Serge's activity

The point I was making at the end of my story is that should I decide to retire in Italy I must review my finances as there are different financial considerations e.g:     I will only be entitled to the basic state pension: annual pension increases are available as Italy is in the EU (that is what I am told by my Pensions Advisor).    I will not be entiltled to any of the other financial benefits based on UK residency.    I will not be entilted to contribution-based support available to Italians (INPS).  I am going to study what is available through this website.  http://www.comune.torino.it/en/health/income-support-amounts-av.shtml . I may be wrong! I hope so!    Unless services like meals-on-wheels are available to immigrants on a residence-basis and not on a contribution- basis I will not be able to use them.  (Again I hope I am wrong, the story of this lady has made me more aware!)There are lots of uncertainties and there is not the equiavelent of Citizens Advice Bureau that I can seek help from to guide me through the maze of Italian legislation. I have talked to my Italian lawyers and accountants who tell me that the Italian Government change the law so quickly by Decrees that any advice given to me today may not be valid tomorrow. I must also allow for fluctuations in the future value of Sterling, unless the UK joins the Eurozone.  There are also uncertainties under the Double Taxation Treaty between the UK and Italy on how all my income from all sources will be taxed.  Bearing in mind these uncertainties and the cost of living-in help or residential care in Italy I have decided to review my finances with my pensions/investment advisor during my three months summer stay in London. As regards national comparisons these are at best spurious.  I only stated them for analysis. Conclusions will be drawn by readers taking into account their personal experience mostly.  When I used to lecture on health statistics I always opened my talk with the following: "Statistics are like uderwear, what they hide are more interesting than what they show".  Forgive the rudeness, but is is true.I know and agree that residential care has to be paid for elther in full or partly by the resident, whether in the UK or in Italy,  It is the choices that are available to the residents of the two countries on how to top up their savings that are important.  I have mentioned selling the  freehold and keeping the"uso frutto"  as a way of raising finance in Italy (It is also done in France, my nephew has  just bought a house that way in France).   In the UK equity release schemes have entered the market in a big way recently but they still have to gain popularity.  I helped a family member some 20 years ago to raise an income in that way.  She was 65 at that time and she went on to live for another 20 years and received an income every month for that time.  (The insurance company was really upset!) I received a nice letter from her before her death thanking me for doing this for her! She did not have to rely on anyboby, she lived in her house, but left not as much as she would have in her will but the family did not incur inheritence tax.  In the end the Chancellor paid for it not on a pay as you go basis, but on her death by receiving less inheritence tax.  By contrast my best friend in London, needed money for day-to- day living, my suggestion of an equity release scheme for their their £600,000  house met with such aggressiveness from the wife and we have never spoken since.  They continue to live frugally whilst the value of their home increases (not so much recently).  Had they released £300k for example, they would still continue to live in the house, enjoy a higher standard of living, and have a living-in help and leave no inheritence tax liability.  As it was (before the new inheritence tax change) their heir would have had to pay £116K tax to the Chancellor. So they denied themselves a contribution of £116k from the Chancellor for a higher standard of living!  Selling the home should be the last option, raising finance on a buy-to-let interest only mortgage and letting the house is another possible way.I apologise if at any time if I have given the impression that the UK is better! That was not my intention.  I merely stated that services are better developed in the UK and more integrated between health and social services and that UK social housing policies are also better developed. As an example in the Tuscan village where I have a house there is hadly any social housing and there are 5000 residents!  I hope I did not give the impression that services are more freely available in the UK. If I did my sincere apologies. My journey through the plight of senior citizens in Italy and cultural differences between Italians and I continues everyday: my daughters' nonna and zia (they are Italians) who are in their seventies received yesterday each a bill of €500 for gas.  This is one month's pension.  This is their plight as Italian pensioners and it is very close to home!  They are very proud and will not accept help from us.    

This article hits it right on the nail, the only difference between my true story and this article is that the wages have increased substantially.  A recent article in an Italian magazine indicates that there are some 300,000 eastern european workers in Tuscany, mostly from Romania.  They are doing a great job in caring for the elderly, cleaning or working in the building industry!  It is also true that it is very common in our part of Tuscany to have this kind of help.  Near where I have my Italian house there are three large villas each with a widowed elderly lady with lived-in help from eastern europe.  I recently became aware of this when my estate agent friend told me that these villas have been on the market for 3 years and there have been no takers.  I was also told that the families have taken out loans to finance their upkeep.  With the reccession the market for large villas have virtually collapsed in our part of Tuscany.  Our old lady is little bit lucky because the demand for flats is beginning to show some signs of recovery.  There are also investors who would be prepared to buy the freehold of her flat and leaving her the "uso frutto" until her death. These investors are not too keen on large villas as the return is not that good.  The same investors make their money when the old person dies early.  Pretty gruesome you would say, but I suppose this is life and they are doing the elderly person a favour by letting her keep her home until death.

I agree!

Selling the home and going into care could happen in England.  I understand Scotland funds residential care.  I do not know the situation in Wales.  As you know there has been much controversy in England about payment for residential care.  Community services for the elderly in the UK is much more developed with community occupational therapy, home help, a district nursing service, day centres.  Old people with only a basic old age pension can apply for income support and there is also a winter fuel allowance, a fixed amount and, I understand, some more is available depending on the outside temperature.  The health services work in partnership with the local authority and the voluntary services to provide a comprehensive range of services to maintain the elderly active in the community.  Local authorities would also have a very well developed social housing policy for the elderly.  People over the age of 60 do not pay prescription charges and are entitled to free public transport.  Services rarely vary throughout England as it is national service.  Local variations may occur depending on the level of support available from the voluntary services. In Italy the number of elderly is forecast to increase to approximately  a third of the population, so the pressure on Government finances from the elderly is greater.  There is much debate on how to care for this section of the population who provide a lot of baby sitting and child minding support to the family.  As you know the management of the NHS in Italy is in the hands of the Regions.  I am learning a lot about services for the elderly through these kinds of stories.  My understanding of the situation in Italy is that apart from hospital care many of the community services available through the Communes are generally means tested.  Some would offer vouchers and some would provide the services.  Here are a few of the services that I know are available to the elderly: Le Case di Riposo for the self sufficient and partly self sufficient, le case albergo: a type of apartment block with communal facilities, le case protette: sheltered housing for the aged, i centri sociali anziani a type of pensioners club normally run by the pensioners themselves, l'assitentenza domiciliare : a home help service sometimes jointly with the ASl or private organisations, il servizio di accompagnamento: accompanying or companion service for people to get around run normally by volunteers, i pasti domicilio: meals on wheels normally provided by the comune, soggiorno di sollievo: therapeutic holidays to the seaside or spas.  There are also discount schems available to the elderly and some of them are well developed and are run by the communes.  Italy has more doctors than than the UK with an average of 700 people per doctor. Regional  spending on care of the lederly varies between the regions.  The latest figures I have seen is that the highest in 2003 was Trentino Alto Adige with €466 per capita and the lowest was Calabria with €19 per capita.  The share of total social resources spent on the elderly was the highest in Campania (40%) , 12% in Calabria, on average 30% in the north. The southern regions tend to give more vouchers and more residential care is provided in the central and northern regions. I know many elderly couple in Italy would sell their homes whilst retaining the "uso frutto" for life to fund a live-in companion.  It is easier to find a buyer as the unit will be offered at a substantial discount.  The Italian Government recognise this kind of property transaction and give a graduated discount on the purchase tax.  In the UK it is now becoming more popular to enter into an equity release scheme.  

I agree with you much of what you say.   One should live the dream when one is fit and healthy.  There are different considerations when you are frail and elderly and require the extended support of the family.  I know a lot of people from the commonwealth who emigrated to the UK in the 50's and 60's who have returned to their home countries as "returned residents" for the reasons you mentionned.

I have not heard about it in Tuscany, the best source of information for this is your potential window supplier.  He should  know about this.  When we buy windows we normally get all the energy performance specifications with the quote.  Windows are available in UPVC, not like the UPVC in the UK, they are reinforced and can emulate the colour of wood and are virtually maintenance free, aluminium, hardwood (the cheapest being larch wood, chestnut, oak and mahogany and will require re-varnishishing every six to seven years and less if your shutters are not very good) and softwood.  If you are changing them in the summer I would start the process of getting quotes now, the suppliers would inspect the building and would quote appropriately.  The window surrounds may need adapting depending on the type of windows you are buying.  if you are changing the style of the windows and if you are in a conservation area, you will need to talk to the commune.  The window supplier will advise of all of this.  It takes about 6 to 8 weeks from your order for them to manufacture the windows an install them.  Not all window suppliers keep to their promised timescale, ask the window supplier for the names of people where they have installed, and better still get them to arrange a visit. We budget around 5,000 Euro (excluding 20% VAT) for a flat for UPVC/aluminium windows and shutters and double that for a house and much more for hard wood, we normally steer clear of softwood.To find out the potential suppliers look in the yellow pages. I hope this helps.

Although we have barbecues throughout the year both in Italy and the UK, it is certainly more popular now that the weather is hot and one can dine alfresco.  This is a quick lunch or evening meal that always goes down well with the family.  My six year old daughter calls it mucha bianca and the fiorentina la mucha rossa.Fire for the barbecue: I keep all the twigs for this purpose as they burn very quickly.  In half an hour I have some very hot charcoal ready for cooking. Barbecued pork chops:  Have your butcher cut the pork cops about 1.5cm thick.  Rub plenty of salt and olive oil on each chop and allow to rest for half an hour (one can rub pesto or curry powder on the chops for a different tasting experience, but leave the chops to marinate for longer).   I normally do this as the fire is burning.  Barbecue the chops until the meat caramelises on the outside but remains moist on the inside (take care not to burn the chops when using other marinades). I normally barbecue some Italian sausages as well,  Serve with a side salad or better still with barbecued sliced courgettes, aubergine, red and yellow peppers (parboil the peppers and quarter them before putting on the fire), radichio (treat as the peppers).  Sprinkle lots of olive oil on the barbecued vegetables and add salt to taste.  These vegetables will last at least a week in the fridge if covered with olive oil.  After that they start to go rancid.  We use the surplus vegetables during the week for topping pizzas. 

Because Italian Building Regulations require a minimum height for living rooms, studies and bedrooms and the communes are being more strict about sound-proofing in flats (a similar position in the UK) we are having to take great care in building up the floor to make sure we achieve the required room heights.  You could say why not make the building taller? Bearing in mind each building is controlled by the allowable volume, the height you can build from the street up and the cost, the conversation with the builder for the floor normally goes like this: pipes for cental heating, do we need to dig them in, who goes first the electrician with his pipes or the plumber, the sound-profing layer how thick and do we need to adhere to the original specification or can we change to a thinner material with the same protection, then what about the "maceto" how thick sould it be, then how much space have we got left for the tiles, which determine the type of tiles you can put down.  Certainly not hand made cotto: too thick!  When it comes to tiling, at that stage we would discuss how the tiles are laid: diagonally will cost more: there are more cuts which require more tiles as there are more waste and take longer so labour cost per metre will be more. Our village in Tuscany is a conservation area and like the UK, a conservation area attracts special attention.  Unlike a listed building, a designated conservation area gives broader protection from development  and takes account of all relevant aspects of the village, not just one building.  We build and renovate in the UK and Italy and I must say the process in the UK is more strict and unlike the UK we do not have to put up with village consultation, including the do-gooders and the back-stabbers.  This alone takes time and effort to manage and the risks of upsetting the locals is greater.  In Italy if the locals do not like what you are doing or have done they would write anonymously to the Commune.   In the UK neighbours can apply for permission to have things demolished on your land: they do not have to be the owners to apply for planning permission, and they would certainly report you after inspecting the plan, which is a public document.  Building regulations control is also different in the UK, in the example of the floor we would have to make sure the Building Inspector sees it before we cover it with sand and cement.  In Italy that is not the case the Director of Works certifies most things at the end! My opinion: Italy is not more bureaucratic just different, and when you have learnt the process it is just as frustrating as the UK because what we want to do is not always what we are allowed to! My advice: when buying in Italy or the UK enquire whether the house/flat is in a conservation area, then your expectations on what you can achieve will be different. 

Your fish recipe sounds good!  Will try it this Friday, we have not lost this religious tradition I think because there is a great fish stall at the local Friday market. I have been doing your recipe with rosemary, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Great with herby potato wedges! I love the chinese version: a whole sea bass stuffed with spring onion and julienne of stem ginger and steamed!  To finish I pour soya sauce and then boiling hot sunflower oil on the fish.  The sizzling noise is enough to make you drool!  Serve with boiled basmati rice, which together with fresh stem ginger are available in the big Italian supermarkets. I am also quite partial to the Italian version of the french bouillabaisse.  I pray when we are serving this dish that there are left-overs, because I liquidize the whole thing the next day to make one of the most tasty and fishy soup!  I have only tasted better in one Italian restaurant that only serve lake fish (their specialty is perch barbecued on a fire made with reed) and in the restaurants in the Loire Valley! I certainly look forward to more of your fish recipes so that I can serve them at "Chez Serge". Happy cooking!  

Gala I am not good at cooking cakes but here is a variation on your veal recipe.  I normally do the same thing with chicken breast or coujons of fish: any white fish.  To get the coating extra crispy I coat the chicken or fish with flour first and then dip it in the beaten egg and the bread crumbs mixture.   I fry them in sunflower oil or ground nut oil as olive oil tend to burn quicker.  The chicken is great with sliced fresh tomatoes in season, mozzarella di bufala and fresh basil.  You can always have a side salad as an accompaniment (at this time of the year I always add some sliced peaches to the salad to make it more interesting).  As you can guess all my vegetables and fruits come from my garden and I make some interesting mixtures that intrigue my Italian friends and family. I normally have the fish with a homemade tartar sauce and chips (sadly from supermarket potatoes or from frozen bags as my daughter eat a lot of chips and I do not grow potatoes).