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Although we all complain about getting older the
alternative is, of course, much worse. Moreover, not only is
getting older the better of two alternatives, there are a
number of positive benefits. You may feel that the following
apply to you:
· Greater experience
· More wisdom
· More time in which to do the things you want to do
· Grandchildren
· A greater awareness of priorities and what is really
important in life
· The right to be grumpy
You can no doubt think of other, more specific advantages
that apply to you as you put more years on the clock. One
that you may or may not have thought about is that in some
areas of life things get cheaper! Yes, there are benefits,
discounts, concessions and offers that apply only to older
people.
What do we mean by older? Generally, these benefits apply to
the over-60s but that is not always the case. Sometimes they
start from the age of 50 or 55 and sometimes it is later
than 60. In other countries, particularly the USA, the most
common ages for them to be available are either 50 or 55,
but this article is aimed at those of us who are UK-based.
It is both the public and the private sector that recognise
the need and/or desirability of offering benefits to older
people. Therefore, they are available across many aspects of
our lives.
These pages are not intended to give you great detail about
all the benefits that are available; rather, their objective
is to make you aware of what is out there so that you can do
your own research about the things that might interest you.
In particular, we don’t look at local offers and benefits.
This would be almost impossible to compile – there would
always be someone complaining that we hadn’t included the
cheap meal deal during November for ‘The Dirty Duck’ in
Norton Sodbury – and it would be even more difficult to keep
it up to date. If you want to take advantage of local deals,
read your local paper, listen to the local radio and keep
your eyes open as you travel around.
The one rule in all this is always ASK. Very often, you will
be given a discount for being over 60 (or whatever the age
is in each particular case) providing you ask if there is
one available. Occasionally, you will be asked if you
qualify for a discount for any reason but, human nature
being what it is, the usual situation is that if you don’t
ask, you don’t get.
The final rule is to look pleased and flattered when you are
told that you don’t look old enough to be over 50/55/60 or
whatever!
Public sector concessions and discounts
Private sector offers, concessions and discounts
Once you have browsed through the pages, you will have a better
idea of what to do and where to look in order to gain the full
benefits of getting older!
Remember that the cardinal rule is always to ASK, in order that
you always get that to which you are entitled. We have shown you
the general areas in which you are most likely to get discounts
and we have been specific in some instances.
However, we want your help in making this section more
comprehensive and therefore more helpful to people. So if you
know of any discount schemes that you believe are worth having
please let us know and we will add them to this section.
We are more interested in national, or at least, regional deals.
As we pointed out earlier, keeping a local register would be a
nightmare to compile in the first place and even more difficult
to keep up to date. So bearing that in mind, please let us have
your nominations by emailing: guides@laterlife.com. Tell us the following
information:
· The name of the deal (if there is one)
· The name of the organisation
· Brief details of the benefits
· How to apply for the discounts involved
· Any other useful information –but keep it as brief as possible
We hope you find these pages helpful and we thank you in
anticipation for your assistance in making them even better.
This month why not visit our
New Retirement Courses site
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