WORK HARD ALL YOUR LIFE – and then struggle to survive on a pension
I have always been realistic enough never to take anything for granted and never to accept anything or any situation at face value.
As I developed throughout my years, a nice way of saying getting older, there was always the concept that after a lifetime of hard work and thrift, one day one reached a situation where one could retire, put one’s feet up and enjoy a tranquil and relaxed remainder of life as a comfortable pensioner. That was the pipe dream as a youngster. Simultaneously, detractors that nowadays go under the guise of development or progress began to work against this dream.
Progress yes because innovative developments eased several factors through technology and advanced communications. Medical advances made enormous strides, ultimately ensuring that more and more people are living longer and longer.
I well remember once attending a Mass Meeting by the great Duminku Mintoff at Floriana. Dumink tried to explain the economy and Dumink being Dumink, he cut the bullshit to impress his mass audience with lots of technical terms and spoke to the crowd in simple terms which they were able to understand.
“There is nothing complex about the economy”, he said. “It’s like a balloon. If you squeeze one end, the other end will project and you can go all round the balloon and that will always happen. That is, what you do in one area of the economy will affect somewhere else in the economy – and that is why it has to be balanced”.
For the first time I gained an insight into the economy because one listened to Mintoff and one learnt from Mintoff.
Over the years the number of pensioners has grown and grown. Over the years all the costs needed to live have grown and grown. The need for basic requirements has grown and grown.
In short the national management of pensions has become harder and harder and more and more expensive. Throughout the years everybody spoke about the problems. Over the years nothing was done except for talk, talk and more talk and the problem remained and grew and grew.
Today the problem has become massive and most pensioners are now facing the tough stick of reality in trying to make ends meet. Over the last five years this administration has improved the situation and has improved pensions – but the problem remains.
Quite simply, today, one cannot solely live on a pension unless one has other substantial investments or rents from properties and, if you have none of these, you have to continue working and working.
The system also has a certain amount of anomalies. One of these was highlighted by the Pensioners’ Association the other day and surely needs fixing. One person contributes €xxx amount of contributions over a certain period of years; another person contributes €xxx+xxx over the same period – and they end up receiving the same pension.
There is or was another anomaly. I continued working beyond pension age and for a while (a) received no pension and (b) continued paying NI contributions without increased benefits.
I am sane enough to understand – unlike Adrian Delia & Co (now they speak up!) – that you cannot increase pensions willy-nilly to become popular, or indeed the minimum wage, without adversely affecting the rest of the economy.
The budget before last announced Equity Release whereby a pensioner owning their own home could draw a certain amount from an insurance company or bank and then this, together with interest rate, would be deducted from the ultimate assets at death, a “loan” assured by the property.
This has remained stillborn and never heard of again.
In the meanwhile, life’s struggle for pensioners continues.
ALBERT JEROME FENECH
