GrumbleSmiles

This is a continuation of the CAFE Wealth survey.  ( Other posts in this series can be found either by clicking on “CAFE Project” in the Tag Cloud or by clicking on  “GrumbleSmiles Trust” in the Topics list).

Pension credit is the least understood and most unclaimed welfare benefit.  It’s impossible to say within this group whether more people would be entitled to claim the benefit but 14% receiving it is very low in relation to the expected number of claimants.  At the same time many older people have a reluctance to claim any kind of welfare support.

What’s interesting in this response is that nearly half of the group would like to find out if they are receiving all that they could.  From past experience that’s likely to mean there is significant potential for increasing people’s income.

Footnote:  An App that enabled people to make a rudimentary appraisal of their entitlement to benefits and particularly pension credit, would alert them to the possibility of improving their income.  The complexity of the benefits system then means they would be best referred to a specialist support group like Age UK.

This is a continuation of the CAFE Wealth survey.  ( Other posts in this series can be found either by clicking on “CAFE Project” in the Tag Cloud or by clicking on  “GrumbleSmiles Trust” in the Topics list).

This is a great mark of the generosity of older people with 70% of the group frequently giving to charity.  There is research evidence to suggest that people are happier when giving rather than receiving and this doesn’t just apply to charities.

For an interesting video on this subject go to YouTube and enter Michael Norton – “How to buy Happiness” (10 minutes, 59 seconds).

It’s surprising how many people from this group do shop in charity shops.  Is this because they are looking for something to do, looking for good value or are they committed to recycling?

This is a continuation of the CAFE Wealth survey.  ( Other posts in this series can be found either by clicking on “CAFE Project” in the Tag Cloud or by clicking on  “GrumbleSmiles Trust” in the Topics list).

This graph illustrates how important public transport is to older people even in a relatively mobile and affluent group.  The bus pass, which makes travel free within the city, must be a significant marker of an Age Friendly City.  It would be interesting to know how many people would continue to travel if the free service was withdrawn.

The future of subsidies public transport for older people is clearly under threat at a national level and I have written about this in the GrumbleSmiles blog.  You can read my blogs by clicking on “BUS PASS” in the TAG CLOUD.

This is a continuation of the CAFE Wealth survey.  ( Other posts in this series can be found either by clicking on “CAFE Project” in the Tag Cloud or by clicking on  “GrumbleSmiles Trust” in the Topics list).

This is a rapidly expanding area whose growth will no doubt continue.  About half the group currently buy things on the internet but most of these purchases were restricted to books and holidays.  Relatively few used it to buy bulk items like groceries.  There are significant discounts to be obtained from internet purchases and you have to wonder whether our participants are making the most of this opportunity.

Footnote:  An App that identifies discounts and free services and how to obtain them could be of significant value.

Whilst people may be right to be cautious there are nonetheless several ways of enhancing your security in terms of information on the internet and particularly in terms of financial transactions.  Until these are more commonly understood, internet financial transactions may remain a barrier for older people.

Footnote:  This is an area where greater awareness training and advice about sensible precautions would no doubt be a benefit.

Almost everyone knew was PayPal offered but less than a third made use of the service.  It is a very significant security measure when making any purchases on the internet.

Footnote:  Making it available to people would give them greater comfort about buying things.

This is a continuation of the CAFE Wealth survey.  ( Other posts in this series can be found either by clicking on “CAFE Project” in the Tag Cloud or by clicking on  “GrumbleSmiles Trust” in the Topics list).

I realised as soon as I saw this graph I should have asked “have you every bought anything on eBay?”  However the relevance of the question about selling is that eBay has the potential to help people de-clutter their house and increase their wealth.  Who knows, somebody may have a long forgotten treasure in the attic.

This is a continuation of the CAFE Wealth survey.  ( Other posts in this series can be found either by clicking on “CAFE Project” in the Tag Cloud or by clicking on  “GrumbleSmiles Trust” in the Topics list)

Unsurprisingly the majority of our participants were not employed.  This no doubt reflects the fact that many of them have been retired for some considerable time.

Just over a quarter would like to have a job no doubt to supplement their income but also to maintain contact with the world of work.  There is huge skill and considerable potential in this group but it comes at a time of significant austerity and competition for jobs.

Footnote:  There could, nonetheless, be significant opportunity for small jobs to be paid for between the members of the CAFE Community Groups.  This is an area that warrants further examination and might potentially lead to a “odd job APP”.

This is a series of graphs which show the results of our third CAFE group meeting held in the Welcome Centre, adjacent to Coventry University Technology Park, on Friday 21stJune 2013.   The focus of this survey was WEALTH and HORIZONS as perceived by the  “expert” group of older people.   It is representative only of their views of themselves and doesn’t purport to be typical of other groups of older people in Coventry.

The commentary on the graphs is entirely my own personal reflections.    ( Other posts in this series can be found either by clicking on “CAFE Project” in the Tag Cloud or by clicking on  “GrumbleSmiles Trust” in the Topics list)

The first thing to note when looking at this graph is that the definition of wealth is subjective and not measured simply in financial assets.  In the survey group nobody rated themselves at the lower end of the scale of wealth.  Around 60% assessed themselves as adequately well-off with the remaining 40% even more positive.  That’s a contrast with the commonly held view of impoverished old age which may be a reflection of the group we surveyed.  At the same time the elderly as a whole in the UK hold most of the disposable income in the population.