A NICE RETIREMENT IF YOU CAN GET IT

From 2016 those in work reaching the age of 65 will be forced to slave on for an extra year as the retirement age in the UK is being raised to 66. That additional year is going to be a very long year indeed for many who previously had been looking forward to hanging up their overalls at the age of 65.

Many of these people will be relying on the state pension and will have little choice but to work that extra gruelling year before they can take their ease on what will be a very modest bursary from the state, or as others would describe, a pittance for all their years of toil and tax and National Insurance payments.

However, there will be an exclusive group of people who will raise their Champaign glasses and say ‘cheers’, or should that be ‘Cin, Cin’, " Salute!" or as the French say: ’A votre sante!’ (To your health) as they toast their £60,000 annual EU pensions and, quite often, early retirement too.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph (12th July 2010) Bruno Waterfield reported the fact that the EU will be spending this year almost £1 billion of taxpayers money on the pensions of the EU bumblecracts, which will give them an average pension of £60,000. He points out to those poor souls who now face working longer for what will probably less here in the UK, that our UK taxpayers funded share of the eurocrats booty will be £135 million.

So, while three-fiths of single pensioners in Britain live off an average of £10,000 a year, maybe they will be content to know that thanks to their contributions paid to the state during their years of toil, they will be helping the highest ranking EU officials to retire on a modest sum of around £102,000. A nice retirement if you can get it.