Nearly three out of four people aged 55 or more would rather carry on doing some work in retirement. That is one of the most striking findings of a global survey of nearly 11,500 adults across ten very different countries from Britain to China, France to Brazil, and the USA to India. Throughout the world most of those surveyed consider age-based restrictions on working are wrong and that people should be able to work as long as they want to, provided they are able to do so. They were also against a mandatory retirement age – whether imposed by government or by employers.

The research was done for HSBC – which learned from it that banks were not considered a ‘valued resource’ for long-term financial planning. People are more than twice as likely to talk to friends or rely on the press than seek professional financial advice. Perhaps that’s because friends and journalists give advice without charging a fee or earning commission!

Worldwide, retirement is seen as an opportunity – either for new experiences or for rest. And there is a difference between the generations. In China for example younger people, who have grown up in greater affluence, see retirement as a time to continue working. While their parents see it as a time to rest after a hard working life. But everywhere a majority would like to be able to work –ranging from 55% in Hong Kong to 95% in Mexico.

The quirkiest finding was in Brazil. There a majority believe that the best way to support and finance an ageing population is to cut pensions. The report suggests that is because the only people in Brazil who have any pension at all are retired government workers who live in cities. Stopping their pensions would recycle wealth to the rural poor! Perhaps the most profound finding was a Mexican proverb: In youth we learn; in old age we understand.

Brownian motion
No-one is better than Gordon Brown at presenting a cut as an increase. His preview of April’s Budget, released before Christmas, appeared to give people over 60 more money to help with fuel bills. In fact most people over 65 will find the tax-free money they get next winter will be up to £200 less than they got in December. Here is what Gordon said "I am also able to set aside resources so that the winter fuel payment – the universal payment tax free to all pensioner household – will be £200 not just this year, but next year, the year after and every single year of this Parliament - and it will be £300 for the over eighties, paid every year before Christmas."

Technically he was correct. The Government was committed to keep the winter fuel payment at £150, not its current level of £200 with £300 for households where someone was over 80. Maintaining that level of payment will cost an extra £665 million a year. But here is what he didn’t say. "However, I have decided to bring to an end the age-related payments which were worth £100 in winter 2004 and £200 in winter 2005." That will save £1,050 million. The result is that people over 65 will not get the £200 that most of them got this winter leaving them with just £200 winter fuel payment rather than the £400 of the two payments combined.

Instead he promised that any pensioner household without insulation or central heating would have that installed free if they received pension credit. If not they would get £300 towards central heating or up to £175 towards the cost of insulation. In itself a sound move but the cost - £100 million a year for three years – is a small fraction of the savings and overall he has saved £285 million. The one hope is that in the real Budget in April he will change his mind as he did last year, raising the £50 payment for the over 70s to £200 and extending it to those over 65.

Taxing tome for over 65s
Another disappointment in the tax plans for 2006/07 is the small rise in the amount of money people over 65 can have before they pay tax. Over the last three years that amount has risen by a bigger percentage than the tax-free allowances for younger people. But in 2006/07 all allowances will rise by the same amount – just 2.8%. And once again the Chancellor has decided that this higher allowance will be withdrawn for people with an income over a certain amount. Withdrawal begins if income exceeds £20,100 in 2006/07 and if your income is £24,950 or more your allowance will be the same as that for the under 65s - £5,035.

Riches up your sleeve
The 25th anniversary of John Lennon’s death in December may have led many of us to reminisce about our old Beatles albums or singles and what they might be worth. Even run of the mill early Beatles albums and 45s can fetch money. Serious collectors are looking for particular pressings or promo discs that were issued in small numbers to reps and DJs. A first pressing of the Beatles first single Love Me Do is worth £200 while a sales promo version is worth £3000. Ian Shirley of Record Collector magazine, who edits the bi-annual Record Price Guide warns that collectors are very fussy "Collectors are forensic and want the right matrix number [on the final grooves at the centre of the record] as well as the sleeve in good condition." Mint means as it was sold and virtually unplayed and fetches double the price of good – played but no flaws. Scratches really destroy the value. Ian stresses the importance of doing your homework before you sell anything. "Don’t just take a box of old albums and singles to a local dealer. Check out prices and what they might be worth." You can of course use his own book but eBay is also a wonderful marketplace to get an idea of what your old records might fetch. And some might surprise you. "Saga readers are just the people who might have things from the 50s and 60s, the most collectable era. Elvis, Beatles and Stones of course but also Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple. There are also collectors who want movements, such as punk or psychedelic. There they might have an album by a band that never sold well, that no-one’s heard of now but they pressed 1000 copies themselves. Collectors would love that." An original copy of ‘Let It Bleed’ (1969 Rolling Stones) in perfect condition can fetch up to £200. And you would pay around £45 for the Beatles ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ EP in fine condition. As with anything, the value is what someone else will pay and with a growing number of people collecting original vinyl, these items are definitely not for the skip.

Our stuff
We all own it but we have never been quite sure before what it was worth. Now we know thanks to Conservative MP Mike Penning who has asked each Government department to list its most valuable assets. Top of the list is the trunk road network owned by the Department of Transport and worth £72 billion. Kielder Forest in Northumberland is a snip at only £79.6 million, little more than the Embassy and another building in rue de Faubourg, Paris owned by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and worth £64.4 million between them. By comparison 10 and 11 Downing Street are valued as one lot at a mere £23.6 million. Admiralty Arch between the Mall and Trafalgar Square is worth more at £26 million. And all these are dwarfed by the value of a nuclear sub – around £500 million – or the Thames Barrier at more than £1.1 billion. When it comes to possessions other than buildings the depressing truth is that the most valuable assets owned by most departments are software licences. The Department for Health lists its top possession as ‘Software Licenses from Microsoft’ at £75.6 million – about three Downing Streets! But the PM can at least admire the Treasury Silver on display at No.10 which is worth £1.3 million, Our ambassador in Havana John Dew can walk on a £130,000 rug while our chap in Turkey Sir Peter Westmacott can look up in the Istanbul Embassy at two chandeliers worth £350,000.

What’s in a Lane?
If you live in a Lane it could add nearly £50,000 to the value of your home. Research by Woolwich into a sample of 3000 similar homes changing hands in the summer of 2005 found that those with an address ending in ‘Lane’ averaged more than £215,000 while those ending in ‘Drive’ were worth just under £167,000. Bang in the middle came ‘Avenue’ and boring old ‘Road’ was third to the more genteel ‘Gardens’ at 2^nd. And at the bottom end ‘Grove’ just scraped in above ‘Drive’ followed by ‘Street’. Woolwich’s head of mortgages Andy Gray has no real explanation for the difference admitting "it is hard to believe that the first line of your address can have such an impact on house prices." But he did speculate that instead of changing the name of our home to Dun Roamin’ we should be petitioning the local council to let us change the name of our road to ‘Lane’.