There is a major gulf between the lifestyle ambitions of those yet to retire and the financial reality of retirement, according to new research from MGM Advantage. 

Government plans to raise the state pension age for men to 66 by 2016 are too hasty and do not give people enough time to prepare, pensions experts have warned.

The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) said many people in their mid to late 50s who have already made retirement plans may be unable to change their savings and private pensions to cover the loss of a year’s state pension.

In the Concert, Romanian/French Director Radu Mihaileanu revisits the theme and allegorical style of his feature Train of Life with diminishing returns.

In ‘Train of Life’ the Jewish inhabitants of a central European village in 1941 organise a fake deportation that heads for Palestine instead of the concentration camps. At the core of The Concert is a fake Russian orchestra, heading for Paris instead of manual labour under a dictatorship in their communist homeland. 

The deceit represents Art’s (the afflicted musicians’) triumph over anti-Semitism, Power, Repression and History. These are big themes and the feebly constructed The Concert, collapses under their weight. 

Now that the dust has settled on the Emergency Budget announced on 22 June, campaigners and Opposition politicians are warning that it could have a serious impact on State pensioners, those on other benefits and those receiving care. By Mature Times editor Tony Watts.

Central and local government are today (Wednesday 9 June 2010)  challenged to use social care funding more smartly to deliver better care for Britain’s ageing population. The national charity Counsel and Care believes smarter spending could release up to £3 billion that could be redirected to provide better care and support for the growing number of older people and their carers.

"In your editorial you were no doubt responding to your readers’ concerns about public sector cuts. I have extensive experience in improving the efficiency of organisations. If there was a real will (and not just ‘politicians’ promises) to make actual savings in public expenditure, then at least £50 billion a year could easily be achieved." one MT reader gives their views.

The latest Households Below Average Income figures were published today (20th May), covering 2008/09, and show that 2.3 million pensioners are living in relative poverty. Pensions Minister Steve Webb says that: “In a modern Britain it is scandalous that nearly 1 in 5 pensioners cannot afford basic goods or services.”