Balancing the debits and credits of life’s account

There was a chapter I remember from our Irish reader back in Johnstown school, a lesson that we may all have to revisit.

This scéal was set in the Ireland of the late 19th century. The local lord of the manor was out riding his horse one day when he came across a poor labourer breaking stones on the road. Bored and seeking to feel even more important than he already was, the gentry gent engaged the worker in conversation by enquiring how much he was being paid for a day’s work. ‘A shilling a day, Sir’, the labourer answered.

With that, the inflated man on the horse sneered as he asked: ‘What sort of miserable life does a man and his family have where the breadwinner earns no more than a shilling a day?’

Now, as there never was such thing as a peasant in Ireland and the man with the sledge had his pride, he responded thus. ‘My wife keeps a few hens; we grow enough potatoes and vegetables in our cottage garden, where I also snare the odd rabbit. I fish from the road bridge – because you forbid me to walk the riverbank – so we do manage to have enough food. Not only that, but out of my shilling a day I pay off a big debt and I still manage to invest money for my future.’

The lord was dumbfounded and he thought this ignorant man was being disrespectful. He took a shiny shilling from his pocket and held it up with the words; ‘If you can prove what you say, this is your shilling – but if I find you are trying to be cheeky with me, you will never work around here again.’

‘Well, ‘Master’, the first part of what I told you about feeding my family is easy to prove,’ the worker answered. ‘Then I am paying off an old debt through keeping and looking after my parents – the same way they cared for me. The money I invest in my future is in rearing my children, because I know that they too will look after me and their mother in our old age.’

The man got his shilling!

The generations taking up the rear at this point in time had better take note of that old scéal. Heads up you millennials… this concerns you…

In another short few years, Ireland will struggle to pay out state pensions; the money just won’t be there. You see, this generational thingy is being turned totally upside down through an ageing population and life expectancy increasing all the time. On average, we are living almost twice as long as we did 120 years ago.

Already there is talk about raising the retirement age, and that makes sense on two fronts. Seventy is the new 50 – and why shouldn’t we work longer when we are able? That seems much fairer than means-testing pensions that have been paid for.

People are now asking how much they need to retire on and you can read regular articles on the topic. Only 9% of people in Britain will have made provisions for a ‘comfortable retirement’ by 2030. Just 4% of self-employed workers are saving for retirement, according to the Pensions Commission.

Figures are being bandied about as to what is needed for a ‘minimum retirement lifestyle’ and how much of a shortfall there will be in pension funds and the national exchequer in another decade. The figures don’t add up, so it looks like it may be payback time for a lot of OAPs, as the children will be expected to stump up.

The first move is for PRSI contributions to be increased steadily in the coming years. The gap between income and payouts will widen significantly in the 2030s. Nobody can predict how it will go from there, but maybe a granny flat will be a condition for house building permission in the future.

Do you know that the ‘old age pension’ only came into existence just over 100 years ago? It was strictly means tested and you had to be aged 70. The pension started at five shillings a week, and you can imagine the difference that payment made for our elderly ancestors. The qualifying age will soon be back to 70 again, and people are far more able to do some work to that age than was the case in 1909. But don’t worry unduly, folks. We have a great tradition of family looking after family in Ireland and that will continue. Age is still honourable here.

That isn’t how it is in America, where the mighty dollar decides everything, including who eats. The greatest concern for us oldies is that Ireland will by then have become the 68th US state under Trump’s expansion during his fourth open-ended presidential term. Anything could happen then…

Donald J would never consider sending in ICE to shoot pensioners over 70… he wouldn’t, would he?

Don’t Forget

Age is what makes furniture worth more and people worth less.