January 2007: <<< back to Downloads
In this issue:
It wouldn’t be January if we weren’t focusing on health and fitness. And why not? Although it’s never seemed the best time of year to think about giving up fattening food, cutting down on alcohol and taking your clothes off in the name of exercise, it’s an issue that won’t go away so now’s as good a time as any.
Our sense of duty was sharpened by the horrifying statistic published recently that over one third (36.5%) of UK workers believe they will be unable to do their job at 60. The report ‘Going Strong’ published in Hazards magazine, shows that in just six years the UK has slipped from being number one in the European league table for the proportion of workers who are confident they will be up to their current job when aged 60, to sixth. Apparently the great majority of employees have no significant health impediments to prevent them working up to 65, or beyond if they wish, yet poor health is the most common reason why people over 50 leave a job, with only half retiring early by choice.
So the message is clear, we have to start looking after our health – now! Even if we don’t want to continue working, the prospect of retiring in ill-health is no fun at all, so this month we’re looking at some tips and themes to help
You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 today and we don't know where the hell she is. - Ellen Degeneres
These days there’s a huge and confusing amount of information available about what we should and shouldn’t eat and do in order to stay healthy. And of course, when you’re in your prime the outcome of staying healthy is living longer and having a better quality of life. So, if you’re getting bogged down in conflicting evidence and latest fads, just follow these simple rules and you won’t go far wrong:
See our fact sheet on Health and Fitness – Turning good habits into a great life, for more information
‘Death is nature’s way of telling us to slow down’.
One thing maturity should bring us is wisdom and with that wisdom should come the common sense to know that if we are fortunate enough to be presented with a warning sign, we should investigate and respond.
Whether it’s something as crucial as your health, or as important as your finances, home or car – if you are alerted to the fact that all may not be well, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Many people don’t, simply through fear – particularly when it comes to health. Yet time and time again doctors tell us that in respect of just about all major diseases and disabilities, early detection is the key to effective treatment.
Similarly with relationships – don’t wait until you hear the dreaded words ‘I’m leaving’, to address issues and underlying unhappiness, no matter how long it has been going on. It takes courage and resolve to tackle issues, whatever they are, and if the warning signs do signal bad news it may take courage to sort things out.
But one thing in my primers have is the benefit of experience – unlike many younger people, you should know by now that despite what you think may be wrong, reality – although it may be unsettling, inconvenient, and perhaps, expensive - is rarely as bad as you imagine. So if you keep to no other New Year’s resolution this year, stick to this one – your life could depend on it.
Interest rate and inflation increases - time to start thinking
Inflation is when you pay fifteen dollars for the ten-dollar haircut you used to get for five dollars when you had hair. - Sam Ewing
The party’s coming to an end for the moment and the year has started with the Bank of England increasing interest rates, to 5.25%, in anticipation of the subsequent publication of the December inflation figures. That’s their job. Just when everyone is enjoying themselves, borrowing to the hilt and spending to the limit, they come along and say “enough is enough”.
A little bit of inflation is acceptable, say 2% a year. People know where they stand. Prices go up a little, pay settlements are modest and people feel a little richer and generally comfortable with things. However, once it starts getting out of hand all kinds of new pressures and uncertainties build up and the system starts to look a little unstable. That’s where we are now and the Bank is trying to rein matters in before they turn nasty.
What are the particular implications for in my primers? In a nutshell, inflation increases costs or erodes income or both. For those approaching retirement or in retirement this is particularly troublesome. The kinds of costs which have been increasing fastest, like utility costs, form a large part of in my prime household expenditure and there is little guarantee that pension income or investment income, now or in the future, can keep pace with inflation. So personal finances become strained and alternative solutions must be found.
Click here to see more detail in our new primer on Inflation.
Have your say in a new guidebook to Internet travel - authors Simon and Susan Veness are keen to hear from in my prime subscribers about what they look for when researching and buying travel online. The 'Silver Surfers Colour Guide to Travel' is in the research stages now and is designed to be a basic, user-friendly guide to everything involved in surfing for travel. Offer your suggestions, advice, pitfalls and things you'd like to know to Simon and Susan at britsguide@yahoo.com
Do you know the difference between education and experience? Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don't. - Pete Seeger
Change is never easy, but particularly in the workplace it can be useful sometimes to stop and think about why we do things a certain way, and what’s actually stopping us from trying something new. You might like to share the following with your colleagues to start them thinking.
Get a large cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage hang a banana on a string and place a set of steps under it. Before long a monkey will go to the steps and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the steps, spray all the monkeys with cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result – the others are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. When the new monkey sees the banana and goes to climb the steps, the other monkeys attack it. After another attempt, he knows if he touches the steps he will be assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the steps and is attacked. The previous newcomer joins in enthusiastically! Then, replace a third monkey with a new one, then a fourth, and then the fifth. Every time a newcomer touches the steps he is attacked even though by now most of the monkeys have no idea why they were not allowed to climb the steps or why they are attacking the new monkey. After all the original monkeys have been replaced, none of the new monkeys has ever been sprayed with cold water. Still, none of them ever again approaches the steps. Why? Because as far as they know that’s the way it’s always been done around here. That’s the way company policy begins.
Retirement for two – everything you need to know to enjoy the rest of your lives together – Dr Maryanne Vandervelde, published by Piatkus
For millions of couples retirement is an exciting prospect. But unfortunately, for many, it can also bring unexpectedly negative challenges involving disputes about how much time you spend together, how you communicate, how you balance the use of your time, and what – individually and as a couple – you spend your money on. In fact, research has shown that for many people, getting used to living life together in a totally new way in retirement is one of the biggest problems they face.
As the post-Christmas period is the peak time for people to visit divorce lawyers, and in fact more people are getting divorced in later life these days than ever before, this book is a timely reminder for us all to take a look at our relationship with our partner. It’s packed with practical advice, personal stories and thought-provoking questions which demonstrate that, like much else in life, a happy relationship usually results from planning, dialogue, compromise and most of all, commitment.
Although the book was written for the US market by Dr Vandervelde, a Seattle-based psychologist, it nevertheless contains plenty of appropriate advice for the UK reader. Click here to see more.
According to recent research compiled by The Grocer magazine, 81% of marmalade is now eaten by the over 45s while younger people now prefer jam and honey. So despite the need to watch our weight and sugar intake, the responsibility is with us all to eat more of the stuff if we don’t want to face a bleak, marmalade-free old age.