Christmas is a period of Peace and Goodwill to all, it is also one of reflection before looking forward to the New Year.
It is a good time to assess our Society, lifestyles and overall living standards and traditions, whether they are Christian or any other faith, particularly in this period of recession and doom and gloom.
If one compares with life of 40 years ago or more, we have never been so well off, but needed the warning shot across our bows occasioned by the Bank collapse and subsequent recession to curb our excesses, greed and self indulgence.
The Bank crisis was more than speculation and greed, it was Money Made Easy with HP, credit cards, loans and mortgages and remortgages; which undermined our basic common sense, beliefs and lifestyle. It pushed up house and land prices well above their real and true replacement value, releasing further shoals of money. We have all been living beyond our means, spending more than we earn and failing to save for a rainy day.
Once upon a time, in the kingdom of reality, one counted the pennies and saved until there was enough money to buy what one wanted, anything extra available or saved was used to build a home or reduce the mortgage to ensure that one went into retirement free of debt.
Debt is an intricate and perceived part of everyday life, no one counts the cost or appears to take it seriously. I was amazed to hear senior Ministers justifying the iniquitous Student loans on the basis that such lifetime mortgages do not have to be repaid until earnings occur and that they were a debt to Society. All progressive Countries look on education as an investment by Society, ensuring their future, how misguided are we now?
This is just one aspect of our decadence, tied in with self-interest, greed, excesses and blame, whatever the incident or accident, someone has to be blamed, justified in a criminal offence, but this should not be so when due to some form of unintended negligence or mishap.
My mathematical studies involved looking at things logically, searching and setting out the facts, checking there is a solution, thinking through the problem, questioning the answers and applying common sense. A basic mind training, which has served well when faced with new disciplines and modern technology.
Yet this general thorough approach does not appear to be used to solve the challenges facing Society today, we do not assess the cost and what we can afford, especially the State, but live short term.
Universal Funded Pensions offer a solution and the way forward, they are a long term commitment like education, work, building a home and bringing up children to a better standard and social sense. My parents worked long, hard and sacrificed much to ensure that we had better opportunities than they did and we profited by it, both in work and attitude to life.
In addition to ensuring a stable retirement future, the long term savings generated, if invested wisely, offer the means to meet 21st Century needs in Homes, Education, Health, Infrastructure and Employment.
The New Year of 2012 should be used to ensure that such pension changes occur, that we start thinking long term and forget the quick fix solution, which cause upset and strife without solving anything!!
Savings Annuities Public Sector NHS Teachers Police Local Government Hutton State Pensions
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