# 24 (2013) Financial Forecast

(source)

You know you're getting old when you're worrying about the interest rates on your savings accounts. Every April I re-evaluate and move things around. Because someone has to.

I've worked out that if I can keep my ISA at a 3% rate for the rest of my working life I'll be able to retire at 62 with a marginally comfortable pension using today's prices. Which is kind of sad but clearly a necessity. But with no end to the recession in sight, finding that 3% deal is proving tricky. And that's how I know the recession is a real problem.

I didn't have a pension when I worked full time and money was the least of my worries. I spent my money, and spent and spent. And now I have a lot of catching up to do. Let that be a warning to you.

If I want to retire at around about state pension age I've only got 21 years left to muster up about £220,000 which may just keep me in food and heating if I live into my 80s. And who knows how long I'll live after that if I get that far.

Today, for the first time, a person in their 80s 

has higher living standards than someone 

working in their 20s

It's disconcerting how all through your twenties retirement is a whole other existence away. But then suddenly your thirties arrives and you think uh-huh. Real life. But those vital years do make all the difference.

Of course if you think I'm worrying now you need to read this to understand how catastrophic things could get not only for younger generations but also those approaching retirement now. The pension you might be putting away now, isn't actually there. It's being used to pay for a generation of retirees who are already there. But if fewer people are now putting away for their retirement where are current pensions coming from? The state pension may now in some cases be comparable to an early twenties income but an increasing number of pensionable age workers are now hanging in there and still working because they cannot afford to retire.

Many children are now living at home into their 40s because the costs of moving out are too prohibitive and older mothers who have held off starting a family due to careers and money concerns are being blamed for the steep rises in births in the last decade.

(source)

I posted a link to a savings calculator above so you can find out how much work you've got to do to give yourself that comfortable retirement package you might already be dreaming of.

Of course, you might get lucky and make your millions, but if you don't this could be all you have so it's worth planning ahead to save yourself from years in poverty or an extended working life when you're older.

Sadly it won't be practical for a lot of us but be armed with the information and make informed choices wherever you can. That holiday in the sun might be just what you need right now but one week and it's gone. Put that money away and it could be paying for that retirement cruise instead.

# 20 (2013) Student Applications are Up Up Up

Several days ago The Lincolnite announced that the University of Lincoln had seen a 25% rise in applications for September 2013 - 15,000 applications - the highest in its history. Am I surprised? No.

The reality of student loans is that many students will never have to pay them back under the current system. They're not seen as 'bad loans' because let's face it, everyone of a certain generation has one. And what's the alternative to going to university right now?

I was unimpressed with the student protests last year. I was a student then and even now I owe about £20,000. Am I bothered? Nope. I'm not paying it back because the reality is that me reaching the £15,000 earning bracket I need to start paying it back isn't likely in the foreseeable future. If it is, I'll just be happy to be earning that kind of money again.

Any one of you about to start Uni this year may be racking up loans of £30,000 or £40,000 by the time you leave but until you hit £21,000 in earnings you won't be paying it back. And I hate to put a downer on it but how many of you are going to enjoy that kind of earning potential with the way things are? And if you do, then you damn well do need to pay it back because you're doing better than the rest of us. 

At least the courses getting the highest percentage of applications are useful ones - engineering, computing and nursing. This country needs industry, skills that will kick start the economy.

Everyone seems to want a classless society, for education to be a right not a privilege. But it does not work like that because society and people are built on class and the pecking order. That will never change. It's things like that which cause break downs in society. We are all good at something, but some are better than others.

Getting a student loan is not one of these divisions. Loans and maintenance grants are there for all and they will get you through university if you use them properly.

Or not as it so predictably turns out (source)