Tom

My normal readership on Linked in is 40,000. Tom McPhail added nearly 5,000 to the number.

It’s great that Tom can write in a way that gets people reading but I suspect that when that subtle grin appears upon that photo, Tom has us in his grasp!

We’ll be in Manchester next week. He’s 59 , I’m 63 and we’re both at that stage in life when money can come from a DC pension pot to meet bills or (as with Tom) to provide his family with liquidity. I paid off my mortgage which ends in 14 months when I am 65 (which my bank insisted was my retirement age when already it was 67).

Nothing is of much interest to my readers , if it doesn’t have taxation as its subject and it looks like Tom and his smile will cheer up the Pensions UK next week in person.

My badge has arrived and no doubt I’ll be admonished for posting the Q code that will get me in. But the truth is that people know who I am and they know who Tom is too.

I’m 2030 ready it appears and my badge is sponsored by TPT retirement solutions. Are these heavy hints from Pensions UK?

There is no photo to go on the card so here I am to ensure that the spare Henry Tapper from the mid west of America who has not yet appeared in the UK , is not my doppelganger at Pension UK Annual!

For the avoidance of doubt – this is me and I’m irretrievably aged!

Henry

I’d like to use this one as I was 59 when it was taken (Tom). I will be 64 on November 11th and I’ll be undergoing surgery at University College London. I am enjoying writing and reading others work. Best of all to publish the work of others on my platform

So I’m very grateful to Tom (and Dan), here are the clicks recorded by Word press for Tuesday (yesterday)

Tax and a cheeky grin outdo my version of the story that went up nearly a week ago.Dan , the People’s CIO could only make 10% of Tom’s posts (for his £36 bn under management). But he kindly wrote to thank me for publishing his pod!

Dan’s a lad and bit of his social media porn-factor never does us old chaps any harm.

Dan

In my photo. I’m forever 59 and on my badge we’re all 2030 ready. By 2030 Tom will be 64 and I’ll be counting down to 70.

Our generation has achieved a lot (for me – if still working in five years , it will be getting on for 50 years). Please recognise the endeavour does not diminish , nor does the delight in finding life’s new opportunities . Who would have thought I’d be  a freelance journalist – who would thought Tom a trustee of one of our greatest pension schemes?

But with these later stages of a career come a need for a security- in my case to get out of debt – in Tom’s to have liquidity – for both of us a disgust in having to pay unnecessary tax.

I suspect that many of the reads of Tom’s excellent article result from empathy – not  sympathy. Empathy with the will to continue to work, but also that we are gently enjoying the fruits of a lifetime saving. My guess is that we have similar amounts saved and are both proud of consistency.

We don’t need, want or get sympathy! Thanks for that. Tom and I don’t agree on many things but we do want open discussion. We’re curious about what it’s like moving on from earning and putting money by towards living off pensions and money that’s been put by.

Please feel free to say hello in Manchester! We want to be examples of happiness from the financial well-being that comes from practicing what we preach.

We do not want or need your sympathy for being middle aged!