Expel the corporates – our classrooms are for teaching!

zurich assTPAS

 

Here are two blogs , one from the CEO of TPAS and one from the head of strategic partnerships at  Zurich Insurance.

The blogs occurred consecutively on my linked in stream

Blog one can be found here

Blog two can be found here

Compare and contrast!


Blog one – #WorldPopulationDay2018

I did a Careers Day to a lively bunch of Year 9 students. My slot was sandwiched between sessions by a Bomb Disposal officer of the Royal Navy and a Doctor who was offering to plaster any limb. I tried to think of what would appeal to 14 year olds; the best that I could come up with is that “You are going to live for a lot longer than your teachers”. I asked them to guess how long their teacher was going to live and then how long they would live. The answer to the latter was “We are going to live until we are really really old, like 70!”. This vast under estimation is not restricted to school children. I was at an event chaired by the Editor of a very eminent publication, who knew that he was going to live a lot longer than his parents but his estimates were early 80s.

On World Population Day, we want to share some of the forecasts on how long you may live.

The UK population is projected to increase by 3.6 million over the next 10 years, from an estimated 65.6 million in mid-2016 to 69.2 million in mid-2026 and it is projected to pass 70 million by 2030. This increase in a reduction in deaths rather than an increase in births. As a result, there will be an increasing number of older people; the proportion aged 85+ is projected to double over the next 25 years.

Looking at the UK compared with the World, the current life expectancy in the UK is close to the OECD average. Other countries, such as France, Italy, Spain, Australia and Iceland, have already achieved a higher life expectancy than the UK. This suggests that the same improvements could also be achieved in the future by the UK.

John Cridland’s report on State Pension Age described “The world of the Third Age is now a very different one, in which those lucky enough to get the State Pension will on average spend almost a third of their adult life in retirement, a proportion never before reached.” He says “The Third Age is a rather new and an exciting prospect for those lucky enough to enjoy it. Every blessing brings issues and consequences.”

The blessing of longer life brings the consequence of needing to save for your retirement. A pension is a good way to start as you get tax relief on contributions, your money is invested in a tax friendly environment and you may benefit from contributions from your employer.

If you are counting your blessings today, contact The Pensions Advisory Service for guidance on your pension options.


Blog 2  – Untitled – Published July 11, 2018

zurich advert

Kick corporates out of the classroom

You don’t have to know me to know which of these two blogs gets my tick.

I’m sick of our kids having to endure corporate sales pitches in the classroom in the name of “career training”.

Our kids should not be exposed to corporate nonsense – it is oral pornography, it is the opposite of education, it is an affront to the values that we should be teaching.

By contrast, the blog about ageing does not patronise, it informs and is informed by the interaction in the classroom.

There is nothing wrong with teaching in the classroom, from the classroom or about the classroom. We talk to kids to learn and to share, something that the first blog does in abundance.

Corporates go into the classroom to impress – to sell and to “inspire” is a bad way of doing things.

Let’s kick corporates out of the classroom and get back to teaching  kids, not flogging them our versions of success,

 

About henry tapper

Founder of the Pension PlayPen,, partner of Stella, father of Olly . I am the Pension Plowman
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3 Responses to Expel the corporates – our classrooms are for teaching!

  1. Derek Scott says:

    I don’t often disagree with you, Henry, but perhaps on this one.

    School pupils, even as young as 14, are fairly astute in weighing up whether it’s spin or substance.

    I say this based on last century years of helping an organisation called Understanding Industry, later re-branded as Business Dynamics, which put together 2-day programmes about business topics and other events inside schools or in conference venues.

    Outside speakers usually had 90 minute sessions to lead and in my experiences the pupils could generally see through corporate “selling”.

    My own sessions – notionally about Finance -used a self-made game called Buses Mean Business in which small group teams got to compete against each other while keeping score through profit & loss and cash flows.

    The most popular speakers were either big names like Branson or former pupils to whom many current pupils could relate better. As I became older I quickly realised that the new generation preferred younger speakers who were closer contemporaries, not someone old enough to be one of their grandparents!

  2. MARSLAND Paul says:

    Hear Hear

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  3. henry tapper says:

    I’ve had a barrage of criticism for publishing this Derek, mostly on linked in. Sometimes personal prejudices get in the way of common sense and decency. I’ll keep the post up, but suspect that I’m being taught a lesson! My worry remains, that corporatism doesn’t fit in the class-room, but the strong support for the Zurich approach, suggests that they are doing a lot more right – than my blog gives them credit for!

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