Former local council worker Gill Malone turned 75 this year and celebrated in style. She took a two-week trip travelling around Italy with her childhood friend Jeanie. It’s one of many holidays she’s enjoyed since she retired at 65.
“I’ve worked hard, looked after my money and put a variety of insurances in place for my future, so it’s now time to enjoy my retirement,” says Malone, who lives in Newbury, Berkshire. “It was worth being a bit careful because now I can relax in comfort.”
Malone credits her parents for her money-savvy ways, explaining that their tendency to plan ahead, save money where they could, and have financial safety nets in place, has made her the person she is today. This discipline has contributed to the peace of mind she can now enjoy in retirement, and has also been drilled into her grown-up children, Mark and Klaire.
For Malone’s parents, planning ahead took many different forms, including setting up a private pension (alongside existing workplace schemes) and insisting on bills being covered first, before any other spending was considered.
Malone is passing on the habits she picked up from her parents to her own children
“I remember Dad would come home with his cash salary and count the money out into piles to cover the rent, bills, food and coal for the fire,” says Malone of her civil servant father. “He had made a long wooden box with a lid and it had separate compartments for each of these expenses. It was only when all that cash was filed away, that the rest would be split between savings and treats, such as taking me and my brother, Les, to the seaside or – as we got older – on our annual family holiday abroad.”
The meticulous financial planning demonstrated by her parents laid the foundations for Malone’s own disciplined attitude towards her finances, as well as her keenness to plan for the future. “I got a job as soon as I turned 16 earning £6 a week, half of which would go straight to my mum for food and expenses,” remembers Malone. “Mum would say of the remaining £3: ‘Don’t spend it all at once, it’s got to last you the week,’ and she’d also warn me off spending it on junk.”
Malone adds: “I took on their advice and was very careful with my earnings.” She also recalls both her parents being opposed to the idea of relying on credit, often telling her that if she wanted something special, she should save up for it instead.
Their words have stuck with Malone, who has never taken out a loan, other than a mortgage which has now been paid off – and she encourages her chldren to do the same. These early lessons have been reflected in many of Malone’s own financial habits over the years, whether it was saving up for treats, such as concert tickets for Mark and Klaire – now both in their 40s – or opting for a private pension to boost her income later in life.
With her financial security sorted, Malone was able to retire comfortably in 2015. “The savings and pensions I had in place meant that I was able to retire knowing my future was fairly secure,” says Malone. “It meant I could loosen up a bit and spend money on things I might have considered luxuries in the past.”
Case in point was a trip to the United Arab Emirates for her 65th birthday, exploring Dubai and also attending the Formula One race in Abu Dhabi (a lifelong fan of the sport, she hadn’t attended a race for 20 years). She visited the UAE again two years later, spending Christmas with her son, who was living in Dubai at the time.
“I still think about my parents telling me to ‘plan ahead’ and what great advice it was,” says Malone. “So I’m glad to have been able to pass this wisdom down to my children and two grandchildren.” Her son, Mark, wasn’t always financially savvy, but his outlook has changed greatly as he’s grown older. “He now has healthy savings and a private pension,” says Malone, who says that seeing her retire in comfort has been a big catalyst, while the support of financial services providers, such as Aviva, has done wonders for his confidence, too.
Her daughter, Klaire, on the other hand, has always been careful with money, and has already planned out her retirement. “Maybe it’s because she was old enough to remember times when I didn’t have much money after the divorce (from Klaire’s father), and saw the smart financial decisions I made as a result.”
Malone says Klaire is now setting the same example for her teenage daughters, too. “Plan ahead has been a mantra that’s shaped my whole life when it comes to finances and big decisions, and now, it will continue to shape my family’s future for generations to come.”
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