Letter: From baby boom to doom and gloom

Letter: As a so-called baby boomer, I have worked all my life in the private sector and am now looking forward to my retirement in the next four or so years.

But we are all now being told that we now have to work till we drop dead as there is now no money to pay for our retirement so I ask the question: What has happened to all the money we have paid into the system and not taken anything out of it?

Oh, don't blame our parents for living too long as they, too, worked all their lives and paid into the system. They served in the Second World War and did their bit for the country and were then encouraged to go forth and multiply to replace the thousands who laid down their lives to keep Great Britain free.

Why tell us now that there is no money to pay our pensions?

The Government has records of all who are born as it is a legal requirement to register a baby so they should have known the baby boomers would be retiring in the next few years.

Having bought our own homes and saved a bit for retirement many of us have lost our careers in our middle to late fifties thanks to redundancy as companies downsize. Then we have to take whatever we can find on the minimum wage and, because of this, cannot claim tax credits, but have to now spend money saved to supplement our retirements.

So please someone, tell us where we went wrong and what has happened to all the money we have paid into the system? I would like to feel the benefit of a bit of retirement before I meet my maker because I feel I have earned it.

Name and address supplied