Pension changes will make millions worse off - But will you be !!!!

TUC: Pension changes will make millions worse off

 

 

 State pension changes will leave some people with less money in their hands, and some with more

 

Millions of people currently entitled to the state second pension will be worse off as a result of the government's pension changes, the TUC has claimed.

The report says that anyone with a long working history is likely to lose out, by as much as £2,000 a year.
The second state pension will be abolished when the new single-tier pension begins in April 2016.
But the government said the changes will make most people better off.
Around 20 million Britons are currently part of the state second pension scheme, introduced 10 years ago to boost pension levels for low earners.
The TUC report suggests that the "vast majority" of them will get less money when they retire.
"Many low and middle-income private sector workers, particularly those several decades away from retirement, could be thousands of pounds a year worse off in retirement," said Frances O'Grady, the TUC general secretary.
The Trade Unions support the principle of the single-tier pension, but want it to be raised from the current notional level of £144 a week.
'Better off' However, the government said that most people retiring after 2040 would be better off with the new pension over the course of their retirement.
"The flat rate will provide a fair base, set above the basic level of means test, helping people to know how much they need to save for the kind of retirement they want," said a spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
A report by MPs on the Work and Pensions Committee in April 2013 supported the idea of the new single-tier pension, but said the government needed to be clearer when explaining it to the public.
The MPs concluded: "It will mean more state pension for many people, particularly low-earners, in the short to medium term."
But a previous report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found that people born later than the mid-1980s would be worse off when the single-tier pension was introduced.
It said that low earners could be £1,000 a year poorer, while high earners could lose £2,300 a year.

Continue reading the main story

 

New State Pension

• Begins April 2016
• Paid at a flat rate
• Replaces second state pension
• Worth £144 a week
• Needs 35 years of contributions

But on average, it concluded that women would be about £270 a year better off and men would be £81 better off.

Low earners The TUC study claims that anyone on a median income of £26,000 a year, and who has a full employment record, will be worse off as soon as the new pension is introduced.
Such a person retiring in 2030 would receive £1,500 a year less than under the current system.
Someone retiring 10 years after that would be £2,000 a year worse off.
Low earners, on an income of £10,000 a year, will be better off if they plan to retire soon after the changes are introduced.
But such people retiring in the 2040s will be up to £1,700 a year worse off.
Pensions expert Malcolm McLean, of consultants Barnett Waddingham, said the TUC report was broadly correct.
"It was always the case that there would be both winners and losers from the new scheme which the Treasury had dictated had to be introduced at no overall extra cost," he said.
"The real message for young people in particular is to try to build up for themselves a private pension to supplement the state pension," he added.
And the government argues that it is doing a lot to help people save through private-sector pensions.
Under its auto-enrolment programme, employers have to sign people up to their pension schemes, unless they choose to opt out.
In the last year, it says that 1.4 million people have been signed up to workplace pensions as a result.

Original Post found here
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23770327

P.S. With news like this its no wonder everyday we brace ourselves for more doom and gloom. 
well here is something which from my own experience will change your life. Its quite new and is very simple to implement and it called The Secret to Deliberate Creation by Dr Robert Anthony.

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It’s no secret that 95% of all “Self-Improvement” efforts fail. Although it’s not usually the person’s fault, most people never get beyond information to achieve actual results.
You’ve been there right?
You hear about a great new course… another seminar… another book… all promising to “automatically” change your life.
Yet time after time, you don't seem to be getting to that ideal life you imagined.
You suffer through failed promise after failed promise…

• It can be frustrating.
• It can be expensive.
• And it can be downright discouraging.

Poverty reduces brainpower, study

Poverty reduces brainpower, it uses up so much mental energy that there is much less brainpower left to address other areas of life, researchers reported in the journal Science. Consequently, poor people are more prone to making bad decisions and mistakes, which can worsen and prolong their poverty.

The researchers, from Harvard and Princeton universities in the USA, the University of Columbia, Canada, and the University of Warwick, UK, said that their study "presents a unique perspective regarding the causes of persistent poverty". The state of being poor undermines a person's ability to concentrate properly on the avenues they should follow to improve their standard of living.

The daily struggle to cope with the immediate effects of not having enough money - such as cutting costs, and begging and borrowing to pay bills - has a detrimental effect on cognitive function. An individual who lives in poverty ends up with fewer "mental resources" to concentrate on complicated, less immediate matters such as job training and education. Poverty robs people of the ability to manage their time. After performing a number of experiments, the investigators found that financial worries had an immediate negative impact on a poor person's performance in common logic and cognitive tests.

 Poverty reduces IQ People who were overly worried about money problems demonstrated a drop in cognitive function equivalent to a 13-point fall in IQ - a similar effect is seen when a person loses a whole night's sleep. However, when a poor person's concerns were benign, they performed competently in the tests, said co-author Jiaying Zhao. Zhao said: "These pressures create a salient concern in the mind and draw mental resources to the problem itself. That means we are unable to focus on other things in life that need our attention.

Previous views of poverty have blamed poverty on personal failings, or an environment that is not conducive to success. We're arguing that the lack of financial resources itself can lead to impaired cognitive function. The very condition of not having enough can actually be a cause of poverty." Poverty and stress affect cognition differently The mental burden of poverty is different from the impact of stress, explained Eldar Shafir, who was involved in the study.

Stress, which studies have demonstrated can actually encourage good habits, is our response to a range of outside pressures. This study found that immediate rather than long-term preoccupation with limited resources can be an obstacle to important yet still unrelated tasks. Going on a training course will help in the medium- to long-term prospects of an individual, but will not put food on the table today. Smiles and determination of rural Indian women

Women attending a skills training program on dairy farming. Training is a distant priority for many people who live in poverty Shafir said "Stress itself doesn't predict that people can't perform well - they may do better up to a point. A person in poverty might be at the high part of the performance curve when it comes to a specific task and, in fact, we show that they do well on the problem at hand. But they don't have leftover bandwidth to devote to other tasks.

The poor are often highly effective at focusing on and dealing with pressing problems. It's the other tasks where they perform poorly." The consequences of failing to be on top of other areas of life for a person in a hand-to-mouth existence may loom larger. Shafir said "Late fees tacked on to a forgotten rent payment, a job lost because of poor time-management - these make a tight money situation worse. And as people get poorer, they tend to make difficult and often costly decisions that further perpetuate their hardship." The mistakes made by a poor person have greater consequences, compared to people higher up the socioeconomic ladder. Shafir explained "If you live in poverty, you're more error prone and errors cost you more dearly - it's hard to find a way out."

 In the first set of studies, the investigators chose 400 people at random in a New Jersey shopping mall. Their average income was $70,000. Income ranged from very high to $20,000 per year. The participants were asked to solve fictitious financial scenarios, for example, if there was suddenly something wrong with their car, would they repair it by paying in full, borrowing the money, or postpone the repairs. They were presented with either a "hard" or "easy" scenario - the repair would cost $1,500 or $150. The subjects performed common cognition and fluid-intelligence tests while considering these scenarios. The researchers divided the participants into two groups, the "poor" or "rich" group, according to their income. The study showed that: In the "easy" scenarios the poor group performed as well as the rich group in the tests. In the "hard" scenarios the difference was evident.

Those in the poor group performed considerably worse on both cognitive tests, while the better-off participants were "unfazed". In the second set of studies, 464 sugarcane farmers in India took part. For sugarcane farmers, the annual harvest represents 60% of their income. These farmers are usually well off just after the harvest, and poor immediately before it. The farmers were given the same scenarios and tests. The researchers found that they performed far worse before the harvest than after it.

 
Women attending a skills training program on dairy farming.
Training is a distant priority for many people who live in poverty


 The team found that the effect of poverty on cognition is associated with the general influence of "scarcity". By scarcity, they refer to lack of time, money, social ties and even calories that poor people face when trying to cope. It is not about being poor, it's about living in poverty Zhao explained that scarcity uses up "mental bandwidth" that should be going towards other concerns in life. Zhao explained: "These findings fit in with our story of how scarcity captures attention. It consumes your mental bandwidth. Just asking a poor person to think about hypothetical financial problems reduces mental bandwidth. This is an acute, immediate impact, and has implications for scarcity of resources of any kind. We documented similar effects among people who are not otherwise poor, but on whom we imposed scarce resources. It's not about being a poor person - it's about living in poverty."

When you are poor you cannot decide that you have had enough and you are not going to be poor any more. Deciding that you won't give your kids dinner or pay the rent is not an option, Shafir added. It is not a choice, it is a situation in which the individual's options are extremely limited - not something found in other types of scarcity. Services for poor people should be more scarcity proof Services for the poor should bear in mind the burden and obstacle that poverty places on an individual's time and mental resources, the researchers suggest. Aid forms should be simpler; there should be more guidance on how to receive assistance and training.

Training programs should be set up in a way that take into account the person's limited time. Unexpected absences in training programs should be more forgiving, so that when a person stumbles they have a chance to get up again. Shafir said "You want to design a context that is more scarcity proof". He pointed out that higher-income people have access to regular support in their daily lives, including babysitters, cleaners, personal assistants, computers, etc. Shafir explained: "There's very little you can do with time to get more money, but a lot you can do with money to get more time.

The poor, who our research suggests are bound to make more mistakes and pay more dearly for errors, inhabit contexts often not designed to help." Poverty affects our genes - researchers from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, found that poverty has an effect on people's genes which may contribute to their immune response. A team from Rutgers University found that GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) rates are high among poor mothers, not because they are suffering from a psychiatric disorder, but simply because they live in poverty. Written by Christian Nordqvist This was taken from an article from Medical News Today.

Original Post found here:-
 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265501.php

P.S Although you may not think that this has anything to do with you, as I have found out over the years, like poverty it creeps up on you, or suddenly your left with nothing at all - but all of this starts in the mind. And a few years ago I found this book about how to attract the good things in life. I was truly amazed at the contents of the book. It has changed my life so very much.

P.P.S - I urge you to read about the 11 Forgotten Laws

“The 11 Forgotten Laws That Make The Law of Attraction An Unbreakable Force”

Bob Proctor – one of the key figures in “The Secret”- believes that the Law of Attraction is incomplete, and for the first time reveals the 11 Forgotten Laws that will finally uncover the Law’s true potential.

 

 

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Highly Recommeded 

Beating IBS - FODMAP

Gut Week 2013 may not be something to celebrate exactly, but it's aimed at getting people thinking about talking about their guts. And if your digestion is a constant source of struggle, help is at hand.

IBS affects up to 20 per cent of the population, causing painful, embarrassing and uncomfortable symptoms. It has no cure but learning how to manage your diet and recognising your trigger foods can transform your life. Bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhoea and constipation can all be IBS symptoms [REX]

One of the latest methods of doing this is using the FODMAP diet. This NHS-approved programme is gaining in popularity, but changes some of our thinking on what 'good' foods for us are.

Because of this it's recommended you only start the diet with the help of a dietician or your GP.

[My IBS story]
[The facts about IBS]

Dr Gill Hart, Scientific Director at YorkTest Laboratories, which specialises in food intolerance testing and has created a new diet programme specifically to combat IBS explains:

"IBS varies hugely between individuals so it's never a case of one diet fits all, which is why it's really important to be supervised if you decide to remove FODMAP foods from your diet."

"In trials we've run at YorkTest, we saw a significant improvement in symptoms in patients who stuck to their prescribed diet.

"Many people with IBS just aren't aware that with a little help, they can often find simple dietary solutions to ease their symptoms."Though packed with nutrients, broccoli can cause problems for IBS patients [REX]

What is FODMAP?

Standing for the rather complicated Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols, FODMAP foods contain types of carbohydrate and sugars that are not successfully broken down and absorbed by the small intestine.

This means they are badly digested and arrive in the large intestine, where they act as a food source for bacteria, soak up water and produce gas, leading to pain, bloating, diarrhoea and/or constipation - classic IBS symptoms.

The idea of removing FODMAP foods is to take away these carbs and sugars that your body has trouble digesting, and it's been found to make a difference in 70 per cent of cases.

[Poor digestion puts as at risk of osteoporosis and anaemia]
[Stretches to improve digestion]

FODMAP foods

Fruits: Apples, apricots, avocados, blackberries, cherries, concentrated fruit juices, dates, dried fruits, figs, lychees, mango, nectarines, peaches, pears, plums, prunes, tinned fruit in natural juices, watermelon.

Alternative fruits: Banana, bilberries, blackcurrants, blueberries, cantaloupe/honeydew melon, cranberries, grapefruit, kiwi fruit, oranges, pineapple, strawberries, raspberries.

Vegetables: Asparagus, beetroot, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, garlic, mushroom, onion, leeks, sweetcorn.

Alternative vegetables: Carrots, celery, cucumber, lettuce, peas, peppers, olives, spinach, tomatoes, courgettes, parsnips, squashes, sweet potato.

Pulses: Lentils, chickpeas, beans (including baked beans, kidney beans and soya beans)

Cereals: Wheat, bulgar wheat, rye, barley

Alternative cereals: Rice, oats, millet, polenta or quinoa.FODMAPs are found in many foods so get expert help before you cut them out [REX]

Others to avoid: Milk products (switch to lactose free or avoid entirely, particularly if you have an intolerance show up in testing), sweeteners such as fructose, high fructose corn syrup, honey, xylitol, sorbitol, mannitol - instead try small amounts of sugar, golden or maple syrup. Saccharin and aspartame can also be tolerated.

"Because everyone reacts to foods differently it may take time to align this new diet to your needs," says Dr Hart. "There will be a period of trial and error and there will be foods you can reintroduce without any problems.

"It seems like a lot of effort but as anyone with IBS will tell you, it affects so many areas that dealing with it effectively can change your entire life."

YorkTest's new IBS Diet Programme includes a personal FODMAP diet recommendation. Or you can find out if you have dietary intolerance for any foods with a first step indicator test.

Original Post found here 

http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/ibs-diet-fodmap-foods-cures-093632544.html 

p.s if your like me and you suffer from this problem, I think you would agree that its the most embarrassing problem to have and it make's life pretty miserable for you. I can now show you an effective solution that has improved my life considerably.

p.p.s Learn how this system changed my life and got me completly free of IBS problems. Click the button below to reveal how this changed my life.

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Now You Can Stop Your Break Up, Divorce or Lovers Rejection…Even If Your Situation Seems Absolutely Dire or Hopeless!

Crash.....Bang! and then the sound of your Music system being thrown into a glass of the 3RD storey apartment window....followed by a ear piercing shrill and sobbing "GET OUT....GET OUT OF HERE NOW!"

If you hadn't of guessed already that was your significant other getting very angry about something you thought was long forgotton, or a situation that was just boiling beneath the surface and a chance remark or gesture that was swung it against your favor.

And he did go out the front door, since your partner was making this very serious threat, she had had enough of being taken for granted, and waiting on him hand and foot, although he was a good person she felt undervalued and under loved, he loved her very much but could not work out how to make her happy anymore, in spite of many attempts to make her happy, he didn't know how to wipe the slate clean....or just start over....

And this was the end for both of them...forever.....As is the case for so many other relationships....especially after we encounter the festive seasons, when patience is at a premium.

But what if it doesn't have to be like that ?

What if you could regain and recapture your ex-lovers Heart, Mind and Soul? Wipe the slate clean completely ? Even if you feel right now that your situation is hopeless and too far gone to be salvaged, or even just to damn complicated ?

I think we all know how difficult it is to wake up and fall out of bed in the morning, you never turn the radio on, just in case any song reminds you of your ex, and to eat in any of the resturants fills your heart with dread and heartache, and then to top it all you have to contend with family and friends who have decided to take "their side".

If you are in pain and confused?

Here’s some good news…

Did you know that most relationships CAN be salvaged? You may find it difficult to believe that almost every break up for whatever reason…infidelity, plain old lost passion, loss of interest, a stolen heart and worse…even the worst situations you can imagine…like men serving prison sentences have salvaged their relationships. Yes, even Ex-cons have got back together with girlfriends and wives after being away for years!
There is hope…

Now I can almost see you shaking your head in disbelief…

And it’s okay…let me ask?

Don’t you know couples that have gotten back together? A girl that has taken a guy back?…or vice versa?

I bet you do…and here’s the strange real clincher…

Do you remember why they broke up in the first place? I bet you know at least one guy or gal that took their lover back after an affair…or unfaithfulness…or worse even?

Think about it for a sec…

Sure! And I bet you know of…or have heard of at least one girl that has taken a guy back that REALLY should not have…you know the ones I am talking about…(and I know this is kind of dark)… the girls or guys that are in verbally or physically abusive relationships.

Now, that is some really dark stuff and I am not recommending to anyone to take someone back if the relationship was abusive…I am using it as a point that almost NO SITUATION is unsalvageable…
“Couples reunite every day REGARDLESS of the situation!”

Seriously, Doesn’t that make sense? That if most of us can think of couples that have gotten back together…under even some horrible circumstances…that there could be somehidden recipe, or secret even, to reigniting passion and recapturing lost love?

Now…I am not saying they were holding some “secret love spell” book and doing weird chants…not at all…at the same time somehow, by MOSTLY accident they said and did the RIGHT THINGS at the RIGHT TIME…and won back the heart of their lover…or at least created the circumstances where their ex gave them a second chance.

Allow me to repeat…they did this by mostly ACCIDENT!

Imagine…

What if? What they said…and what they did…could be “bottled” so to speak? And then you could “unbottle” it and put it to use? To erase old hurts…to reignite passion again…to turn back to a time when your relationship was fresh, new and exciting.
Yes…A Magic Love Recipe…in a sense…

You see there IS a “recipe for love” as well as a recipe for winning back and keeping some ones interest, desire, passion, heart and love…

What they did by “accident” can be repeated over and over on PURPOSE!

And you know what?

If I were you…I would be somewhat skeptical right now…that’s totally fine! I am going to show you some concrete proof. Just bear with me okay?
Do you have these symptoms?

-Leaving the radio off because every song makes you cry

-Loss of appetite

-Binge eating for comfort

-Calling your ex several times a day

-Text messaging and emailing constantly (Text Message Terrorism)

-Constantly checking your email and voice mail to see if he/she called

-Not going out because you are afraid to miss a call

-Thinking non-stop about why they REALLY left you

-Feeling massively depressed

-Feeling urges to spy on them

-Endlessly rehearsing what you should have said

-Endlessly rehearsing what you will say if you bump into them

…and when you do get a hold of them, it usually turns ugly because without a clear plan of what you are supposed to do…what happens? P-A-N-I-C…defensiveness…arguments…and then it gets really nasty.
Do you make these mistakes with your ex?

-We try to convince them we are the love of their life

-We will apologize profusely for everything

-Promise to change for good this time

-Try to get them to see that it wasn’t really our fault

-Even beg with them to take us back

…and of course with every word we utter, regardless of our intention, the more and more defensive, angry and distant they become.

Please know…this is not your fault! You weren’t taught this in school. You probably weren’t taught this by your parents…and there is no “get your ex back” night school…

Yeah?

And it is really a shame too because what could be more important than love?..Cars?…Money?…Clothes?…ALGEBRA?

So why? Are there all kinds of books, magazines and help on fixing a car,managing money and all the latest fashions, yet very little USEFUL information on how to fix a broken relationship…manage your emotions or getting the love of your life back?

Crazy huh?

Well I urge you to buy The Magic of Making Up, its absolutely key to the foundation to getting your ex-back, and who wants to be by themselves when you truly love you other twin flame, the love of your life, the person who you adore - over a petty argument or a stupid comment. There is always a compromise so do not feel you need to give up, just read and take action points with The Magic of Making Up.

Your both deserve a second chance.



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 The Magic of Making UP.