Oh aren't we the lucky ones! 41 General Information

You will all be aware that the UK Government has been seeking to delay the age of retirement, and thus the age from which you can claim your ‘Old Age Pension’ from the State.

But did you know that a State pension was first introduced by Count von Bismarck or, more properly, Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of BismarckScho nhausen, Duke of Lauenburg, or just Otto to his pals. In 1889, the sociallyminded Otto provided a pension for all workers who reached the age of 65, and that age has been used ever since as the age of retirement –and getting a pension.

But, at the time, life expectancy in Germany was around age 50, so generous at it appeared at the time, it did not cost the State too much. In fact, because each worker had to make a contribution from his pay packet, as did the employer AND the regional governments, hindsight would suggest that it was a rather smart revenue-earning ploy for the State. Does any of that sound familiar?

But let’s think on!

Over the past century or so, global life expectancy has increased by at least 50%, and reaching age 75 these days is not unusual. If we apply the Bismarck formula of ‘life expectancy + 15 years’, the age of retirement and picking up your State pension would be at age 80.

But if we focus on Europe, the average life expectancy is over 80, so our retirement age would be at age 95, on the Bismarck scale. We know that the numbers of centenarians in Europe as a whole is increasing, and by 2050, it is expected there will be over half a million with the most in Italy, France and Greece and the fewest in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania -statistically. And to put these facts into some sort of perspective, about 13% of all centenarians at present did not receive any formal education, and in Europe, women out-live men and rural-dwellers out-live townies.

In the UK, the average age of the population is steadily increasing, and in 2040 will be by about 4%, while the average age of the workers whose taxes provide the State pension pot is shrinking and in 2040 will be only about 2% greater.

So most of us who are retired from work, mainly over age 65, can look back on our good fortune, our privileged childhood with no wars on our doorsteps, healthy economies, near full employment and ever-improving medical resources, and look forward to many years to come as we tick off our bucket lists with health and energy to spare.

We might even have some regrets that our children and grandchildren will not have such a good life as we have had, but with more and more ‘old people’ in the UK population and fewer babies being born, there is not much that can be done by governments to turn around those fortunes, short of encouraging selective euthanasia and more teenage pregnancies. Neither is likely to be a vote-winner. Maybe the last words should be to concede, ‘Aren’t we the lucky ones!’ Submitted by Geoff Morgan