Greenwood2
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Post by Greenwood2 on May 31, 2022 8:53:43 GMT
A friend of mine who originally came from Bulgaria gets all her dental work done when she goes back to visit family, it's very cheap and good, but only cheap by our pay standards.
Like people going to India to get hip replacements, etc, very good treatment, great accommodation and comparatively very cheap if you earn your money in the UK. Not sure I would want to do it though, it's a long way from home.
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keitha
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Post by keitha on May 31, 2022 11:03:27 GMT
I went through the same process and calculations as I approached retirement age. The Civil Service pay freezes were even more stringent than the NHS, if that were possible, while pensions already in payment were increasing with CPI in the background as you say. Like you, I could see the value of my pension slowly eroding in real terms as I approached the "retirement vs. early retirement" decision time. With this background it's tempting to think pension is 'higher' by leaving earlier - I told myself the same thing - but is that actually the case? By leaving one year early, you have accrued one year less when it comes to the final Defined Benefit calculation. You also suffer (or my scheme did anyway) a lifetime penalty of approximately 5% actuarial reduction for each year you went early, to account for paying you that extra year of pension which they wouldn't otherwise have had to pay. Having wrestled with this and other aspects for some while, I finally decided any actuarial reduction was too painful to swallow, while the pay freeze was eating away too much of my pension's value. So I decided to resign at 58, parking my pension for two years until normal retirement date, knowing that at least for those two years it would be uplifted in background by CPI. That meant having to live off life savings for two years, but I was happy to do that to get away from such a toxic employer by that stage. Our experiences are different, but maybe not so different after all! If it's any help, I didn't regret a single moment of those extra two years of freedom, even if it did cost a little financially, and with hindsight I should have gone a year or two earlier still. You've probably timed it just about right! Nobody on their deathbed ever said, "I wish I'd worked two years longer...". Look - I am probably oversharing, and the fact is I am in a fortunate place in many ways to have the options I do - I am not complaining about my position. But it absolutely is currently incentivised for me (and many others) to cut down NHS work sooner rather than later - and it is real problem for a government that values the NHS to have introduced a system that encourages senior doctors to leave 5-10 years earlier than they otherwise might. Now, whether this government does value the NHS, and/or has a strategy to rid itself of overpaid experienced doctors to allow room for lower paid unexperienced tick-box medical algorithm managers is obviously up for discussion. I took mine early and was somewhat shocked by how small the reduction in benefit was for going 6 years early ( <10% ) But perhaps because I had originally a pension that should have paid at 60 but it was changed to 65. so I think that a fudge factor cut in. in 3.5 years since I took it my pension has increased by 10%. However early during the pandemic management imposed a 10% pay cut at my level ( to keep company solvent ) this has not been restored so anyone retiring now would be on a lower pension than I started on. before anyone says I thought you were Local Government, I was for many years but then was TUPED to a private company and performed the same role but for a private company, but my pension was an equivalent.
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keitha
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Post by keitha on May 31, 2022 11:09:13 GMT
Nobody on their deathbed ever said, "I wish I'd worked two years longer...". Actually I knew a baker who said he hoped to die like his father did, he was baking a batch of bread sat in a chair whilst it cooked and died. I could never understand the idea of wanting to work until you drop dead.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on May 31, 2022 11:10:15 GMT
I could never understand the idea of wanting to work until you drop dead. "I don't have a life"
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Greenwood2
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Post by Greenwood2 on May 31, 2022 13:48:59 GMT
Nobody on their deathbed ever said, "I wish I'd worked two years longer...". Actually I knew a baker who said he hoped to die like his father did, he was baking a batch of bread sat in a chair whilst it cooked and died. I could never understand the idea of wanting to work until you drop dead. Did the bread get burned?
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michaelc
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Post by michaelc on May 31, 2022 14:09:42 GMT
And that is Ukraine - a fairly poor country. Why is it so bad here ? What's an NHS dentist? I remember those... The "very modest price" you refer to - is that within the affordability of the average working-man Ukrainian? Or just very cheap to Western pockets?A friend of mine lives in Bulgaria. He's a Westerner, employed by a Western company on a Western salary. His lifestyle is dirt cheap. But most things are hideously expensive to the average Bulgarian, for whom the net minimum wage is a bit over £200/mo. Recent example... One of our cats had two days of B&B and monitoring at the vet's the other week, on top of a vacc booster. Damn near £500. One of his cats had an emergency operation on a Sunday night, after losing a fight with something considerably larger. Two vets working for several hours. £30. And Bulgaria is wealthy compared to Ukraine... That is a very good point. What I can say is there are a heck of a lot of both dentists and other clinics dotted around Kyiv. In fact there was a dentists under the block of flats we rented (while waiting for our place to be renovated). Like most of them it looked modern with modern tech etc. No dentists working out of residential houses.... But to the point I would say the prices are proportionately lower so probably felt similar to most locals as dental prices do to us here. The fact that there are so many suggests to me this is not a service only for elites. I just think there are more of them. I suspect a lot of this applies right across eastern europe.
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2022 14:48:39 GMT
I used to holiday in Austria and Hungary. The first town you hit in Hungary as you leave Vienna has massive teeth hanging from every lamp post.
Eastern Europeans paid less than Western Europeans..... really.
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Mike
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Post by Mike on May 31, 2022 17:10:23 GMT
Nobody on their deathbed ever said, "I wish I'd worked two years longer...". Actually I knew a baker who said he hoped to die like his father did, he was baking a batch of bread sat in a chair whilst it cooked and died. I could never understand the idea of wanting to work until you drop dead. I think farmers are the same, many who own their own farms have the option to retire basically as soon as they inherit but very few ever choose to do so. It seems to me they work and work until they can't any more through death or ill health (they've started having health workers at some of the stock auctions round here to help stave off the latter.. they're notoriously bad for putting work above health issues too!) and often continue to do what they can once their children have taken over
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Post by bernythedolt on May 31, 2022 19:56:23 GMT
I read an interesting piece last week about cut-price dental tourism, apparently hugely popular to Hungary, Poland and Turkey (and no doubt Ukraine and Bulgaria). While most work is undoubtedly good, some results are quite scary. Patients having several teeth filed down for crowns when they were expecting veneers, patients left with a mouthful of pain, etc. Well worth a read for anybody contemplating cheaper work abroad. For those stuck behind a paywall, basically if problems result, some UK dentists won't touch you and you're expected to return to the foreign surgery. As one UK dentist puts it, "Another problem with having cheap treatments done abroad is that if patients return to the UK with problems, they are unlikely to find a dentist willing to treat them". One of the comments below the article suggests there's an unwritten rule amongst dentists that "if you touch it you own it", a natural enough sentiment I suppose.
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michaelc
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Post by michaelc on May 31, 2022 20:06:42 GMT
I read an interesting piece last week about cut-price dental tourism, apparently hugely popular to Hungary, Poland and Turkey (and no doubt Ukraine and Bulgaria). While most work is undoubtedly good, some results are quite scary. Patients having several teeth filed down for crowns when they were expecting veneers, patients left with a mouthful of pain, etc. Well worth a read for anybody contemplating cheaper work abroad. For those stuck behind a paywall, basically if problems result, some UK dentists won't touch you and you're expected to return to the foreign surgery. As one UK dentist puts it, "Another problem with having cheap treatments done abroad is that if patients return to the UK with problems, they are unlikely to find a dentist willing to treat them". One of the comments below the article suggests there's an unwritten rule amongst dentists that "if you touch it you own it", a natural enough sentiment I suppose. I couldn't easily read the article but it sounds like almost the opposite of my experience. I wouldn't recommend eastern europe on the grounds of cost but on the grounds of quality (and the lack thereof in the UK) BUT I could easily imagine some back street place setting up a glossy website in english woeing folk like us. So unless I had local knowledge I would either use the dentists recommended by the British or American embassy in that place or from word of mouth. Also for serious work, I wouldn't recommend flying in for a week and getting a boat load of work done. Sounds very risky. That is no judgment on the quality on offer to residents. In summary, perhaps I'm agreeing with Berny. I wouldn't recommend dental tourism either.
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a0010402
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Post by a0010402 on May 31, 2022 20:41:30 GMT
I read an interesting piece last week about cut-price dental tourism, apparently hugely popular to Hungary, Poland and Turkey (and no doubt Ukraine and Bulgaria). While most work is undoubtedly good, some results are quite scary. Patients having several teeth filed down for crowns when they were expecting veneers, patients left with a mouthful of pain, etc. Well worth a read for anybody contemplating cheaper work abroad. For those stuck behind a paywall, basically if problems result, some UK dentists won't touch you and you're expected to return to the foreign surgery. As one UK dentist puts it, "Another problem with having cheap treatments done abroad is that if patients return to the UK with problems, they are unlikely to find a dentist willing to treat them". One of the comments below the article suggests there's an unwritten rule amongst dentists that "if you touch it you own it", a natural enough sentiment I suppose. Very true. I got ripped off twice working in Eastern Europe while procuring a routine dental hygiene job from a local dentist. The first was an old dentist at a state hospital, who didn't speak any English, suspected me since she made me come with my passport, and kept it until I would have paid, and hadn't disclosed the cost beforehand so I ended up giving her almost all the money I was carrying with me, and more than I expected it'd cost. To make things worse, she hardly did in my mouth any work at all. The second time was at a private clinic recommended by a co-worker. This time the receptionist and hygienist did speak English, but I was ripped off because at the end of the hygiene session, whose price we had pre-agreed, I was told I would need to come again as as that was a big job it couldn't be completed and could only be in a follow-on session. So I came again even though I thought, this was now going to cost me twice as much, but at the end of the second session as I expected to be charged the same as the first, they charged me more - again because at the start of the second session the price hadn't been pre-agreed. And I think with this hygienist, work was done, but it was all for show. I bet it could've been done much quicker, cheaply, and effectively, if only they'd been honest. The first doctor had spent too little time on me, these others too much time. Both were fraudulent. So this wasn't actually dental tourism because at the time I was living there. And it was not harmful, as there was nothing wrong with my teeth. But it taught me the hard way to be on the lookout for scams.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on Jun 1, 2022 10:34:47 GMT
I've been an accidental dental tourist...
We were travelling around Hungary, and our arrival in Budapest coincided with me getting hideous toothache. We were pointed to a dentist, who turned out to be excellent. Not massively cheap - about £400 (a decade ago) for an infected root canal - but the work was done well, quickly, and the dentist herself was unutterably gorgeous...
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registerme
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Post by registerme on Jun 1, 2022 11:01:46 GMT
, and the dentist herself was unutterably gorgeous... A good thing too seeing as her fist along with associated tools were in your gob at the time.
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Post by bernythedolt on Jul 12, 2022 11:14:17 GMT
Our two-year fixed tariff for gas & electricity finishes this month and, as expected, the new rates offered are one helluva shock.
Whereas we've been paying £1,000 pa for the two of us, Octopus is offering their so-called Loyalty fixed tariff for the next 12 months for the bargain price of £3,800. Two weeks ago, they offered us the same tariff for £3,100. 😲
That's how quickly things are moving.
The best independent advice seems to be coming from Martin Lewis, MSE, who suggests remaining on the standard (capped) variable tariff for the time being. For us that looks to be nearer £2,500... probably rising to over £3,000 after October's cap increase.
Surely government is sooner or later going to have to look into the doubling (or worse) of the daily standing charges, plus any profiteering that's going on?
They won't be able to ignore this forever because, as Martin said on TV last week, this is going to crucify some people come the winter. We're reasonably financially insulated from it, but some poor pensioners will be freezing to death this winter. 😢
Is this ALL down to Russia?
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benaj
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Post by benaj on Jul 12, 2022 11:31:08 GMT
Well, if we can't be self sufficient, it really sucks. I thought Scotland could be self sufficient but it turns out it is not. fullfact.org/environment/scotland-renewable-energy/Just did a random quote for scotland from Scottish Power. 51.91p per kWh!!!! Standing charge 49.64p Primary unit rate 51.91p Exit fee £150.00 Tariff end date 31/08/2023
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