Retirement and Age around the world

The people in Russia are angry that the retirement age for women is being raised from 55 to 63 and for men, it is rising from 60 to 65. This is a big upheaval and change in their society. As I was reading about the unrest, I thought what is seen as the official age to retire around the world. I found a site https://aperioncare.com/blog/retirement-age-around-world/ that has an interactive map that shows the retirement age in different countries. 

I found these two facts interesting first, we in Canada and the United States retire up to 8 years later than workers in China. Second, the country with the lowest age of retirement is the United Arab Emirates, age 49 to the highest Norway age 67. 

The bottom line is that every country is either raising or thinking about raising the retirement age. The reason is that people are getting healthier, and living longer. As a result, people need to be supported for a longer period and the governments which think in short-term thinking (the next election cycle) believe that without increasing funding the pension systems will at some point, that just becomes unsustainable.

Here are a few countries that may be of interest to my readers. For your own country go to the map in the link.

Official Retirement in:
The USA 
Official retirement age is  65 for those born before 1938; gradually increases to 67 for those born after 1959. 
Canada 
Official retirement age is 65

Russia 

Official retirement age is 57.5 years old, 60 men/55 women

Germany

Official Retirement Age is  65.4 years old

France

Official Retirement Age is 65.3 years old

Romania 

Official Retirement Age is 62.8 years old

Great Britain 

Official Retirement Age is 64.5 years old

Poland

Official Retirement Age is 63 years old

Japan

Official Retirement Age is 62.7 years old

China

Official Retirement Age is 56.25 years old

The Power of Nature

My friend George sent me the following photos' but I am not sure where he got them from. They show the power of storms.

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Milestone Birthday Party Ideas

It is a time for celebrating birthdays. Are you soon going to be having a Milestone birthday (50, 60, 70, 80) and worried about your next birthday party? Don't be every birthday is the perfect opportunity to celebrate your life. You are alive and that means you should mark that event with your friends and your family. Your birthday should be one that brings together friends and family to a wonderful celebration of your life while you are here to enjoy the celebration.  I am confident that a few of the ideas here may get your creativity up and running and help you design a great idea for your own birthday party or plan a big surprise for someone you love.

What about having a birthday party that is a roast. I  see roasts on television. They are sacrilegious and sometimes very funny. A warning a birthday roast will only work if you have friends and family who can do this well. If you are the subject of a roast, you should have a sense of humour and not be easily offended; if you are planning for a friend, you should make sure they are not easily offended. Make sure everyone knows the theme of the roast beforehand and a good idea is to have a list of those who will go first to set the stage. If you want a night of laughs this is one way to celebrate your life and the friends you have. By the end of the roast, you may lose some friends but who wants friends that don't have a good sense of humour.

Another idea is to have a PowerPoint or slideshow, to show various events throughout the guest of honour’s life. By doing this you pay tribute to someone that has meant a great deal to you while they are here to see what they mean to you. When you are developing this idea, think about having a red carpet for the star to enter on and allow friends and family to pay their tributes to the guest of honour by talking about the good things they have done. This idea is a lot more sentimental than a roast but will mean a lot to the person you are honouring.

What about an Old West or Gold Rush theme? This theme would be fun to organize and people would have fun when they attend. Having a room dressed up as a Wild West saloon and everyone could come dressed in their favourite western gear. Facebook and Youtube, Instagram will be filled with delighted partygoers whooping it up and doing their best square dance impersonations. Good food and many western style drinks will keep the guests and the guest of honour happy and full of western cheer. 

Of course, there is always the Grim Reaper "over the hill" birthday theme. Be creative and use your knowledge of the guest of honour to make your theme party different from all the others. Use your knowledge of the birthday man or women to create the perfect celebration of life for them. An idea might be to make this birthday an out of this world experience and use a supernatural theme. 

Your sense of creativity and playfulness can help make any milestone birthday memorable. Remember nothing is too excessive, as long as you know the nature of the guest of honour. Milestone parties, like a 50th, 60th, or 70th doesn’t mean the birthday man or women is not long for this world and life. At any stage, we should celebrate and honour those we care about.

A great party can be fun, show creativity and a sense of caring al it takes is some thoughtful planning and a good group of friends and family to make it happen. If you needed some for inspiration I hope the thoughts mentioned point you in the correct direction, if not solve your planning woes.