bridge too far

I was at my aunt's 90th birthday party yesterday and I was telling a cousin how my 3 year old granddaughter can operate an iPhone (i.e. find the folder with her name on, choose a game and play it). I did say I envied today's generation for the access they have to knowledge. I wish computers had been around when I was at school to help with schoolwork. But, having said that, it's a much tougher world out there than it was when I was a child.

What do I know

Looks like being a close run, high quality final today. My bets are on Nadal but there's nothing between them ATM.

I'm a baby boomer and I think my generation has probably had it easier in many ways. Introduction of the NHS, free education, cheap housing etc. But one thing my generation has that previous generations haven't, in quite the same way, is the dual caring role. Many people of my age, having raised their children, then immediately switch to caring for their own parents as well as offering childcare to their grandchildren. In many ways I envy my children, especially my daughters. Far more freedom than I ever had - to go to University, to be so independent. My brother had that freedom but, my parents being 'old school', didn't allow me quite the same opportunities. However, I also think my children, and again especially my daughters, have tougher times than I ever did. No opportunity to be stay-at-home mums, hugely stressful jobs, horrendously large mortgages etc. etc. I guess each generation has its good and bad times. I wouldn't have wanted to be around during the wars, that's for sure.

When working on a very large hospital development, I was invited by surgeons to see how many of them needed to work in an operating theatre on a multi-disciplinary case (in this instance it was a head cancer case involving cancer surgeons, ear nose and throat surgeons and plastic surgeons) and how much space they needed. I thought I was just going to look at a current empty theatre but oh no! They asked me to gown up and walk through the theatre as they were carrying out the procedure. So I had to walk past a man on the operating couch having his face peeled back so they could get to the problem. I didn't faint! But it was pretty gruesome

And what DP chooses to ignore about the head of one of the teachers' union's pension contributions is this: 1. The union members, via the union's trustees, vote to approve or disapprove union officials' salaries and pensions, just like shareholders approve or not the salaries of the directors of those companies. Their salaries and pensions come from members' subscriptions, not from the taxpayer. 2. Top executives of private companies get HUGE pension pots when they retire - with contributions of something in the order of 25% from the companies employing them. We should all get decent pensions - if we don't the taxpayer will have to pick up the tab caused by an increase in pensioners claiming pension credits. Don't be fooled by the divide and rule policies of this ConDem government.

And it works the other way too Which makes me 37

As old as my tongue and a little bit older than my teeth

Really? My NHS contributions were 6% of my salary.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/pensions/8603989/FTSE-directors-now-retire-with-2.8m-pensions.html

Bit like runners up in football leagues then

At what?

The British public aren't all as astute as you your lordship. They, somewhat naively, believed the financial sector who said 'yeah go on, have 125% mortgages - property prices only ever go up' and because they were desperate to get on the housing ladder (because they'd seen the inexorable rise in house prices) they believed them. And what about the lending to buy-to-let landlords who only exacerbated the problem of rising prices? If the financial sector hadn't been so hell-bent on creating the environment for a collapse, easy credit would not have been on offer. The financial sector, or at least some of the hedge funds, actually bet on the collapse of the housing market in the US because it earned them even more dosh and because they were rewarded for failure as well as success. Hardly the fault of your average medical records clerk, hospital porter or worker for the Department of Work and Pensions.

Just the public sector? Why? They didn't create the debt. That was the private sector, or at least the financial arm of the private sector.

I think they're stronger rather than fitter.

Just had one for my lunch (and I hadn't even read this thread).

I think his performance dropped after that b****r Shearer decimated his ankle.

I obviously didn't state my case clearly. It was a case of 'this is what I'm likely to get, take out what's needed and bank the rest for a rainy day'. It's called market research, or developing a business strategy - call it what you will. It never was a case of 'this is what I need to earn so I'll price my classes to achieve what I need'. That's plain stupid. If it looked like my income was likely to fall, then my expenditure would have reduce accordingly. Luckily it never did. How do I know if I would have gone to work in the public sector with my leg in plaster? Hypothetical question. How long is a piece of string? If my office was easily accessible, yes I would have. If it wasn't, then I would have worked from home as I often did at weekends and evenings anyway. Building site visits might have been a bit of problem though.

Oh dear I charged the market rate. From that rate, I was able to work out how much income I'd receive per class = per month = per year. In the 80s / early 90s I taught 9 classes a week. Each class on average had 60 students. Each student paid £5 per class (the market rate). You do the maths. I divided up the annual take by 12 and used that amount per month to pay what I had to pay and banked the rest. Then, in the weeks when I wasn't teaching or it was holiday time, I'd have reserves in the bank to keep me going. Not rocket science, really. But feel free to advise me on a business you know nothing about. What line of business are you in? Can I offer you some free advice? No? But you carry on patronising me about how I should have run my business in the past. Because, with that income 20 years ago, I was obviously doing something wrong

But Nick - I DID charge the market rate, not an inflated sum. You call me patronising - why can't you accept that I did it, and did it successfully! I worked out my expenses and trimmed my living costs to ensure that I had enough to live on should there have been a fall in attendance / illness / holidays etc. I also paid into a private pension out of my earnings although that stopped when I stopped teaching. Had my classes been too expensive, people simply would have gone elsewhere. The fact that my classes were oversubscribed shows that I got the price and class content right, I think. I wouldn't have been any better off teaching in the holidays as most of my students were mothers, so attendances would have been down, and I would have had to pay for child care for my own children. I then went back to college (when I got too old to teach as I actually did the moves I was teaching and, like most dancers, started to suffer with arthritis). From college I went into the NHS for 20 years and only had time off when my father had a stroke (3 days compassionate leave) and then for his funeral. So - to recap - me telling you how it was for me is patronising? Jeez!

You know nothing about it Nick - that's apparent! My classes were run on a pay-as-you-go basis so it was up to me to provide what people wanted. I have to say I was generally oversubscribed and had to turn people away. But there was no guarantee about how many would turn up to each class - none at all. As for competition, well George Best's ex-wife tried to compete, using her name as a draw. It worked for two weeks max and then they came flooding back to me. We'd both charged to market rate for aerobics classes. From my earnings I took what I needed for my share of the family running costs and banked the rest for rainy days (or snowy ones if people couldn't get to my classes - I still had to pay the rent) and for times when I wasn't teaching, during holidays. I didn't miss a single class in 10 years, even teaching for a week with my leg in plaster following a knee op!

Good luck for the future FF and well done for standing up for your beliefs.

That's being a tad economical with the truth, I think. I, too, have been self-employed (as a dance teacher who didn't teach during school holidays) and I priced my fees to allow for sickness / holidays. So I drew down a set amount each month from my earnings.

Right.