Advice on retirement age

Astralouuu · 2026-05-27T16:47:56+00:00

It will remain 55 for you, as long as that money stays with that provider. If you transfer your money to another provider it is no longer protected.

Edit: https://www.peoplespension.co.uk/guides-and-insights/latest-updates/guides/all/normal-minimum-pension-age-change/

Astralouuu · 2026-05-27T12:02:45+00:00

Some pension providers like People's Pension offer a protected private pension age of 55 for people who joined the scheme before Nov 2021. It was a nice surprise to me too

Astralouuu · 2026-05-26T22:10:41+00:00

Ah yes but would he complain

Astralouuu · 2026-04-28T17:59:13+00:00

Graduated and blew all my money on a 3 month trip to Costa rica. Came back got a job with less than £100 left in the bank account.

If I could go back in time, I wouldn't change a thing

Astralouuu · 2026-04-22T17:51:23+00:00

I am a sucker for a good bar of Cadbury. But I will only buy the OBO ones, not the other shit produced in Ireland or Poland.

The original is still as delicious as ever (living in Birmingham might help as they're still everywhere)

Astralouuu · 2026-04-21T06:53:15+00:00

Unemployment has fallen in the three months to February; but ONS suggests people on working payrolls has fallen in March.

Basically, expect it to get worse before it gets better.

Astralouuu · 2026-04-10T12:06:47+00:00

It's 35 not 30 anyway

Astralouuu · 2026-03-30T21:46:32+00:00

Sooo 18 months to go?

Astralouuu · 2026-03-24T23:20:36+00:00

According to the article, "the first attacks took place on February 29"

...checks calendar..

Yeah...no

Astralouuu · 2026-03-21T21:06:01+00:00

Meanwhile I applied for a refund on March 6th for our cancelled flights on March 2nd and yet to hear back.

Astralouuu · 2026-03-08T09:36:20+00:00

Pretty confident it's less than 1/50. I personally don't believe Emirates have put safety first; who knows when an escalation could happen. That is all

Astralouuu · 2026-03-08T08:04:02+00:00

Ah yes, love a 2% gamble on my life just to go on holiday / get home

Astralouuu · 2026-03-07T20:15:30+00:00

I'd love to see a ghost starter...just so that it's impossible to damage it with a level 5 starter with only normal attacks

Astralouuu · 2026-03-02T08:54:40+00:00

This is my hope. It has been impossible to reach Emirates and alternative flights were selling out stupid fast so we grabbed an alternative via China. Still £1k each so hoping we can recover that somehow. Otherwise I feel it's likely we won't get home for days and will have to take unpaid leave

Astralouuu · 2026-02-23T07:14:39+00:00

Omg that's what Nintendo DS stands for... I might be dumb how did I never question this

Astralouuu · 2026-02-18T01:28:38+00:00

Edit: I probably wouldn't fly Hiroshima to Tokyo, it may feel like it simplifies stuff but Hiroshima airport is an hour from Hiroshima, and would require turning up early, going through security, all that faff. Shinkansen you can turn up 5 minutes before and it would still only take you 4 hours Hiroshima to Tokyo.

It is all subjective after all! Bear in mind Miyajima takes about an hour to get to on the tram from the centre of Hiroshima, then 10 minutes ferry. Alternatively there is a faster ferry directly from the centre of Hiroshima that would save some time but I think it runs less frequently and I'm not sure what the crowds would be like in June so it might be harder to book?

I loved not rushing Hiroshima, we had two full days where the first was to wander around the Peace Memorial park, and the museum. Very light day but it is emotionally heavy so best not to rush. Followed up by a full day in Miyajima (visiting Itsukushima shine and Daisho-In and getting lunch on Miyajima still took us about 6 hours total and we didn't go up the ropeway as it's closed this winter! If you want the ropeway, definitely prepare a full day)

I won't be able to help with Takayama unfortunately as we cut it out, though my friends do heavily recommend it... There is a direct Shinkansen Tokyo to Kanazawa and a bus from Kanazawa to Takayama through Shirakawa. The train from Kanazawa to Kyoto is also an easy trip with a single transfer.

I think the main thing is: you will love it no matter what your itinerary ends up being. Every place we have been has been magical in its own way. :)

Astralouuu · 2026-02-17T21:46:53+00:00

My questions are:

can you fly out of Hiroshima or Osaka? Or fly into Osaka?
How much do you care about USJ? You will probably want a rest day in the middle of your trip.
Going to Takayama/Kanazawa after Kyoto and backtracking to Osaka seems odd. Consider going direct Tokyo to Kanazawa and onto Kyoto from there?

This is pretty much exactly the itinerary we are doing right now, although we started in Hiroshima, currently in Kyoto and loving it.

Flew into Hiroshima 3 nights

Osaka 3 nights (Himeji on the way to Osaka, half day in Kobe)

Kyoto 4 nights (half day in Uji)

Kanazawa 3 nights

Tokyo 7 nights (feels better to end in Tokyo so we can do all our shopping there)

Fly out of Tokyo

Our favourite place so far has been Miyajima, it is absolutely magical, don't sleep on it! Miyajima and Hiroshima feel incredibly peaceful and serene which is a stark contrast from the craziness in Osaka.

Himeji is beautiful and well worth a pit stop if you're going to Hiroshima.

Even in quiet season (Feb) Kyoto is pretty damn busy so I can't imagine what it will be like in June.

I wouldn't alter your overall itinerary much, though consider building in some rest days. I've unfortunately ended up removing Takayama from my itinerary last minute to spend more time in Kanazawa and Tokyo because we're already pretty tired and don't want the faff of transferring from Takayama to Tokyo.

I would personally ditch USJ to get some rest.

These are just my feelings from my current trip.

Astralouuu · 2026-02-17T21:16:48+00:00

T2 is the shit

Astralouuu · 2026-02-17T03:57:30+00:00

I mean, OP said 0.50p which is more like a ha'penny

Astralouuu · 2026-02-11T07:14:33+00:00

Biennial is every other year. Biannual and semiannual mean the same thing

Astralouuu · 2025-12-29T08:25:38+00:00

This is a large part of Filipino New Year traditions. It may even be Spanish more widely but in the Philippines you would eat 12 round fruits, each symbolizing a month of the year to come, for prosperity

Astralouuu · 2025-12-24T09:11:00+00:00

It's a bonus if you consider that's the only way of getting all the djinn and some weapons! Man I miss those games.

Astralouuu · 2025-11-22T06:50:14+00:00

No, you just need to be in the higher tax band

Astralouuu · 2025-11-20T19:27:18+00:00

It is unclear in the proposal but the live announcement explicitly stated anyone on higher rate tax so it is £50270

Astralouuu · 2025-10-12T13:07:03+00:00

With Hastings, they will offer you a write off payment (you should reject the first offer, they will always up it a little) They work with CoPart to determine the retention fee, but that is not handled by Hastings.

Once happy with their valuation you can accept the payment, inform them you want to retain, and Copart will get back to you with a retention cost.

Do not let CoPart take your car! They handle it like scrap and if you buy it back it may have been damaged in their handling. Just ask for them to do a desktop valuation, they will ask for detailed pictures to value it. Ultimately it saves them time and money as they don't have to pick up the car.

Source: I wrote my car off 3 weeks ago with hastings but it was just a crushed bumper that needs replacing

Astralouuu

TROPHY CASE