I don’t really feel my age. I don’t know why this is, because my body certainly does – I am slower, weaker, less flexible and creak a lot more than I used to, but somehow I don’t really feel any different than I ever did.

That all changed a bit this week. I am in a deferred pension scheme from an old job and finally got round to registering with its website so I could check the details to get them included in the projections of my current job. The first thing I noticed was how big the pot was compared to what I was expecting. It isn’t massive but I’m sure I was only in it for a few years before I left the company, was earning a lot less, and surely I was only putting a few percent in it.  The only way it could have got so big is investments growing over a long period of time, and I realised that I left that job 25 years ago.

How can that be? I only feel 25!

The other thing I noticed was that I start getting paid this pension in about three years! Even worse, I could start getting paid this pension at a slightly lower rate now. While it is tempting to get a bit of extra income now, or even enough money for a shiny new Suzuki SV650 plus a smaller bit of extra income, it would mean becoming a pensioner. I really don’t feel like a pensioner, but the fact is that the only thing between me as a youngster and being a pensioner is filling out a form.

Now I really do feel my age.