Interesting Facts

New pension rules in the UK mean that people aged 55 and over have more access to their pension funds than before. (What this basically means is that everyone in the UK is suddenly going to be inundated with pension liberation scams, that claim they can get access to their pension more quickly, for just a small fee. If anyone tells you that you can easily free up money from your pension before you reach 55, you can't, and even if you do, you'll be heavily penalised for it.)

For three months, John McArthur has spent two hours each weekday morning parading outside LAMH Recycle in Motherwell, Scotland, wearing a placard reading: “Say no to slave labour”. (Why? Well, after the organisation "let him go" from a temporary job, he was ordered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to work for the same firm for six months without pay, in order to continue receiving unemployment benefit. Welcome to Britain 2014.)

New government guidance in the UK will tell pensioners how long left they have to live. (Everyone approaching retirement in Britain will be told when they are expected to die. The UK's Pensions Minister, Steve Webb, is asking pension providers to give people an "estimate" of their shelf life. Seemingly we usually underestimate how long we are likely to live, Mr Webb said, "Many people underestimate how long they will live. If you are thinking about this, what do you do? For best guidance you probably think about how long your grandparents lived, but that is two generations out of date...  Retirees need to gain a sense of how long they might live to help make financial decisions." Thanks for the concern Mr Webb, but frankly, I would rather not know.)

Well rip off Britain gets even worse on the disclosure that people in the UK spent around £56 million calling government helplines. (According to investigations by the Public Accounts Committee, people in the UK are being charged premium rate to access certain government departments.  They also take too long to answer. Most departments have no targets, despite an industry standard that calls be answered within 20 seconds, but of course there's no real incentive to answer quickly, as the longer they can keep you on hold, the more money they make. Of the 208 million calls made in 2012/13, some 63% were made to higher rate numbers at an estimated total cost of £56 million.  These included calls to the Department for Work and Pensions, the inquiries and complaints line of the Student Loans Company, and sickeningly to helplines for victim support and the Bereavement Service. It's like something out of Despicable Me.)

According to a British couple, Harry and Floss Lucas, who have been married for over 70 years, the secret to a happy marriage is to argue every day. (The bickering pensioners claim they have notched up around 25,550 quarrels since they got married in October 1942., but they also say they always kiss and make up before they go to bed.  I don't think this would work for me as I hate confrontation.) Source

According to research carried out by Ultralase, over half of British dads would rather see their children find fame and fortune by winning a reality TV show, than see them pursue academia and traditional sought-after careers. (I guess that with all the worries about pensions, British dads have their eye on the future.)