Maybe 65 isn’t that big a deal after all, muses Peter Duffy
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (The Chronicle Herald), January 29, 2008:
READY OR NOT, this is it. Today, I’m 65.
Today I’m officially, um, what exactly? Not young, certainly; likely not middle-aged, either. But I don’t feel old, or dead.
These days, I really don’t know any more.
The truth is, 65 isn’t what it used to be. It’s no longer the end of the beginning and the beginning of the end, as it was in my parents’ day. Back then, you got the handshake, the gold watch and off you went into the sunset.
Not now. Many people my age have no plans to retire. They’re either too strapped financially or simply having too much fun to stop work. (And before you ask, I’m in the latter category.)
Even the perks are shifting. It used to be turning 65 meant access to a whole new world of discounts. These days, they’re old hat. Lots of stores and entertainment emporiums are offering discounts when you turn 60, or 55 or even 50.
So, maybe 65 isn’t that big a deal after all.
Take the other week, for example. An acquaintance went to a drugstore, looking for a 65th birthday card for his father.
He searched the racks but could only find two that mentioned the actual age, so he asked the assistant why there were so few.
He said she told him it was because 65 is no longer considered a milestone birthday!
"I hope that makes you feel better, Peter," he remarked.
It does, as do some statistics I’ve been studying.
It seems 700 people turn 65 every month in this province. As a consequence, I now belong to a club with more members than there are Nova Scotians at the other end of the age spectrum. There are 130,000 of us who are older than 65 and only 100,000 aged 14 to 18. In other words, don’t mess with us or our benefits.
The downside is, at 65, the average life expectancy in Nova Scotia is only another 18.3 years. (That’s a sobering fact that I intend to counter with a shot of Scotch when I get home tonight.)
I’ve also been investigating which other important events have occurred on this date in history.
To my disappointment, after an extensive search, the only thing that’s popped out is the fact that on this date in 1861, Kansas became a state. Not much to brag about, I guess, unless you live in Kansas.
It was a similar result when I went looking for famous Aquarians who share my birthday. Sadly, the list isn’t all that long. There’s Oprah Winfrey, actors W.C. Fields and Tom Selleck, feminist author Germaine Greer and American revolutionary Thomas Paine. (Being a monarchist, that’s not necessary something I like to boast about.)
Oh yes, there was one encouraging historical footnote. In 1940, Winston Churchill began his first spell as prime minister of Great Britain at age 65. Nice to know my best may be yet to come.
Some of you have written to remind me of the benefits of being older, instead of dead.
Typical was this admonishment from Frances Taggart: "Peter, Peter, Peter! Stop it, stop it right now! Celebrate that you are turning 65. Celebrate that you are alive to enjoy the wine, women and song (or two out of three); celebrate that you are able to enjoy life; able to work and play; and spend time with those you love."
That admonition was a reaction to a recent moan of mine about losing my Herald drug coverage once I turn 65, and trying to decide whether to join Pharmacare for $400-plus a year.
A number of you urged me not to hesitate but to sign on for Pharmacare right away.
Quoth Helen Millington: "As I filled my weekly medication holder for the upcoming week, I thought of your article this morning. As I doled each little pill into its day of the week I thought: $553 every three months for this one; $170 every three months for another; $20 a month for another. And who knows what else may come up in the future? Like the car and house insurances, we may never need them but, thank God we have them if we do!"
Overpowered by this kind of inescapable logic, I finally did sign up.
Anyway, let’s not dwell on health issues. Instead, let’s get into some of the nice financial goodies coming my way.
For starters, when I get paid this Thursday, it’ll be the last time I ever pay into the Canada Pension Plan.
Starting today, the plan will be paying me $880 every month, along with $502 from Old Age Security.
And, as a nice little postscript, once you start drawing CPP, you’re no longer expected to make contributions, so that’s an extra $112 a pay, staying in my hot little hand.
Add in a $240-a-month pension from my native England and I’m already doing the Dance of Joy.
And yes, before you mention it, I know the taxes are going to hurt because I’ll still be working, but what the heck.
With whatever’s left of the pensions, first I’m going to pay off my credit card and then I’ll start throwing this new money straight at the mortgage. All being well, it should be paid off in two more years.
Now that’s what I call being sensible and responsible. Mature even.
Sensible? Mature? Good grief, what’s happening to me?
Is this what being 65 is all about?!
© 2008 The Halifax Herald Limited
