I don't suppose many haven't realised that the 2% N.I. cut only helps those working, so not pensioners.
Friends in other lands who have had contributory pension schemes as normal for much of their lives are in a better position than their peers here. As long as they're sensible, they have enough to live on, happily. Friends with aged parents in EU don't seem to be burdened with crippling Old Folks' Home fees either. I don't know how that works but
our system isn't fit for purpose.
Fees are a
grand a week and upwards, rising fast. How does that work? It doesn't.
I know a teacher who wants to retire at the normal age but can't , because her f-i-l's home is costing 2k a week. He booked himself into it when he could afford it but the money's running out, scenario.
Yes you can play politics with it if that's your
malign addiction but neither party's government has addressed it properly, and the country doesn't earn enough to do what everyone would like. How we do that I don't know - Germany is more reliant on manufacturing than we are which is why they're feeling so much pain right now. Immigration, yes, but
EU too (bit old).
The potential "Home" shortfall was what prompted me to find a way to get some money in retirement. I can't fix the country but I can look after myself. My tax bill will show a huge jump this year. You can do the same (only) if you can control your emotions, described
this thread. Meanwhile I get my state handouts, which I don't need. I just noticed I got a winter fuel allowance.
I'll only pollute this section with periodic references:
If anyone wants to have a go at what I'm doing they can get a "practice" account and see if they can make it work, with virtual money. It would take anyone a few weeks to get settled, and a deal of rope-learning, but the simplest routes (described in the thread referred) really aren't hard.
The last day the Market was open, Friday, you could have put any amount of money in a very ordinary thing - gas - (which it would be normal to "leverage" x10) whose price does this quite often. Shown is +8%, which becomes an 80% rise. You might just watch for the first 2% to see it develop so only get 6% (60%). Gas is one of a dozen on the watch list.
Your initial max loss would have been the difference between the red and green lines at 2.404 and 2.407, = 0.125%. You sit there like a robot with a low stake until that's covered then you know you're in profit. You can press stop at any time. Boring but with 10k in, it's a £6k payday.
More experience and max FSCS-secured cash, and it's a £50k+ payday.
There's usually something +/- similar every day. There was each day last week. (25 Jan is the gas delivery date, not significant)
