approx 10 miles from me, her doctor is an NHS doctor but there have been times when he has sent both my daughter and grandaughter to a private consultant at a private hospital with no cost to either my daughter or grandaughter, how that works I have no idea.


Similarly, state pension should be much higher and I like the idea that it could be taken early, but instead future generations will hve to work till they drop.

That I wholeheartly agree with, the state pension should be much higher and as regards raising the retirement age, that again I think is all wrong.
 
We had a 35 year business that we sold about six months before we retired, then we paid off our bills and mortgage with the proceeds and what was left went into my husbands trading accounts. So we get about a third of our income from dividends and increases in stock values. We also saved up in our RRSP's (Registered Retirement Savings Accounts for Americans and Brits who've not heard of that. And with RRSP's, we didn't pay taxes on those funds until we withdraw the money later in our retirement and hopefully/usually at a lower tax rate than when we actually earned it.) We also have a couple of little rental houses that bring in a wee bit of money. And my husband took his Canadian Pension Plan (we call it his allowance) when he turned 60 and next year when I turn 60, I'll take mine too.

And when each of us turn 65 we will be eligible for another government pension that will amount to about $500 per month each. So we're comfortable and unless something really terrible happens, I think we'll be ok til the end of our days and there will be the cash in those trading accounts to pass on to children and grandchildren to help them get their starts in life or to begin planning for their retirements.

The only thing I wish we weren't involved with in the above scenario is being the landlords in those two little houses. Over all we've had okay tenants with only a couple of real pips to deal with but the aggravation and uncertainty of dealing with unknowns when you have to look for new tenants and get things fixed when you live three hours away is definitely intruding on our tranquility!

I'm so glad that we were in the right place at the right time to start our business and had the foresight to begin saving even when it was tough. But then my husband always used to say 'he was born to be retired' which is a nice way of saying he's a lazy guy at heart so he was pretty focused on making sure that somehow we always planned for our old age.
 
Capt Lightning said:
Morning Bee. As I'm sure you know, England is the only part of the UK that charges for prescriptions. Certainly here in Scotland, ALL people get free prescriptions, eye tests, parking at hospital etc... This is great if you have a chronic condition, serious problem or an accident . However, if you have a non life threatening complaint, then you are at the mercy of a system where the administration couldn't organise a drink in a brewery. This is the time that private medical cover is useful and you can get treatment when you want it.

I'm not saying that this is a good situation. It would be nice if everyone could get treatment promptly on the NHS, but doubtless that would cost us all a lot more.
Similarly, state pension should be much higher and I like the idea that it could be taken early, but instead future generations will hve to work till they drop.
Click to expand...

In Canada, we also have the option of taking our CPP at 65 (soon to go up to 67) and get full payment which in my case would be about $700 a month or to take it early which means I would only get about $550 per month. Is that the way they do it in Britain?

As for your medical, I think yours is better than ours because while all our medical care is covered, I have heard that for some things there is a bit of a wait (the most serious illnesses and needs are taken care of first so some have to wait). As well, none of our optical needs or dental needs are covered and only some people (maybe the poorest in some provinces) get their drug needs covered.
 
Currently the state pension age in the UK is 65 or 66 depending on your current age. It is gradually increasing and the requirements for full pension is changing. Typical of governments here - promise one thing and then change their minds and mess up everybody. You can work longer for more pension , but you can't take it early. The current basic pension is a max of £113 - about $175 US a week. From next year this changes to a max of approx £150 - about $250 US a week (final figure to be decided), but the contributions needed for this is higher.

As for medical cover, the NHS is free at point of delivery, but of course if you're working, you have to pay contributions. The standard of medical cover is good, but unless it's urgent, you can have to wait months just to see a doctor. That's where private medical cover comes in useful - to supplement the NHS cover and avoid long waits for non urgent treatment .

An interesting snippit from the area where I live.... The story of the Turra Coo.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turra_Coo
 
The state pension starting dates for women are different.
mine has risen from 60 to 623/4 so I haven't started receiving it yet..

As for NHS, I have never had to wait to see a doctor, unless I have wanted to.
I can get an appointment when I wish, with whom I wish, and my surgery also carries out minor surgical procedures, and does ECGs etc; so cutting down on hospital appointments anyway.
i can't afford private medical care.

Dentistry is complicated; NHS has a list of standard charges, anything extra is private.
Optics is also odd; I think eye tests are free, and I just don't know about lenses!
 
True Vivjen, you don't generally have to wait to see a GP, but if the GP refers you to a specialist for a non-urgent condition, you will probably have to wait for ages.
Several years ago, I developed a hernia so I saw my GP who referred me to hospital. Shortly afterwards, I got an appointment to see the specialist - 3 months later!
I phoned the hospital and was told that was the usual wait and I could take it or leave it. Back to GP who checked other hospitals - surprize surprize their waiting times were identical.... very suspicious. Unfortunately there were no private clinics near me, so I waited. No problem seeing the registrar at the hospital, but had to go back for a pre-op assessment. That was another 4 weeks and when I attended, I was told I didn't need one. Op was schedulled for a day when I was on holidays and they weren't happy becuse they would miss their targets. I told them hard luck - I hah to wait for ages for them. Day of Op.. I was scheduled for early morning - turned up to be told that I was last on the list. I nearly went mad! Had a word with the consultant who said to go away and come back later.

The Op went fime under a local anaesthetic and the surgeon was great. Afterwards I spoke to the consultant again who said she also worked privately and would have done the op for me when I wanted. Two hours later I was told I could go home - no help - no wheelchair - no pick-up point etc... Had to walk 500 yards to car in considerable pain.

That's my experience of the NHS. Hardly a good recommendation. When my wife had an op some years earlier, I was working and had private medical cover. The hospital offered a choice of dates, a private room and even a wine list with the menu. She says that the food was excellent. OK, I'm sure if I'm carried into A&E on a stretcher, I'm sure that the NHS will look after me. If I have another hernia, I think I'll dip into my piggy bank!

Virtually no NHS dentists here, but private dental insurance is very reasonable.
 
Capt Lightning said:
Currently the state pension age in the UK is 65 or 66 depending on your current age. It is gradually increasing and the requirements for full pension is changing. Typical of governments here - promise one thing and then change their minds and mess up everybody. You can work longer for more pension , but you can't take it early. The current basic pension is a max of £113 - about $175 US a week. From next year this changes to a max of approx £150 - about $250 US a week (final figure to be decided), but the contributions needed for this is higher.

As for medical cover, the NHS is free at point of delivery, but of course if you're working, you have to pay contributions. The standard of medical cover is good, but unless it's urgent, you can have to wait months just to see a doctor. That's where private medical cover comes in useful - to supplement the NHS cover and avoid long waits for non urgent treatment .

An interesting snippit from the area where I live.... The story of the Turra Coo.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turra_Coo
Click to expand...

Do you ever ask, why don't governments look around the world, see what works in different countries and then try to emulate that in 'their' own situation? But they always seem intent on doing it their own way. Oh well such is life.

In Canada there are three 'pensions'. CPP is what every working person pays into and the amount is based on how high their wage is. The higher your wage, the more you pay up to a limit. The worker retires at 65 and you will get your 'allowance' back (in my case it would be about $700, but could go as high as $900 or thereabouts depending on your pay/premiums paid) or I can retire early and claim it at 60 but then I only get $550.00. Then when I am 65 I qualify for Old Age Pension which I think will give me about $450 and that is a pension direct from the government/younger working people.

If I was not a worker putting money into CPP, then I would qualify for the Guaranteed Income Supplement which is around $400 or $500 per month.

As a business owner, my husband had to match the amounts that his employees were contributing to the CPP and since we were also employees of our company, in effect, we were paying the full amount, i.e. the company portion and our employee portion.

One good thing our government did is give us Tax Free Savings Account which means that we can save $5,000 per year (I think it's supposed to go up soon), invest it any way we want and any increase (like dividends or interest or whatever) doesn't get taxed. Nice if you can afford to save that much but even if you can only save a little of that amount every year, after decades of investing in that kind of account, you could wind up with a little bit of a nest egg that is not taxed. Mind you, if our government changes their mind in the next twenty years, maybe the younger generation won't see the benefit of that. Who knows eh?
 
I am sorry to hear of your experience Capt Lightning and you do seem intent on knocking the NHS but what would you suggest to the many people in this country that are like myself that cannot possibly afford private medical care, if anything ails us where we may need medical treatment do we just sit back and hope it goes away or do we go to the NHS for help and be grateful for that facility knowing we won't be landed with a bill at the end of treatment.
 
Bee, sorry to give that impression.. My wife has had a couple of falls resulting in fractures, and the NHS has been fantastic at patching her up. This is what they are good at. I would also add that my sister was the director of nursing in an NHS hospital and of my nieces, one is a GP, one is a midwife and one is a pharmacist.

My grumble is that for non-urgent treatment the waiting times can be excessive and their efficiency at managing is apalling. I feel there is a need for both NHS and private medicine until the NHS is able to provide an acceptable level of treatment across the board. Same for dentists. NHS dentists were virtually unheard of when I lived in Hampshire, and are pretty scarce here in Scotland. Private dental insurance is very much needed.

I appreciate that not everyone has access to private treatment, but I foresee it becoming more the norm. Similarly, I expect that future generations will be expected to provide more for themselves in their old age.
 
Apologies Capt. for misunderstanding you but I honestly thought you was knocking the NHS, I can concede that in some areas the NHS may not work so well but I don't blame the NHS for that, I think it came more from when Trusts were given areas to manage and a lot of those managers couldn't manage a p up in a brewery.

For my own part I cannot complain about how I have been treated, admittedly I don't need treatment that often................my daughter has an ongoing condition and lives in the same area as myself where the NHS is concerned and she has always received excellent treatment.
 
I've read, on this Thread, that "Social Security Retirement was never meant to be an only income". What I'm wondering about is all the people out there that DID NOT stay at a job for (how every many years) and retire from it. Or, businesses that don't offer a retirement at all.

So, at 62 (early), 66 (regular) or 70 (late), just what can these folks above do but to ONLY get SS Retirement. There is no other retirement for them! Wife and I will be that way.........SS income, only......until either of us can get some kind of part-time job someday.
 
I stayed in the US Air Force (came from a military family so I was well indoctrinated before I joined) and my plan from the beginning was to do my 20 and to really retire when I quit (with a modest pension) at 43. I don't require much to be happy, paid off all my bills in 1999 and live within my means. I have a service connected disability so I also receive a pension from the Veteran's administration and all my health care is provided by that agency. I realize how fortunate I am in my situation. Many of my friends are living on their Social Security only. Some work "under the table" to supplement their income, and some squeeze by month to month and pray nothing happens that requires spending money outside of living expenses. 5 years ago at the depth of the housing crash here in the US, I bought my condo for an almost obscene low amount that I took out of my savings (almost wiped it out), so my monthly expenses are well within my budget. I plan to take Social Security starting next year (early when I am 62). I have read that the more you rely on Social Security as your living income, the longer you need to wait. It will give me a bit more room in my budget for extras.
 
I plan on retiring maybe in the fall of 2015... or maybe later.. I haven't decided. I will however start collecting my SS next February as I turn 66 in January and there will be no limit on earnings. I also have 3 small pensions from previous employers. I started collecting those when I turned 65. As for the balance, I've saved and invested, so I will be able to draw an income from that. Medicare and the supplement will take care of my healthcare... at least that's the plan for now.
 
I plan to retire this March at age 62. I work as an RN for the state of TX, and will have an annuity plus SS. It is about 700.00 less than my pay now, so some changes will need to be made. Who knows, I may go back to work part-time....but I travel every week and it is getting tiring! Like oldman, I love to fly, but as a passenger. I don't think flying lessons are in the works, but you never know!
 
Capt Lightning said:
When you talk about SS, I assume this is roughly similar to the State retirement pension in the UK (used to be called Old age pension). The government have broken promise after promise and gradually raised state retirement age, though I should get mine at age 65. It's no way near enough to live on (equiv of about $9k), but fortunately I have various pensions from my work. This enabled me to 'retire' at 56 (wife at 53), though we've been pretty busy ever since.
Click to expand...

Just noticed this comment. SS is not the same as the UK pension. The UK pension is a flat rate. SS amount is based on how much you paid into it based on your income, a tax on each payday. So you could get $400/month or $3,000 a month. All depends.

Also confuses people in the UK when we call is SS. SS in the UK is welfare.
 
I get soc sec and my husband's pension.

Mom told me that she remembered when SS started. It made her mad that they would take the money Dad earned because they were barely getting enough to live on. She picked up her baby and went to their office, complained and said we will save for that. The rep, pointed to the baby and if that baby gets sick and you have to spend that savings how will you live when you can't work anymore. Mom was smart enough to realize how important it was.
 
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