Aging problems

lisa

It is true that people in industrialised nations can expect live longer than ever before. Although there will undoubtly be some negative consequences for this trend, societies can take steps to mitigate these potential problems.

As people live longer and the populations of developed countries grow older, the related problems can be anticipated. The main issue is that more people of retirement age who will be eligible to receive a pension. The proportion of younger, working adults will be smaller, and government will therefore receive less money in taxes in relation to the size of the population. In other words, an aging population will mean a greater tax burden for working adults. Furthure pressures will include that a rise in the demand of healthcare, and the fact young people will increasingly have to look after their elderly relatives.

There are many actions governments could take to solve problems describe above. Firstly, a simple solution will be to increase the retirement age for working adults, perhaps from 65 to 70. Nowadays, people of this age tend to be healthy enough to contiune a productive working life. A second measure would be for governments to encourage immigrations in order to increase the numbers of working adults who pay taxes. Finally, money from national budgest will need to be taken from other areas and spent on vital healthcare, accommodation and transport facilities for the rising numbers of older citizens.

In conclusion, various measures can be taken to tackle the problems that are certain to arise as the populations of countires grow older.

mheredge

They are already raising the retirement age in many countries @lisa. In the UK it used to be 60 for women and 65 for men. From 2019, the State Pension age will increase for both men and women to reach 66 by October 2020. The Government is planning further increases, which will raise the State Pension age from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028.

lisa

@mheredge actually I have been concerning one problem for a long time, can I do a productive job when I am 65 years old? My grandpa and his younger sister passed away on their 60 years old and 65 years old.

mheredge

I think the life expectancy in most countries is increasing and in China it is now about 75 for men and 77 for women (in France it is a lot better at 85.4 for women and 79.4 for men, though Britain is not much further behind with 83 and 79.4 respectively). But you're right, people now seem to be expected to carry on working into their graves @lisa.

lisa

Old aging population is an emergency and immediate problem that every country has to face in the forseeale future.

mheredge

It is indeed @lisa. I am not quite sure what the solution is. I think young people need to understand the importance of saving more for their old age. But this is not always easy.

lisa

@mheredge The expenses for housing, food, health care and education are much more than before, and they are being more and more as time going, it is very hard to save money in China if young people have loans for housing, most of them have to pay the housing loans every month, which usually lasts for 20 or 30 years, after paying off the loan, they reach the retired ages.

mheredge

In the UK mortgage companies usually give loans for 25 years and so they will not normally give any after you reach your late 40s as you will be retired before you have paid it off.

lisa

So that means that you have to ask your loan before 40s, or no mortage companies would offer you any loans? @mheredge In China, people should go to the bank to ask the housing loan, I do not think the estate companies accept the loans that are provided by private companies. By the way, most of Chinese housing loans are coming from government operated banks -ABC, CCB，ICBC and BOC. We do not have many choices.

mheredge

You can get shorter term loans @lisa but obviously the repayment terms are higher, so you'd have to be able to afford the higher payments. People are retiring later and later these days too, so this must also be making a difference.

All banks are guaranteed by the government in the UK and most developed countries, so failure of banks is not a worry and people can get a mortgage from any financially regulated company.

lisa

I do not want to ask any loans,and my husband does not want to, either. Both of us do not know why and are worried about bankrupt, maybe both of us are lack of securities. @mheredge

mheredge

Loans can be a big burden @lisa. Banks rarely give loans unless you have a very secure job as they don't want the risk that you won't be able to pay back the loan. They are usually very risk adverse.

lisa

In China we have to provide the bills of our annual salary, the recent two years, if I remember clearly, when we ask a loan from the bank, and the couple should sign together on the bank documents. @mheredge

mheredge

In Britain when I had to get a mortgage to buy my flat, I could borrow up to three times the total of my annual salary and had to put down a deposit of 10% @lisa. The banks calculated that the monthly interest and repayments we're affordable using this criteria. I did later manage one time to get them to give me a greater amount but as I had a 20% deposit, they probably felt this was enough for their security if I failed to pay back the monthly installments.

lisa

Mentioned the deposit, recently one of my colleagues are trying to buy an apartment in Hangzhou, the capitial of Jejiang province, and the deposit should be at least 50% if they want to deal with all the procedures one time, or they can pay off all the amount in one go. The total amount is nearly 200 million RMB, if they pay 30% deposit, they have to wait until the estate company ensure that there are still left apartments. In fact, there are not any left apartments when there is news that one prosperty would be sold. @mheredge

mheredge

I think normally people in the UK don't need to put up more than 20% as a deposit and sometimes are even allowed loans with no deposit at all (when the lenders are keen to lend) @lisa. Then they have a choice of paying just the interest, which means that they still have to pay off the capital at the end of the loan's term, or a repayment of the capital with interest.

lisa

I did not ask a loan from the bank when I bought my apartment, so I can not give you the details of the loan in China, but it seems much higher than Britain, I think the minimium deposit should be 30%. @mheredge From the experiences of my workmates and classmates, they do pay the capital and the interest together everymonth, because the bank has calculated the amount of the money which they should pay every month.

mheredge

The amount of deposit the bank usually requires is related to the risk they see if the person repaying the debt can't afford to pay back what they were loaned @lisa. If this happens, the bank then has to sell the property to recover the money they lent out.

lisa

No matter which methods the banks manipulate, they would not have any losses. @mheredge Most of Chinese are frightened to change their jobs because they have a huge amount of loan to pay, they have to work hard and carefully. If they lose their jobs, they lose everything, because they do not pay the loans, the banks will sell their houses.

mheredge

This is the same problem in the UK @lisa. In Germany people are much less in debt as they tend to save up and buy a property when they are much older, in better paid jobs. In the UK it is quite usual to have young people as first-time buyers (maybe not in London).

lisa

Last year there were limitations in most of Chinese city, for example, my first apartment should pay 1.5% estate tax, if I remembered clearly. But I have to pay 2% estate tax if I buy my second apartment and I am the citizen of my own city(this percentage means we have to pay 1.5% of the total property price amount), so my husband and I can buy an apartment directly, but we must have at least 2 years' social insurance records in another city if we want to buy an apartment in that city in which we are not citizens. @mheredge Recently, those limitations are broken by some local governments, and I think the property prices will be much higher in the near future. Government must be crazy!

mheredge

I don't even know what goes as tax in France @lisa as the notaire or lawyer processing the purchase takes 8% of the value of the property price, most of which is tax but some of this also goes as their fee. In the UK there is Stamp Duty that is paid on every new purchase. There are all sorts of rules concerning whether it is a second home or principal residence.

lisa

I am going to be bankrupt after buying my apartment, fortunately I do not need to pay loan every month, unfortunately, I have to pay money for decoration and those taxes. It is really rough life for me in recent months, and this will not finish until next year. @mheredge

mheredge

Tell me about it @lisa! Yesterday I had to buy lights for an apartment that I have to renovate. Then today I couldn't even find the one and only spare double bedsheet that I have, so I had to go shopping for bedlinen (I used to have a single bed in my other place. Household expenses never stop.

lisa

Firstly, we paid more than one million RMB to the estate company, then we paid more than 50 000 RMB to the goverment office as kinds of taxes, and now we have been paying more than 100 000 RMB for the docration, and in the near future we will have to pay at least 20 000 RMB for kinds of furnitures and electric equipments. We are on the verge of scrounging if the company does not supply accommodation to us. @mheredge

mheredge

Do you mean scrounging @lisa? This means "to get things, especially money or food, by asking for them instead of buying them or working for them:

Peter never buys anything - he just scrounges (off his friends)."

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/scrounge

lisa

Yes, scrounging is exactly what I want to express. Our company supply accommodation to us, so we do not need to afford any money to housing and food, which can help us to save a lot of money per year.

mheredge

@lisa you mentioned loneliness and old age. This article is raising the concern how in Brtain by 2050, 25% of the population will be over 65 – many living in solitude. Loneliness is becoming one of the UK's biggest problems.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/04/ageing-nhs-loneliness-co-housing?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=262906&subid=11006640&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2

lisa

Now there is experiment related to aging problem in China, in which the institution or a company gets the older people's house, and they will take care of the older people in their following time. It is very popular and encouraged by the government at the beginning, but there is not any news recently. @mheredge Cohousing projection is a great idea, and the younger oldlies can take care of the older ones instead of being took care of by young people, which can not only save a lot of resources, but also be good for the oldlies, because the older people, whose ages are above 60s, are hardly to be coherent with the thoughts of younger one whose ages are 40s or much younger than 40s.

mheredge

There are similar schemes in the UK @lisa, where the cost of the care of the old w is set against their property. I think it's a good idea but some children hoping to inherit their parent's home might beg to differ.

lisa

The idea is marvellous, but how to make it from an idea into a turth is a long process, there are hurdles in front of us. @mheredge