Angelica: Hey there, I'm Angelica Bell. And this is Rewirement, where
Angelica: we're sharing inspirational stories and ideas to help you achieve
Angelica: the retirement you want. We're all individuals with our own
Angelica: passions, plans, and dreams, and that doesn't change in later
Angelica: life. And that's why I'm chatting to the experts for smart,
Angelica: financial, and practical steps to make your vision a reality.
Angelica: Time and time again, the colorful retirees we meet tell
Angelica: us how important their friendships, relationships, and social networks are
Angelica: for an enjoyable retirement. And that's something we'll hear more
Angelica: about today as we hear from two LGBT+ retirees on
Angelica: how they made the switch from their working life to
Angelica: a happy and fulfilled later life. But this isn't the
Angelica: case for every LGBTQ+ person in the UK. If you're
Angelica: worried about how you might make the move, you're not
Angelica: alone. Issues such as isolation, loneliness, and discrimination can be
Angelica: a cause of concern if you don't fit the heterosexual
Angelica: image of retirement. But today we're playing our part in
Angelica: this conversation so we can support one another and feel
Angelica: supported ourselves, whatever our vision for later life. I'll be
Angelica: joined by Legal & General's Meg Dickens and Matthew Riley from
Angelica: Tonic Housing. But first, let's meet two more colorful retirees.
Angelica: In his own words, Patrick aims to make the most
Angelica: of every day and every year of his retirement. He
Angelica: was approaching 40 with a house, a wife, and two children,
Angelica: when he came out and his marriage ended. At that
Angelica: point in life, he needed to think again about what
Angelica: retirement was going to look like for him. We started
Angelica: talking about how after 37 years of teaching, he made
Angelica: his love of travel a central part of his retirement plans.
Patrick: I've always had a love of travel. I've always wanted to
Patrick: travel. So when the opportunity came at 60, when I
Patrick: retired, my ambition of going to Australia and New Zealand
Patrick: was fulfilled. That was number one on my travel bucket
Patrick: list. And I was there for six months and did
Patrick: the most amazing things, saw the most amazing places, made
Patrick: lots of new friends, many of whom I'm still in
Patrick: touch with. I've been back three times since. So the
Patrick: travel thing, I've traveled to many countries in Europe. I've
Patrick: been to Singapore, to China, to south America, North America,
Patrick: been more proactive in some of the groups that have
Patrick: supported me throughout my years, so including my own local LGBT
Patrick: forum in (Berry) .
Angelica: So would you say that being single and heading into retirement,
Angelica: it sort of raises different issues and you have to
Angelica: look at it in it with a different perspective?
Patrick: Yeah, I was married and I've had a male partner here living
Patrick: with me, but I have not had a partner here
Patrick: now for over 12 years. But one of the things I had to
Patrick: think about was starting my life again in a way
Patrick: when I came out as a gay man. So things
Patrick: like having my own place and starting again from scratch,
Patrick: starting a mortgage, and that all impacted on my retirement
Patrick: potentially, because they were going to be expenses there to
Patrick: meet that I wouldn't have had to cater for otherwise.
Patrick: You know? So yeah, I've been quite savvy with my
Patrick: money. I think I've worked out my life retirement plan
Patrick: quite well so that I can do the kinds of
Patrick: things I want to do to be able to enjoy my life.
Angelica: With some people, with life change comes fear, especially when
Angelica: you're getting older. You like that sort of security of
Angelica: knowing what's going to happen, isn't it?
Patrick: Yeah. There's a certain element of apprehension there. You wonder how things are going
Patrick: to turn out. But as I said, I've received good
Patrick: financial advice. I mean, unfortunately my late ... my father died
Patrick: about nine years ago and my mum had already passed
Patrick: away. So when Dad died, some money was left to
Patrick: me and my two brothers. And my brother Doug was
Patrick: still here. But that financial benefit, if you call it
Patrick: a benefit, allowed me to actually pay off any money
Patrick: I owed on my mortgage. And by that time of course,
Patrick: I was getting my teacher's pension with a lump sum,
Patrick: etc. Good, sound financial advice, which I took. I set
Patrick: myself up so that I'm now comfortable in life and I can
Patrick: continue to do the things I want, paid off for.
Patrick: I've no real overheads so life is good. People are
Patrick: a lot worse off than me even though I'm single.
Angelica: Now, what suggestions would you make to anybody approaching retirement
Angelica: as a single gay person?
Patrick: It depends on the nature of the person. I think,
Patrick: first of all, you need to think about your financial
Patrick: situation. In fact, a good friend of mine was asking
Patrick: me a couple of weeks ago ... I'm in a gay
Patrick: walking group, whether you're a gay man or any other guy, whether you're single
Patrick: or married, I think you need to get good, sound financial advice. I
Patrick: had a certain pot of money that I needed to
Patrick: use well. But the other thing, apart from that, I'm
Patrick: an active social guy. So if you're that kind of
Patrick: person, there are lots and lots of activities. We're blessed,
Patrick: and greater Manchester is a very, very friendly, gay- friendly,
Patrick: LGBT city. And I've been involved in lots of LGBT
Patrick: organizations here, support groups, some of which I still go to. I line dance
Patrick: with a gay group. I walk with a gay group.
Patrick: They're not exclusively gay. But I also do theater and
Patrick: all sorts of stuff. I think you need to have
Patrick: something connected to your own interests. If you like art,
Patrick: there's an art group. If you like reading, there's a
Patrick: literature group that you can go to and poetry groups. So
Patrick: I think you need to try and think what am
Patrick: I interested in? How can I get involved in the
Patrick: stuff that's actually there?
Angelica: And I think what you're saying there, Patrick, is to
Angelica: find hobbies and find a community where you can sort
Angelica: of immerse yourself in and find that camaraderie and that support.
Patrick: You need a good support network. And I have that. I'm lucky to have ... I
Patrick: have some close family who care about me deeply. I've
Patrick: got a really, really good set of friends and the
Patrick: groups I'm involved with, they keep me going. They're the
Patrick: life and soul of my existence now really, something to
Patrick: look forward to. And it gives my week a structure.
Angelica: I think structure is a great word, really good. Now
Angelica: what about other plans for retirement? Because Patrick, you're not
Angelica: a couch potato. Those are your words. So I know
Angelica: you must have something up your sleeve. What are you
Angelica: looking forward to?
Patrick: The main focus is going to be continuing my travels.
Patrick: I mean, there are still so many places on my list. Last
Patrick: year I was in Asia when the pandemic hit. I
Patrick: was in Vietnam and I had to come home with the rest
Patrick: of the tour group from there. So I want to complete that.
Patrick: That's high on the list to go to, complete the Vietnam,
Patrick: Cambodia, (inaudible) to Japan. I have a number of
Patrick: places that I still yearn to see and long to
Patrick: see before I get too inert to be able to
Patrick: do long flights and so on. continue with the activities that
Patrick: I enjoy now. I love my line dancing. I've been
Patrick: line dancing for 25 years, and I do two groups
Patrick: a week of that. I do five hours of line dancing a week, one with
Patrick: a gay group, one with a group here, a local
Patrick: group here. And I'm becoming more and more involved in
Patrick: my local LGBT forum as well.
Angelica: Now, Patrick, like you said, you have been blessed with a
Angelica: teacher's pension, your mortgage is paid off. What other things
Angelica: have you got in place in your retirement to make sure that
Angelica: your financially secure?
Patrick: Obviously I have my state pension, so that's a go
Patrick: to, every month anyway. So that's the basis. And then
Patrick: the teacher's pension is there. But when I took my
Patrick: teacher's pension, what I had to think about was, do I want a reduced teacher's
Patrick: pension? The options were reduced teacher pension, a larger lump
Patrick: sum, which I could then invest with advice, or do
Patrick: I want a bigger teacher's pension, smaller lump sum? Which
Patrick: again, I would have invested. But I felt I was comfortable
Patrick: enough to survive ... with no mortgage, to survive on a
Patrick: teacher's pension plus a state pension every month. So I
Patrick: made the decision to take the bigger lump sum. As
Patrick: I said, the financial advice I received from an independent
Patrick: financial advisor who was recommended, and the firm had been
Patrick: excellent, was really, really good. And I can check my
Patrick: money, how it's doing. And I know that they ... even
Patrick: despite the pandemic and the 2008 crash and so on, my
Patrick: money's is doing well enough to allow me to do
Patrick: the kinds of things in life that I want to
Patrick: do and hopefully in future years, look after my grandson,
Patrick: see if my kids need anything. So I think ... I feel financially
Patrick: secure to be able to get (inaudible) .
Angelica: What about a fallback for travel, health, insurance? Have you
Angelica: thought about that and taking that into account?
Patrick: Yes. It's actually a big thing in my life because
Patrick: I was diagnosed HIV positive about two and a half
Patrick: years ago, at the age of 68. I was actually ...
Patrick: when I was diagnosed, the consultant actually said, " Wow, you're one of the oldest
Patrick: people we've ever diagnosed with this." With their help, I
Patrick: have dealt with it. I'm now totally virus free and have been for
Patrick: two years. But when I'm planning travel, I have to
Patrick: think about that, particularly because I take daily medication. So
Patrick: that's a big thing in my life. So traveling for
Patrick: maybe the length of time I've done before, six months,
Patrick: may be a bit difficult now. It may be that
Patrick: I only have to travel say to Australia for three
Patrick: months or so, which is still fantastic. But on the
Patrick: whole, I'm a very healthy guy. I don't think I
Patrick: look 71 anyway. Once or twice, my GP has said, "
Patrick: How old are you?" And I said, "About 70, 70." He said, "
Patrick: Just rein back a little bit." He said, " You do
Patrick: more in your week," he said, " than I do." He
Patrick: said, " (inaudible) ." So never say never. There's no such
Patrick: word as never. I'm very happy with my life, with
Patrick: my friendship circle, with my activities. I can't complain. I'm
Patrick: at peace with it.
Angelica: I have to say, Patrick's inspired me with his wise
Angelica: words and outgoing attitude. Even if you're not a very
Angelica: active or social person, if you're single in retirement, it
Angelica: sounds like sharing experiences with like- minded people is a
Angelica: great way to pepper the structure and create a sense
Angelica: of community all of us need from time to time.
Angelica: I also admire how Patrick has made the most of
Angelica: his pensions and the money from his father to make
Angelica: sure he has a solid foundation from which to enjoy
Angelica: his retirement and do those amazing adventures. He also told
Angelica: me about the time he went, skydiving and white water
Angelica: rafting. Next, we're going to talk to Annie. She's been
Angelica: with her partner Belinda for 25 years and they live
Angelica: in Stoke Newington in London. Now, Annie, I understand you're a bit of
Angelica: a go getter? My sort of girl.
Annie: Well, I was a wild child in the '60s. And in
Annie: fact, I live in Stoke Newington in London, as you
Annie: know. And the reason why I came back here is
Annie: because I squatted here in the '60s. But it was
Annie: very, very, very good experience and I wanted to come
Annie: back and relive some of that freedom.
Angelica: Well, I know you love that part of the world,
Angelica: and that when I say you have a zest for life, it's
Angelica: because you are active. And I'd love you to tell
Angelica: me a bit about retirement life for you with your
Angelica: partner, your family, your community, because you really just throw
Angelica: yourself into something, don't you?
Annie: Yeah, well, I've always felt very strongly about people and
Annie: communities and causes, I suppose. I mean, my working life
Annie: was mainly in the health service. I managed various services
Annie: in hospitals that often had a mixture between mental health
Annie: and physical health, which became an interest. Did that for
Annie: quite a lot of years. Then I've now been in
Annie: a long- term relationship with my partner Belinda for 25 years. And we've moved
Annie: around the country, ending up in London just because we
Annie: fancied a move and fancied getting to different places. And
Annie: I actually left the health service sort of in my
Annie: fifties. And we fostered children for quite a lot of
Annie: years. I suppose I retired from paid work when I was 60.
Annie: I'm 70 now. And since then, I've been throwing myself
Annie: into working around older LGBTQ+ people with a charity called
Annie: Opening Doors and with our national helpline switchboard. You're right,
Annie: I do throw myself into things and I suppose that's
Annie: what I love. I love being around people and I'm
Annie: very fortunate to be able to choose to do that
Annie: within the communities that I feel aligned to and where
Annie: my life is. And London's a very good place for
Annie: that. London is a very good place to be retired.
Annie: It's good. It's good from the volunteer perspective, which I
Annie: do a lot of. We have good health services here.
Annie: I can swim free in the local pool, I have
Annie: free drugs, but only the legal sort. Well, I'm very
Annie: fortunate in that I have several pensions that have come
Annie: from various aspects of my life. So in fact, I'm
Annie: extremely comfortable. We don't have a mortgage anymore. And that's
Annie: partly because we were left a bit of family money,
Annie: both of us, just enough to polish the mortgage off.
Annie: And my partner is still working. So yeah, we're fine.
Annie: We don't have very ambitious needs in terms of money.
Annie: We have a four bedroom terrace house. It's very nice.
Annie: We supplement our income by letting them out with Airbnb
Annie: when we can. So money isn't an issue for us
Annie: really. And that is a very blessed position to be in.
Annie: That means I can help my ... I have a daughter
Annie: who is also a lesbian and she's 30 ... coming up
Annie: 39 this year and lives in London and they've got
Annie: two kids so I'm able to help them out, which
Annie: is great. So, no, money isn't a problem, but it
Annie: wasn't planned really.
Angelica: So this is ... this just happened?
Annie: Well, it's money that came to be via different means
Annie: that I didn't plan. In fact, I was hopeless at
Annie: planning really. So, as a younger woman, I worked for
Annie: the health service and when I got pregnant with Lucy, I
Annie: cashed my pension in for the NHS to buy a
Annie: washing machine, which was a completely ridiculous thing to do. So
Annie: I signed out of the NHS pension scheme, which was
Annie: completely crazy. I signed back in, but by that time ...
Annie: it's good job I haven't had to rely on my
Annie: NHS pension really. So I do have an NHS pension,
Annie: and I do have a fairly big private pension, and
Annie: I do have my state pension.
Angelica: You've given one piece of advice already. Don't opt out
Angelica: of pensions.
Annie: Oh no! Don't do that. I never even thought about
Annie: the fact that I would get on, get old and
Annie: I'd need ... and apart from that, the whole independence thing,
Annie: for women particularly, it's just massively important that we maintain
Annie: our financial independence, because you never know what's going to happen.
Angelica: We could say that you're one of the lucky ones then, because it doesn't
Angelica: always work out like that for people.
Annie: It doesn't work out that, well at all. And I've
Annie: got a big network of women friends who like me
Annie: were involved in women ... in activism during the '80s and the '90s.
Annie: They dedicated their time to ... quite often to working with
Annie: their communities and not having a professional life. I was
Annie: lucky to have a professional qualification. I could always get
Annie: a job. And they didn't contribute to ... they didn't get
Annie: occupational pensions through their jobs and have ended up for ...
Annie: in their retirement, in not good financial situation. Not good.
Annie: Often at the behest of private landlords and on benefits.
Annie: And yet women who've done masses with their lives. So
Annie: yeah, that is a good message. It's a good message for
Annie: all women, to think about that and if you can,
Annie: plan for it because you need money as you get older.
Angelica: Living in Stoke Newington, I know we jested about you
Angelica: squatting there before and having this great lifestyle, but you
Angelica: have this wonderful community there, don't you? And it's important
Angelica: for anybody thinking about retiring to have that backup, that
Angelica: framework, to be able to walk out the door and say, " Hey," and
Angelica: know that there's people there, isn't it?
Annie: Well, it's massively important. And that's ... through the work that Opening Doors
Annie: London does, that's entirely their agenda, which is around isolation
Annie: and loneliness. What we do is get people together in
Annie: groups. We've been running something like 50 social groups a
Annie: month in London to get people together because that's what
Annie: we need to do. We need to create social networks
Annie: for ourselves. And sometimes those have been fractured as our
Annie: lives progress. And we get on. Relationships break up. We
Annie: might find that we've been in very sort of ... relationships
Annie: where we've only needed each other or we've not kept
Annie: those connections with other people. Interestingly enough, I think women
Annie: are better than this than men. Women are better at
Annie: maintaining their networks, and working on it, and developing it. We
Annie: have many more men as members of Opening Doors, we've got 2,
Annie: 300 members, then we have women. They've found themselves in
Annie: much more difficult situations, partly because they have such a
Annie: tough time with HIV and AIDS particularly.
Angelica: Well, let's go into more depth about some of the
Angelica: particular issues that you see for the LGBTQ community who
Angelica: are reaching retirement age and have to navigate their way
Angelica: through it. What have you noticed? And what are the
Angelica: particularly strong messages we can talk about now?
Annie: Well, we've mentioned one and that's the loneliness and isolation thing. I think the
Annie: other thing is the interface that everybody has to navigate
Annie: as we get older, and that's health and social care,
Annie: having to be open about your life with people that
Annie: you don't know who might come into your house to
Annie: give you personal care, or when you go into hospital
Annie: to be assumed that you're heterosexual and for people to
Annie: treat you as if you are, and to talk about ... to ask
Annie: me where my husband is or anything like that. It's
Annie: really, really tricky. And in fact, for our communities to
Annie: face those difficult situations, quite often it means going back in
Annie: the closet, which is not a good thing. So I
Annie: think to have someone to advocate with you, for you,
Annie: to have someone who's a friend, or even someone who's
Annie: part of a charity to help you along with those
Annie: difficult things, is pretty crucial. As a charity, we've advocated
Annie: for a woman who was prayed over by a carer
Annie: who came into her house, someone who had a carer
Annie: who came in who wouldn't touch her in the shower
Annie: because they knew she was a lesbian. I mean, there's
Annie: lots and lots of these situations. It's not something that's
Annie: tackled in terms of training for health and social care
Annie: stuff. That's a massive issue. I think the advocacy issue
Annie: is something that we will work on as a charity,
Annie: because we've certainly learned through COVID that people have been
Annie: left very stranded, having to deal with things, whether it's
Annie: housing or benefits or health issues, or going into hospital
Annie: and having nobody actually to look for them. I think advocacy is
Annie: a big thing. That's the other issue. Where do you
Annie: go to find someone who really understands your world? Who
Annie: understands your background or the history of your communities? It's very
Annie: much easier to go and sit and talk to someone
Annie: you don't have to go and explain yourself when you
Annie: walk in the door. You can build up a trusting
Annie: relationship much quicker. So mental health is a big one.
Angelica: So let's talk about you and how you have set
Angelica: yourself goals.
Annie: Yes, well, just to say ... I mean, I retired, as I say, about 10
Annie: years ago now. I've been very involved in volunteering, have a
Annie: very big circle of women friends, and the swimming things.
Annie: Well, I've got two replacement hips. So my health hasn't
Annie: been exactly tip top, but I try not to let
Annie: it get in the way. In fact, Monday is probably
Annie: not a great day for me to do this with
Annie: you, because I've just done an hour's yoga. And I
Annie: tell you, it's a mixture of thinking, oh, well, this
Annie: is good to be doing and it's good for me,
Annie: but it's really depressing because you'd come across all these
Annie: bits of your body that don't work as well as they
Annie: used to do.
Angelica: You're joking. You've done yoga already, and you've got two
Angelica: replaced hips. After this, I'm going to get on it.
Annie: But the swimming thing is quite fun because last year,
Annie: before COVID struck, I had planned to go and swim
Annie: in all the different lidos in London. Turns out it's 13
Annie: or 14 of them, all the outdoor ones, because I love
Annie: to swim outdoors. In fact, a friend bought me a t-
Annie: shirt with all the names of the lidos on the back,
Annie: with a little square that you could tick when you had done
Annie: it. So I've now got a plan to do that.
Annie: Five of them I can cycle to in North London
Annie: and the rest I've got to go on public transport.
Angelica: Annie's looking forward to staying active with her long haired
Angelica: dachshunds, as well as meeting up with friends again after
Angelica: the pandemic restrictions. She said it's really important to keep
Angelica: up with your network of friends in later life. Sound
Angelica: advice there from two people who are very active and
Angelica: outgoing in their communities. So what about you? What's your
Angelica: vision of later life? For some of the questions you
Angelica: might want to explore and for some sound tips on
Angelica: organizing your finances, I'm joined by Meg Dickens from Legal &
Angelica: General and Matthew Riley from Tonic Housing. So I'm going
Angelica: to start with you Matthew, because our guests are both
Angelica: very socially active people, but as you well know, not
Angelica: everyone is like that. And we heard from Annie how
Angelica: loneliness and isolation are issues that older LGBTQ people can
Angelica: face. How is Tonic Housing addressing this for different people?
Matthew: So Tonic was originally founded in 2014 to address issues
Matthew: of loneliness and isolation of older LGBT people and the need
Matthew: for specific housing and support provision. So since then, we've
Matthew: been working really hard to make LGBT+ affirming retirement communities
Matthew: a reality. And in March, you may have seen our
Matthew: announcement. We announced our first scheme will be opening in the coming
Matthew: months. We are a community led organization as well. So
Matthew: rather than just be an LGBT+ friendly, we want our
Matthew: services to be actively affirming of the lives, histories, needs,
Matthew: and desires of LGBT+ people.
Angelica: Yeah. Well, Meg, you're listening to what Matthew is saying
Angelica: there and how did Legal & General spot a problem with
Angelica: the way we still hear retirement experiences talked about, especially
Angelica: from this group in society?
Meg: We spent the last few years constantly talking to people,
Meg: either in formal research, or we've run kind of informal
Meg: tea and chat sessions about their hopes and dreams and
Meg: aspirations of the future. So we're constantly keeping a watch
Meg: on what's happening with our audience. And we've learned a
Meg: huge number of things along the way. But one of the
Meg: things that's really hit home is that retirement is just not
Meg: one homogenous kind of bunch of people. The reality is
Meg: very different for different people. Even the word retirement now
Meg: means very different things to different people. And traditionally, certainly
Meg: from a marketing perspective, the way in which retirement's been talked
Meg: about and certainly the way in which it's been depicted is really
Meg: stereotypical. So the heterosexual couple in white linen walking along
Meg: the beach. We've seen that so many times. Or riding
Meg: bikes or drinking coffee at their laptop. There is some
Meg: real stereotypes that we've set up about peoples socio- demographic
Meg: profile or their living conditions or their level of financial
Meg: support or their sexuality, whatever those things are. We want
Meg: to make sure that everything we do is bringing to light
Meg: what real retirement really looks like, and that people have got individual
Meg: needs and therefore they want things to relate to.
Angelica: Yeah. Well, Matthew, I can see how the charity sector
Angelica: is vital and plays a key role in supporting the
Angelica: LGBTQ community, especially with what we're talking about.
Matthew: Yeah, it is for sure. And I think often we do see public services that are
Matthew: left underfunded, or kind of not able to cater to
Matthew: a lot of our community as well, which is why
Matthew: organizations like Open Doors London, Tonic, LGBT Switchboard, for example,
Matthew: a lot of those are like (inaudible) , especially to
Matthew: all the LGBT people. With ODL, Open Doors London, specifically,
Matthew: we do work quite closely with them. And one of
Matthew: the things we've done with them, with our first scheme,
Matthew: is they've come in and trained all of the care staff
Matthew: and all of the team on site. And that's kind of
Matthew: just one of the ways the charity sector is able
Matthew: to import into the housing sector specifically to ensure that it
Matthew: is inclusive, and it is LGBT aware, and fit into
Matthew: the LGBT affirmative bracket that we're trying to broaden and make much bigger
Matthew: and make the norm. Because yeah, we've kind of way
Matthew: past the point of LGBT friendly at this point. No
Matthew: one wants to be just like friendly or tolerated. It
Matthew: needs to way, way, way be past that.
Angelica: Well, we heard how Patrick had to rebuild his finances
Angelica: when his lifestyle changed in his late thirties. Fortunately, I
Angelica: mean, he had his two pensions and also an inheritance
Angelica: from his father, which really helped. But what should people
Angelica: consider to help them be prepared financially for retirement, Meg?
Meg: I think Patrick and Annie had some real level of
Meg: security in retirement from the inheritance that they received, but
Meg: also they had pension savings. But I think their stories
Meg: highlighted a few key points about retirement planning that are
Meg: worth considering. Firstly, I think it's important not to underestimate
Meg: the importance of starting to save for the future as
Meg: early as possible. And I know that that's really difficult,
Meg: certainly when you're in your twenties and thirties. People have
Meg: a huge amount of expense early in life from saving
Meg: for a deposit on a house to taking care of
Meg: a family or mortgages. But putting small amounts away into
Meg: a pension over the long term can make a massive
Meg: difference because of the effects of compound interest over time.
Meg: It really does lead to a much, much bigger pot.
Meg: Secondly, I think, again, their stories highlighted that you never
Meg: know what life's going to throw at you. And it's
Meg: really important to have a level of financial independence. The
Meg: last 18 months, it's been clear to see that COVID
Meg: impacted a huge number of people. And there are some populations that
Meg: have been more heavily impacted than others. So the (FCA)
Meg: have recently launched research that said that 60% of retirement
Meg: between March and October last year were as a direct
Meg: result of COVID. A lot of people lost their jobs.
Meg: A lot of people were on furlough and found it
Meg: really difficult. And even our own research highlighted that a lot
Meg: of people have had to bring forward their retirement plans.
Meg: So you never quite know what life's going to throw
Meg: at you.
Angelica: Now, some people will be in committed relationships and marriages
Angelica: as they retirement. Others, like Patrick, will be single. So
Angelica: what additional costs should you plan for doing retirement solo?
Angelica: Because it is a different prospect, isn't it?
Meg: Totally. Living on your own, as many people will realize,
Meg: is more expensive than living with another person or people.
Meg: That's because you're covering all the costs in your income
Meg: and savings from your rent and your mortgage payments to
Meg: utility bills, insurance, as well as food and shopping costs.
Meg: It can also be more expensive to travel. So Patrick had
Meg: obviously a whale of a time in terms of traveling, but often you
Meg: can end up paying single person supplements. The costs are
Meg: more expensive. You also ... and one of the things that
Meg: clearly is important is as people get older, they may
Meg: need additional help and support if they haven't got a partner
Meg: or family members to care for them. So these are the
Meg: particular issues that you won't necessarily have thought through and planned for,
Meg: but could seriously affect the amount of income, disposable income
Meg: certainly, in later life. I think has all of these things kind of
Meg: highlight, you never know what's around the corner and therefore
Meg: it's really important for people to try and ascertain some
Meg: level of financial security so that you can afford to
Meg: even meet the basics. I mean, clearly if you want
Meg: to travel, then that requires a certain level of financial freedom
Meg: that you need to budget and plan for. So again,
Meg: it's important to think about the kind of retirement you
Meg: want. Try and think, do you want to have the retirement where you're
Meg: able to go to the cinema once a month or do you
Meg: want to go once a week? Do you want to
Meg: shop at Marks &* Spencer or are you quite happy shopping
Meg: at Tesco? It's trying to really think about what kind
Meg: of future you want for your money and planning from
Meg: that basis.
Angelica: Matthew, Annie mentioned also Opening Doors London, which is a
Angelica: charity L& G support. And they're working to tackle the
Angelica: loneliness isolation issue. But she also mentioned how discrimination and
Angelica: past experiences can leave a troubling legacy for people later
Angelica: in life. What support is on offer to help LGBT
Angelica: people with their mental health later?
Matthew: Unfortunately there isn't enough support out there for LGBT people
Matthew: generally, but especially later in life, and especially when it
Matthew: comes to mental health. As Annie mentioned, when people have
Matthew: lived with decades of discrimination, especially in the age group that
Matthew: we're talking about, you've got people who have had their
Matthew: homosexuality criminalized by the legal system, or have gone through
Matthew: conversion therapy, all of these things don't just disappear when
Matthew: the law changes. These are embedded in people's memories and
Matthew: that sort of trauma doesn't disappear overnight. It takes a lot
Matthew: of untangling and unlearning to feel kind of at peace
Matthew: or even vaguely happy with yourself and in the society. It
Matthew: requires a much bigger shift, not just from the mental
Matthew: health side of things, but from all of the different industries
Matthew: that we're talking about at the minute. So housing, finance, health
Matthew: care, all of those things kind of need to be
Matthew: much more joined up in their way of thinking. The
Matthew: positive side of it is that there are a range
Matthew: of organizations working really hard to make these shifts right
Matthew: now. And we are beginning to see positive change. In the immediate,
Matthew: we've already mentioned kind of Opening Doors London, but you've
Matthew: got LGBT Switchboard, you've got Age UK. All of these
Matthew: organizations are really upping their game when it comes to
Matthew: LGBT inclusivity and also mental health as well. So I
Matthew: think combining those things, they're the immediate support. And then
Matthew: the more longer term comes from the much kind of
Matthew: bigger policy change that's needed, which it's happening but I
Matthew: think it just needs to happen faster.
Angelica: Do you think a lot has been learned through this
Angelica: period for the LGBT community and the support services available?
Matthew: Yeah, I think we've obviously learned connectivity is a huge
Matthew: issue, especially when you engage with people that have not been
Matthew: brought up on their smartphones. For LGBT people especially, when
Matthew: it comes to like- minded thinking safe spaces, inclusive support,
Matthew: all of that is a vital resource. We know community is
Matthew: really, really important as well. So when you take away
Matthew: the physical interaction, if someone can't engage digitally, you're further
Matthew: isolating someone that was already kind of at the edges
Matthew: and the fringes of that community anyway. I think with the
Matthew: lockdowns, we were thrown so quickly into a digital way
Matthew: of communicating that many people felt more isolated if they
Matthew: weren't digitally confident. So I think it's been a time
Matthew: for learning within organizations and different sectors to make sure
Matthew: the way it will be and as inclusive as we
Matthew: can be to make sure that we're reaching everyone that
Matthew: needs to access our services. And that means going the
Matthew: extra mile sometimes whether it's handwriting letters or making sure
Matthew: you give them a phone number, because some people don't
Matthew: want to video call, or just all of those little considerations that
Matthew: really make the human element of it a big difference.
Angelica: Some incredibly important conversations. And there's clearly a lot more
Angelica: to be said on the challenges faced by over 1
Angelica: million people in the UK. It's time we had these
Angelica: conversations and supported everyone to have the dream retirement they
Angelica: deserve. Communities, charities, social services, businesses, and organizations all have
Angelica: a part to play in making sure we challenge prejudice,
Angelica: provide support and community to give everyone a happy and
Angelica: secure retirement. You can find out more about planning as
Angelica: well as links to those websites we've mentioned at legalandgeneral. com/
Angelica: retirement. Next time, we're hearing from people who've made the
Angelica: leap with a dream location later in life. Whether you're
Angelica: considering sunnier climes, life on the water, or something else,
Angelica: we've got brilliant stories and smart tips to help you
Angelica: do it in style.
Speaker 6: We looked at what finances we had. We saw, okay, (inaudible)
Speaker 6: sold the house, and how much a boat would cost,
Speaker 6: how much it would cost to run the boat. And we
Speaker 6: said, yeah, that would work.
Angelica: I'm Angelica Bell. Follow Rewirement on your favorite platform and
Angelica: I'll catch you next time.