I was just reading on the BBC site that some ministers wanted to lower the pension age back to sixty for both sexes which is a damn good idea especially as some of us unfortunately may not reach beyond that due to health conditions . At the moment as I was told by an ESA advisor I can claim my pension early but only if I have six months to a year left to live , like doctors are god's and can say for definite dates when we will die ! My pulmonologist said she isn't god all she can say is going on statistics and the condition of my lungs and overall health I have between a year to three years , but with the seizures I have I could have one and just not regain consciousness so basically I could die in a week a month a year or three years . When you are terminally ill you need to have a better quality of life while you are alive not when you can't appreciate it due to your illness . Can someone tell me if I'm right or wrong because the dwp seem to be saying I'm wrong because it's not fair on the healthy people if I get my pension early.
Pension: I was just reading on the BBC... - Lung Conditions C...
Pension
You’re right Davey regardless of what the DWP say. X
I was thinking that maybe I was actually going mad , you get a load of ministers saying that the pension age should be reduced across the board both sexes which is equality for once and I think is a definite positive and then the government day oh no it won't be fair to the others that aren't sixty and would cause financial problems . I'm glad someone agrees with me 😂
👍😀
My way of thinking is simply let people retire at sixty and then it would give younger people without employment less of an excuse for living on benefits , before I left the UK I was talking to some lads in the pub none of them had ever worked from leaving school and thy said that they could live at home with their parents but still enjoy going the pub so why look for work which isn't there anyway . It's sad times we live in .😔😔
The unions was asking for the retirement age to be lowered in the late 70s
I know that didn't happen either 🤣🤣
Totally agree, let the young and healthy have the jobs
I believe a petition was/is going around.
It won't reach me out here because I would sign it 👍
The trouble is that on the whole we are living for far longer. I know not everyone - my mum died 4 months after turning 60yrs. As a result I can see no possibility of reducing pension age. For state pension I have to be 67yrs despite having to take medical retirement last year at 52yrs. In fact I would not be surprised if many young people ever get to state retirement age. Or even if state retirement exists for the majority of people. Especially with the push for those who work to take out private pensions.
Also far fewer people these days are allowed to languish on benefits. We have seen even here how people are “encouraged” to seek work!
Ultimately it isn’t down to DWP to make decisions about pension age. Is a government policy.
I DO feel for you in your situation but can’t see anyway around it.
I'm old school 😂 I left school at fifteen and had a job the day I left working at a factory as a warehouse man getting orders together but as the 80s drew to an end hosiery and knitwear along with boot and shoe factories closed down to cheap imports , I saw the lines of people outside the dole office , I guess I was lucky I went into security work and was doing that for over twenty years , but I saw friends struggling to find work , and since then I went to the job centre before flying out here , and I heard a young man saying to the advisor that he looked in news papers looked online went around businesses and couldn't find anything all he was told spread out further afield Even though he was already looking in a thirty miles radius because he had no transport and one job he found was nearly fifty miles away so going to and from work wouldn't be feasible she told him he should think about moving area . Not much of an option , I feel for those trying desperate to find work but you will always find some that milk the system unfortunately .
Like you, I left school at 15 for a 48 hour a week job. Later in life I dropped into Recruitment. What a revelation! Let me share a couple of things I learn (retired at Director level so must have got something right)
1. 40% of jobs are never advertised - ask friends and family about their companies vacancies.
2. Speculate, write (AND SPELL/GRAMMAR check) a CV then take it round local businesses that you'd WANT to work for. You WILL get knock-backs but put them behind you.
3. Never think you're over/under qualified - most employers don't really know exactly what they want (they copy adverts from other sites!!)
4. Make the CV stand out ... I used a landscape version, you could add a sealed tea or coffee bag with a note to enjoy a drink while reading ... there are many other "tricks" to getting noticed.
5. Interviews - many employers are not skilled Interviewers, they ask closed questions such as "do you think you can do the job?" (The most ridiculous question I was ever asked!) With an obvious yes/no answer. Say "Yes, because ... " and take the chance to "sell yourself".
Hope the comment might help someone.
Good luck & take care
All sound advice and hope it reaches someone who needs helpful advice , there's not alot of that going around these days .
Very unlikely that the pension age will be brought down to the age of 60 Dave, way too expensive for any government. They are still gradually increasing the qualifying age limit as the change in that hasn't been achieved yet. Some benefit by living a long life and others loose by dying young unfortunately. There is no ideal system.
Has the fires calmed down where you live?
Well I did post a picture of the news flash we just had but apparently some of my posts have been blocked by the administration don't know why . I've not posted anything offensive .
Sorry your pictures have shown, was just wondering if the pics portrayed your area
Not far away from us . But nothing I can do just keep watching news for updates and hope it doesn't reach here and they get it under control quickly my heart goes out to those affected not just here but across in Turkey aswell . Fires are devistating
It's a truelly frightening situation
It is especially when you can't do anything apart from wait , I'm sat outside with two masks on listening to siren's going on more fire trucks ,
Hi Davey are you claiming under Greece's rules or UK ones? If the latter then if a doctor will state in writing that you only have this amount of time to live you will get the full benefits under 'special arrangements' ie very quickly without having to wait because it's considered an emergency.
As far as I'm aware no one can get their state pension early regardless of the situation, unless they have changed it since my time in the DWP?
The amount you would get however far exceeds the state pension in benefits. When the state pension was originally set many years ago the expectation was that you would live an average of just 5 years longer. This was never changed despite the life expectancy going up by a lot. This has led to the current pension crisis which is why they are raising it now. It is a lottery though as average only means average so some will live to 90 whereas many will pass a lot sooner.
Good luck though and I hope you get some answers.
I'm claiming under UK rules as I'm an expat , it's now called exportable benefits , and the pulmonologist stated clearly that she isn't god but going on averages as all doctors do because no one can actually be accurate about an exact time limit she stated 1 to three years for someone whose never smoked which I have for many years I actually stopped four years ago I worked it out today , but an ex smoker or smoker that time limit is drastically reduced , but that is just my lungs I also have these seizures aswell which were caused by not having my Meds for three and a half years because my ESA was stopped through false information being given to them which after three and a half years of my mp whose a doctor the pulmonologist here and my go in the UK along with the jobcentre which agreed to my visit here originally I had my ESA reinstated with an apology. To late really the damage had been done. ESA has had every scan x-ray spirometry reading and updates from the pulmonologist here and all that as been passed on to pip as ESA state I'm in the maximum amount of money at present.
If you get what your pulmonologist clearly indicated in writing you can forward this to DWP and then you MAY be fast tracked for the PIP award. I hope this can be achieved for you.
As mentioned you won't be awarded your pension early, but you may well be awarded a fast track PIP award if you provide information in writing from your pulmonologist which states the qualifying information.
Focus on the possibility of what you may be able to achieve and go forward on that.
Best wishes
The pulmonologist was very thorough in her explaining . My mp had a reply from the dwp in an email which he forwarded to me then same day I had an email saying my case was with the decision makers and if I hadn't heard anything back by six weeks recontact them . 😂😂
Oh dear, that doesn't sound like its being fast tracked.
No it doesn't .
Hopefully though you will hear before the 6 weeks letting you know you have been awarded PIP, that is of course if you have applied for PIP and not ESA although I believe you can apply for both.
Already get ESA but they said if I had six months to live I would get a lump sum payment from my pension but because I've been given a year to three I was to apply for pip which I've done ! The pulmonologist said that the British system is a joke having a six month time scale before being granted pension because here if you are terminally ill with up to five years to live you get everything in your pension pot , not a private pension this is Greek state pension . She said just because I've got 1/3 years it's not accurate because no doctor is God they all go on averages . But as she also said the decks pretty stacked against me I'm an ex smoker plus I have other medical conditions aswell seizures four annular tears and three herniated discs in my spine which are compressed I have lesions on both my brain and heart and now obviously what ever they find this is with my leg , the lump is attached to the bone so they did the thin pin biopsy , just got to wait for the results and use these crutches 😂😂 going to change my name to captain defective 🤣😂🤣
Can you become a Greek national 
Seriously though, I do hope all things will work out in your favour. 🍇🍫
I could do but you need to open a Greek bank account and have at least ten thousand euros in the account 🤣🤣 not much hope of that I am classed as a Greek resident though . I had a call from my pulmonologist this afternoon who asked if I had received a decision yet I explained no and what you said about fast tracking she told me to contact the people and ask for it to be fast tracked because she needs to increase my doses which obviously means more cost . So I emailed ESA exportable to see if this can be done and explained why and told them to call the pulmonologist and speak to her directly. I also had a call from the hospital and I have to go back to see them on Monday apparently the growth found on my leg is Benign and not to worry about it all will be explained on Monday . Which is a relief I think so anyway .
What may really speed things up is if you ask your pulmonologist for what she says to be put in writing, ~DWP are unlikely to phone her but they will take note of what he/she is saying so long as its on professional letterhead that can be checked on line for authenticity by them.
~Good luck
I'm keeping everything crossed 😃
Good morning Davey1963. Yes you are right. And i read this morning they have rejected the idea. Because of it being unfair on the tax payers who are working to carry the burden. But without getting political. But it's ok to keep giving money to the people who have never done a days work in there lives. And keep taking over hotels to put the thousands arriving on our shores in Kent. But that is an even worse drain on the system and use of all our taxes. Sadly the country is going downhill and caused by politicians. Hope you have a good day. Brian
I hope we all have a good day and hope mines a lot better than yesterday 25 seizures from when I got back from my trip until 6.15 this morning . worst day I've had with them .
Is there nothing they can do about seizures? No medications that would control them more? One thing I have wondered about is. Some children have uncontrollable seizures it has been found that following the Keto diet does help some of them. Keto is basically low carb, high protein, increase of fats.
Might be worth you exploring…… just a thought I wanted to share with you.
Thanks I'll look into it I've had a call from the neurologist today he wants to see me next Monday after I've been for a fresh scan of my head , I explained about how many seizures I have been having , I explained that they don't last more than a few seconds but as he said it's not how long their lasting it's the amount I'm having that's concerning , he still says it's two things one is the lesions and second is stress , he's going to discuss what he can try on Monday . I'm keeping my fingers crossed he can come up with something .
Hey we put the people in power and listen to all the patter but every party as.their own agenda it's all about money 🤑🤑🤑
Yes but its in there pockets pal
Always the case isn't it how's the saying go the rich get richer and the poor get poorer 👍
Sadly there's not a big enough collective opinion of people to alter the system. Everyone just looks after themselves and don't look at the bigger picture
Seems that way unfortunately , I'm back at my second home at the moment , something strange happened this evening I took my dad's dinner to him as I walked back I felt a pain in my right shin bone it was excruciating like I had broken my leg I couldn't put weight on it . I called my Dutch friend who popped me to a&e . I've had a lump on the shin bone for about five years but because it didn't hurt I left it be . Well I had an x-ray taken and they did a thin pin biopsy the doctor said I need to rest it up and use crutches which he gave me he's going to call me in a day or two with the results but didn't say anymore which kinda got me wondering why . So now it's a waiting game 👍😂 if it's not one thing it's another 😂😂😂
Sorry to hear that pal. Your not having a good week are you. Take care
So sorry Davey1963 to hear of the increase in seizures yesterday.It must be incredibly stressful caring for your stepfather ,managing your health and not forgetting the awful wildfires.
Regarding the reduction of state pension age back to 60 don't think that will ever happen-I did not receive notification that state pension age was being raised so am in the 66 year old cohort.Although struggling I feel for those who have to wait till 67 and later 68.I do understand life expectancy is longer (but not for many of us) but read we have one of the lowest pensions in Europe.
Anyway have gone off track just wanted to remind you that you have a whole host of dodgy lung buddies thinking of you and wishing you well .
Thanks for the wishes , at the moment the heat is causing serious issues along with the constant covid cases averaging out at a hundred a day not good , the EU wants to put Greece in the red zone . UK not being in EU anymore may still keep coming unless the Greek government shuts us all down again .😂
Parliament has voted to equalise the State Pension age (SPa) and subsequent retirement ages for men and women. Reducing it to 60 is neither affordable nor fair to tax payers and future generations.
Read the response in full
The latest Office for National Statistics data shows that the number of people over SPa compared to the number of people of working age is expected to increase. On average, people are living longer, and increasing SPa in line with life expectancy changes has been the approach of successive governments over many years. It helps to maintain the cost and sustainability of the State Pension in the long term.
The State Pension is funded through the tax contributions of the current working-age population. Reducing the SPa to 60 would therefore increase the tax burden of the current working-age population.
The government have previously estimated that had we not put in place any increases in SPa for both men and women, the total additional cost to taxpayers would have been around £215 billion for the period 2010/11 to 2025/26, in 2018/19 prices. This figure takes into account State Pension, other pensioner benefits, and savings made on working age benefits. The 2019 report that details these costs can be found here: gov.uk/government/publicati...
The Government has provided an unprecedented amount of support via our plan for jobs to help those of all ages find work and get the skills they need to return to work.
Our Plan for Jobs has been designed to deliver targeted support to those most in need, and we continue to provide tailored programmes for younger people who are unemployed. Evidence shows that unemployed young people can gain employment more quickly than older age groups and we have built on our existing programmes by providing further support for young people during the pandemic including the DWP Youth Offer, which has provided wrap-around support for 18-24-year-olds in the Intensive Work search regime of Universal Credit, since September 2020, and the £2 billion Kickstart scheme which funds the direct creation of additional jobs for young people at risk of long-term unemployment giving them the chance to build their confidence and skills in the workplace, and to gain experience that will improve their chances of progressing to find long-term, sustainable work.
Since the launch of Kickstart in September, employers have created over 247,000 approved vacancies for young people, including engineering, construction, adult social care and retail and over 44,000 young people have started in their Kickstart job.
Department for Work and Pensions
In short it's not fair on people working and paying tax if people retired at sixty , got that , but there's also a lot of people who.wont also reach pension age including all those whose lives were lost and losing to covid , it's like myself in 57 terminally ill with the life expectancy of 1 to 3years if I'm lucky , I'm not married so what money is in my state pension fund will go straight to the government , unless I get a doctor who isn't god to state I have six months to live then I get a lump sum payment from my pension to improve my quality of life . Which if I had six months I wouldn't be doing much . I'm struggling now with my breathing 🤣 in a nutshell the quality of my life right now is I don't like swearing but 💩 all my ESA is spent on my medication I can't even afford to buy any new clothes . I don't do politics all I know is there are people like myself who deserve a better quality of life and can't access it . I opted out of serps years ago and had a private pension but when I took Ill I couldn't afford to pay into my pension so opted back into serps so a large chunk of cash went back into my state pension .
The Government has no money. The money used my The Government is taxpayers money. Taxes would have to rise considerably to do what you suggest. The knock on effect would be workers asking for pay rises which would increase the price of goods. That would set off an inflationary spiral. After COVID the Government has huge debts to repay, with taxpayers' money. Low inflation keeps debt interest down. Inflation would cause debt interest to rise as well of the cost of reducing pension age. We would become less competitive on world markets. Although looking at it from a personal view, it would be great, the damaging effect on the economy means it is a non starter. Having given you the Government's response and made a further comment. I see no point in continuing this discussion. It will not and cannot happen. END OF!
I'm not into financial stuff not into politics I believe everyone as an opinion and value anyone's opinion regardless to if I agree with it or not . We're all entitled to dream about a perfect world because that's all we can do because there will never be a perfect world . 😃
Hope they do that would be great
We can all dream 😂😂😂 I just wish that for however long I have left to be able to enjoy it , my bucket list isn't very big 😂😂
sign petition to lower state pension age petition.parliament.uk/peti...
Signed it but can't see any government actually doing something like this but like I said we can dream 😂😂
I read somewhere that originally People were only expected to last 5 years past retirement age & apparently we are all living longer ? . I think you are right it would have been fairer to allow us all to retire at 60 & free up jobs for Younger People. It would reduce unemployment & that money saved could go to Pensions . The Government saying it’s not fair to others is their way off brushing it off considering Private pensions can be taken from 55 . I know far too many people who never got their pension x
Well I do agree with you but unfortunately not everyone does agree and like I said to someone else I'm not a financier and not into politics 😂😂
Not what you're looking for?
You may also like...
Who could you ask about if your entitled to any benifits.
Post Covid/Long Covid with Bronchiectasis
Desperate need answers
Anyone asking about Trimbow inhaler
Bronchiectasis and weight loss
advice please coping with relative with severe emphysema
Oxygen and100 yard challenge
Leg swelling with copd
Recently diagnosed Asthma & COPD overlap…. Struggling with anxiety 
Did I just imagine it?
