tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post6289214811629060696..comments2024-03-28T18:57:20.920+01:00Comments on Living the life in Saint-Aignan: A door slams shutKen Broadhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04430899802705818716noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-34477419644352004462019-12-15T07:29:47.134+01:002019-12-15T07:29:47.134+01:00Just noticed the first line of the above is missin...Just noticed the first line of the above is missing, sorry...<br />Congrats CHM on reaching a grand milestone!Le Pré de la Forgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02396822372095610004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-88857851802490646692019-12-13T06:49:41.962+01:002019-12-13T06:49:41.962+01:00I started collecting my small French retirement pe...I started collecting my small French retirement pension when I turned 65. That way, I think, I'm getting the maximum that I could get under the plan. Of course, I didn't even know that I qualified for a French retirement pension until we moved here in 2003. Suddenly, one day, a letter came in the mail informing me of the benefit I was eligible for. <i>Quelle surprise !</i>Ken Broadhursthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04430899802705818716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-4116909689850869612019-12-13T06:46:56.112+01:002019-12-13T06:46:56.112+01:00One thing that hasn't been mentioned here is t...One thing that hasn't been mentioned here is that any new retirement rules, under the current proposal, will apply only to workers/employees who were born in 1975 or later.Ken Broadhursthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04430899802705818716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-73227469729455711222019-12-13T00:33:44.972+01:002019-12-13T00:33:44.972+01:00Our economies are in transition now that we have r...Our economies are in transition now that we have robots, computers, etc. It will take time to adjust. The future is changing, let's hope France and the USA make good decisions. Brexit is going to be interesting. I'm glad you all chose early retirement- I'm also glad my husband did as well. Evelynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17824964122794535252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-20672659407452558252019-12-12T23:58:18.036+01:002019-12-12T23:58:18.036+01:00As I understand it, some French workers (such as t...As I understand it, some French workers (such as those for SNCF) got very good pensions in part because their jobs were difficult and often dangerous. But that was then. Now, not so much. And neither the population nor the economy is growing enough to continue funding at national rates nearly twice as great as other industrialized countries (excluding the US, which has no pension system to speak of). Something's gotta give, lest the system consume itself in fairly short order.<br />In the US news, where weather coverage stops short at the Canadian border as if the Maritimes never have weather, I've found close to zero coverage of the situation in France.<br />Sorry Loulou's having a hard time, though. She has been very generous with information over time.Emmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17365143273404503659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-10946493664758790732019-12-12T18:58:31.887+01:002019-12-12T18:58:31.887+01:00Thanks you two for translating lavette, because I ...Thanks you two for translating lavette, because I would have looked it up. I guess part of the reason for the laissez faire attitude is the economy, which has been tweaked upwards by low interest rates. 1969 was a recession and students paid virtually nothing for state college tuition. Now they must pay a fortune, so probably many work and don't have the time?Diogenesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-24468847325163071522019-12-12T15:45:23.874+01:002019-12-12T15:45:23.874+01:00Neither am I very familiar with French retirement ...Neither am I very familiar with French retirement rules and plans.<br /><br />We have a neighbor down the road who told me a few years ago that he had started working for the national railway system, la SNCF, when he was 14 years old. Therefore he was eligible for retirement and his pension at age 54, after 40 years of service. Under new rules, would he have been required to work until he was 64 years old? I really don't know how it all works.Ken Broadhursthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04430899802705818716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-27780898480619738642019-12-12T14:01:04.908+01:002019-12-12T14:01:04.908+01:00I think that by âge pivot ou âge d'équilibre, ...I think that by <i>âge pivot ou âge d'équilibre</i>, the Prime Minister means the age, 64, at which you can retire with a full pension. If you retire earlier, you lose some of your pension, that is <i>malus</i>, or if you keep on working you get a <i>bonus</i>. At least, that's the way I understand it.<br /><br />I think you can retire right now with a full pension at age 62. It must be said, I'm not familiar with retirement regulations in France.chmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17765675930520613520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-51633449915937252212019-12-12T13:33:32.906+01:002019-12-12T13:33:32.906+01:00We might say "a wet noodle" for a lavett...We might say "a wet noodle" for a <i>lavette</i>. Or there's the term "apathetic." In my translation of the Libé article I'm not sure I got the part about <i>un âge pivot</i> and <i>un âge d'équilibre</i> right. It's not clear in French. Jargon...Ken Broadhursthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04430899802705818716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-4099079472271483812019-12-12T13:04:45.703+01:002019-12-12T13:04:45.703+01:00LOL! It seems that the word lavette exists in Engl...LOL! It seems that the word lavette exists in English, but doesn't have the same meaning as it has in <i>familier</i> French,<br /><br />Here is the French definition : <i>Familier. Personne sans énergie, molle comme une chiffe.</i>chmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17765675930520613520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-68105401401113863562019-12-12T12:50:55.590+01:002019-12-12T12:50:55.590+01:00Diogenes, what happened to the American people?
Ho...Diogenes, what happened to the American people?<br />How did they become so apathetic? I remember the demonstrations in Washington, DC, against the Vietnam war! Now, young people here are just <i>lavettes</i>! I'm much too old to do anything, but as we say in French, my blood is boiling in my veins.chmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17765675930520613520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-5338918298292362422019-12-12T11:38:21.255+01:002019-12-12T11:38:21.255+01:00I retired at age 53. No pension for me at that age...I retired at age 53. No pension for me at that age, but all has worked out well.Ken Broadhursthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04430899802705818716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-44372071825011653082019-12-12T11:14:35.224+01:002019-12-12T11:14:35.224+01:00Excellent translation. Who knew! ;-) I worked unti...Excellent translation. Who knew! ;-) I worked until my agency retired me at age seventy-two, so I have no say.chmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17765675930520613520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-62859556330302384372019-12-12T10:22:36.132+01:002019-12-12T10:22:36.132+01:00I do wish the US population had the same fighting ...I do wish the US population had the same fighting spirit as the French with regard to certain individuals.<br /><br />Ken, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel will be the escape you need.Diogenesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-82473712984257617292019-12-12T09:07:26.615+01:002019-12-12T09:07:26.615+01:00The whole world is in flux... too many governments...The whole world is in flux... too many governments have pulled money from pension pots to fund other things... the fact that they should've ringfenced that escaped them!<br />The planet is currently "living above its means"... the UK is currently in a state of electronic civil war, the country divided right down the middle... and I fear that it will get worse!<br /><br />However.... life needs to go on... these things are currently out of Joe Soap's control.... and Joe Soap needs to look after him or herself!<br />When I left full time employment and started to work for myself, the retirement age for a full salary pension was 65.<br />That was changed when my local government pension was sold off to another organisation... it dropped to 60... because I had been moving around, the letter informing me of this change never reached me.<br />So, four years ago, I tried to track my pension down... and received a nice surprise... I had accumulated five years of pension to be taken as a lump sum or added to the pot, or both... I chose both.<br />But retirement at 60 has never been a "full pension" option in the UK for the Government DWP pension... you can retire, but you won't get a full pension.Le Pré de la Forgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02396822372095610004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-58691213522005470012019-12-12T08:15:18.361+01:002019-12-12T08:15:18.361+01:00Very interesting. While I don't think working ...Very interesting. While I don't think working to 64 is too unreasonable as long as something is in place for workers who do hard manual work, who wants to lose what they have? I do admire how the general French population will fight hard to keep their rights.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-64158303736899516162019-12-12T07:40:52.625+01:002019-12-12T07:40:52.625+01:00This all sounds so more than unfortunate. I have g...This all sounds so more than unfortunate. I have good friends who tried to have a holiday vacation in Paris a few years ago when there was another strike going on and now they just say they will never return to France. I am surprised the Prime Minister could make such a mistake. <br />Anyway, have a good lunch and hunker down.Thickethouse.wordpresshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17187303460677067276noreply@blogger.com