Living here in Australia for last 30 years and I am now on pension ,Early Retirement. Like all pensioner life is hard , pension are low here , same as any place in the world , it is a bit of struggle every day.

In 1968-1973 I worked in Switzerland and have right to have part pension
6 month ago I started papers for early retirement under Swiss Law at the age of 63
2 day ago I got papers from Swiss authority that all is fine and my first part pension will be paid late October

Full Australian plus part Swiss pension will make my life much better
I am so happy now . Maybe this is not place to share here , but I am very connected to people here. Sorry if this is not right place but hope some here will understand me.... tasman1

That is great news for you, Congratulations! I know what you mean my hubby retired in 2010 and it is not easy sometimes living on retirement.

Nothing wrong in what you posted its nice to know how you have planned for a life after retirement,one day everyone will reach that stage in life,many people who work in the private sector dont get any pension after retirement they have to plan well before time,people like me have to invest for the future

Enjoy your pensions after all you've worked for it

I'm the opposite way round. I'm entitled to an Eastern European pension by the time I'm 65, I think it is. I won't be entitled to a UK pension until I'm nearly 80.

Oh yeah, I would be doing a jig. When you get your first check, you should splurge a little.
Go do something you normally don't get to do.

Retirement in the USA starts at 62 and then it goes by your birth year in regards to full
retirement. If we retire at 62, our retirement check will be much lower than if we retire
at a later age.....and then full retirement is at the maximum dollar. It is different for
everyone according to what they paid in through their employment all their life. I think
the absolute maximum anyone can get in the USA is $2,000 a month retirement check.

Full retirement for me is 66 years old.

valerie wrote: Oh yeah, I would be doing a jig. When you get your first check, you should splurge a little.
Go do something you normally don't get to do.

Retirement in the USA starts at 62 and then it goes by your birth year in regards to full
retirement. If we retire at 62, our retirement check will be much lower than if we retire
at a later age.....and then full retirement is at the maximum dollar. It is different for
everyone according to what they paid in through their employment all their life. I think
the absolute maximum anyone can get in the USA is $2,000 a month retirement check.

Full retirement for me is 66 years old.

it is near same with Swiss pension , starting at 63 and full pension at 65

My Swiss pension is 10% shorter now but reason I did take it is that I worked only 5 years there and I will have only partial ,small pension , so 10% less will not make huge difference .My Australian pension is full one .
I will clear now all my debts in one year
Pension and debt is bad way in today world

great info it is always easier with 2 paychecks than one per month.
There are some things we have to discontinue and find other things like clicksense to help us out

You want to get things in order long before retirement age. I do wish I had given more
attention when I was young BUT with that said, they didn't and maybe still don't, teach
it in school.

Oh after you get in college, if you go to college, you can take Economics 101 that takes
a person with an IQ of 5000 to understand.

What I am saying is, our schools and our parents/caregivers should begin teaching us
right away at an early age, the importance and the structure for what and why we need
to secure our retirement.

You're perfectly right, Ms. Valerie. The "retirement thing" must be taught in schools to make everyone ready when the "time" comes.

With the economy the way it is, the next generation is leaving school and going straight into retirement anyway.

BouldRake wrote: With the economy the way it is, the next generation is leaving school and going straight into retirement anyway.

ha ha ha , that is good one , and yes , you are right

Yep, my point exactly BouldRake.

They need to have required classes that teach kids important life skills:

-How to handle their money, save for retirement, mortgages, vehicle payments, etc

-How to be prepared for emergencies, how to stay alive in the wild, how to protect oneself from an invasion, etc

Most kids don't go to college. In fact, many drop out before they go very far in high school.

Those kids can't tell you anything now or years later about geometry. It's doubtful they can
relay much about history. The only think they can tell you about Greek mythology is there
was a woman with snakes on her head.

So why don't schools also focus on helping kids with the life skills they really need to survive
in this world.....and if they gave them more interesting classes, maybe they would stick around
longer in school.

Thanks for sharing , life goes on and I am glad to know you feel happy now, big hug , Tasman

Nice of you to share tasman 1 .... And am happy for you.