Getting old

As a young(er) man I could drink all night and be fine in the morning, walk for miles without so much as a twitch in my legs and get in and out of a chair without making bizarre noises. Looking at my beer belly I realise that soon I'll be old.

It's with this in mind I started to think about retirement. The present Government seems determined to make us work longer and longer by putting back the age of retirement so such an extent I wonder if I'll be alive to see, given that at the current rate I'll reach it in 2045!

But if we look back at when the age of retirement was first set. the first pesion act became law in 1908 for any one over 70 years of age, though this was later lower to 65 for men and 60 for women to allow for lower life expectancy in the working class. But given that the work we did then and the lack of an NHS meant that most would not see more than 5-10 years of retirement before they sadly passed away.

Now with better knowledge of and access to food and exercise, along with a free health care system, We are living longer than ever. Also, not only are we living longer but our bodies are in better shape. Health and Safety rules and better working conditions mean we are fitter and healthier than any point in human history.

To illustrate this there was an advert running on TV that used the line "the good news is that our retirement will now last longer than our working lives, the bad news is........ that our retirement will now last longer than our working lives"

This may seem far fetched but given that we work from our 20's to our 60's and so many last till close the their 100's, that's about 40 years for each.

Many people are suggesting that the delaying of the retirement age is the "bad old Tories" doing what they do well, screwing the poor and using the deficit as cover. And I'm sure there are some in the Tory old guard who do think this way but lets look at the facts.

Firstly, we are stronger and fitter than we were in 1908. there is no reason for people to retire and there has even been a law passed to protect those in work who feel they could continue form being sacked just because of their age.

Also, if you did retire at such an early (relatively) then what do you do? Many working class people see their job as their identity. without it they feel they are nothing.