Flexi season tickets - damp squib?

[mattster]

This I do agree with....

[mattster]

Harold Shipman style?...

[mattster]

No argument from me. This whole thread is more about Dildo's messaging than anything else, so let's hope she doesn't get the top job she is after. Something tells me she will, though, despite having near zero experience in this field....

[mattster]

Or just suggest to the importer that quality control on imports be improved, since the vast majority are perfectly fine and we'd have a national mower shortage without them....

[mattster]

I suppose if it was made in reference to contractors it might be....

[mattster]

Exactly right. If anyone in our industry should be worried about their roles in a WFH world, it's the managers, not the grunts. Unfortunately they also make the rules....

[mattster]

No weeping here, but worth mentioning that I am under the care (and occasionally lucky enough to see) a consultant at one of the London teaching hospitals who is a world reknowned expert in his field. He also happens to be Spanish. In any other industry the government would be talking about how to attract...

[mattster]

As ever, there is a little more nuance to it than the Mail or Express would have you believe, although the headline figure is correct. It was interesting enough to warrant a search tho, and this paper is quite interesting.

If you can't be arsed to read that, then the bullet points are that...

[mattster]

Being told that you are not wanted, and that the organisation that you work for is actively working to remove you could be upsetting to some....

[mattster]

True or not (it's not), it's probably a better idea to work on getting the UK trained numbers up before upsetting the 140,000 foreign born staff who are currently vital to the functioning of our NHS....

[mattster]

I certainly wasn't being London specific, and the road congestion could presumably be improved everywhere with fewer people commuting.

Nothing wrong with subsidising public transport anywhere, IMO, if having that transport helps generate wealth elsewhere - I'm not even sure you could call...

[mattster]

This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to solve road congestion and overcrowded trains. All they need to do is maintain current levels of service and reduced number of commuters, whilst throwing a bit of money at public transport to make up the difference in ticket sales.
What will probably...

[mattster]

If enough good employees feel strongly enough about maintaining WFH, then I expect at least some companies to offer it as a free (or even negative cost) way of attracting staff. Of course, that was true before the pandemic as well, but maybe - just maybe - some companies have had their eyes opened a...

[mattster]

Carnet tickets with a proper discount would be good. Unfortunately the only network I knew of who was doing them (SW) was only offering 5% discount, and has now withdrawn them - to be replaced by the new flexi tickets. Rail costs are a joke now, transport really needs to be seen as a public service...

[mattster]

The gold card thing is interesting, Paddy - will have to run the numbers on that if I ever end up needing it. No doubt they will put a stop to it if it becomes widely used and abused, though.

The pricing on "flexible" seasons is such that it is just about worthwhile if you are...

[mattster]

Flexi season tickets have been announced: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times...alculator.aspx

20% off for a 66.6% reduction in usage (2 days a week) seems disappointing.

[mattster]

Were you able to get the broken bit out yourself, or was a trip to A&E involved?

[mattster]

I'm still rather partial to Angel Delight (butterscotch, natch), which I keep in the cupboard for emergencies. Still avialable, obviously, but not something the kids seem to eat these days. We used to get it a couple of times a week as pudding, my kids won't even try it....

[mattster]

Deferred, yes, but also mitigated. 25% (of up to lifetime allowance) tax free, for starters, on retirement, and it should be possible to get the rest out at a lower tax rate than you would have paid at the time had you not put it in the pension, so there are definitely significant tax savings to be...

[mattster]

Put as much as you can into your personal pension, even to the extent of living off savings if you happen to have some that aren't tax advantaged (i.e. not in an ISA).
You can put £40k a year in, and top up 3 years of lower payments as well. Depending on how old you are, you might not even have...