Another Milestone in Life's Journey - age is just a number

 On reaching sixty five years old ... 

Until around 2010 I'd imagined my 65th birthday to be more of a milestone than it's turned out to be, though the words 'pension' and 'retirement' age are so ingrained in my past that it is inevitable that they are still on my mind now that the day has come, and gone. 

(25th July for anyone interested; I was too busy celebrating with my family from 23rd onwards - and managing to stretch the 'birthday period'  to at least the second week in August - to write a blog post, on the day). 

Over the last few years, there have been a number of significant changes to the State Pension entitlement for women.  Between 2010 and 2018 the age changed from 60 to 65 for women and is now increasing in stages, alongside men, until it reaches 68. At the moment, it is forecast that I will receive mine at age 66 next year, but I have no expectations whatsoever that this will actually happen. I feel that it's more likely to be a situation where I chase an elusive unicorn, until the end of my days.  I have a feeling also that when those who are currently looking towards the day when they become 68, will still have a little longer to wait when that day arrives.

Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age and other demographic factors, such as sex.

As the average life expectancy in the UK (according to Worldometers) has increased from 69.4 in 1950, to 81.8 in 2020, clearly the age at which we receive State Pension also has to rise.

This is a simplistic description of the way of measurement and many other factors obviously need to be taken into account for a more accurate forecast - illnesses, accidents, life style, hereditary issues and so on. 

The year that I was born, the life expectancy was 71 (male and female) and today is approximately 82. My father died aged 64 and my mother at 93, so by my calculations, being a mixture of averaging out all of these figures and Maths never being my best subject, I estimate I have around another fifteen years of life left. Putting it like that now seems rather concerning, and I am beginning to think I shouldn't have started this. However, I have been doing quite a bit of tidying up recently - possessions and paperwork, rather than house and garden - so am fairly confident that things will be 'in order' when the time comes. 

To finish on a lighter note, my daughter made me a delicious birthday cake, which was presented on the day, and devoured by all of us within a short space of time. It was decorated beautifully with 'Happy Birthday',  'Celebrate' and the number of years that have passed and likewise a card stating 'On your 60th Birthday'.... ... 

What a brilliant mistake to have made !

I know she won't mind me writing this. She is, as she says herself, becoming more and more like her mother with every day that goes by, while I become more like my mother. 

Five years lifted from me in an instant. Age really is just a number.