When the fuck did I become old

About When the fuck did I become old

When the Fuck Did I Become Old? is the no-holds-barred podcast for everyone over 55 who is done being invisible. Co-hosted by Jo Parker and her partner Kev Stockbridge, this is real talk about ageing from 55 onwards. With humour, honesty and a healthy dose of profanity, Jo and Kev tackle everything from hot flushes and shit sleep to grief, reinvention, sex after 55 and dating in later life. Plus menopause, loneliness, retirement, mental health and the art of staying visible when society wants you to disappear. If you’re over 55 and feel like life is shifting fast physically, emotionally, financially and nobody’s talking about it properly, this is your podcast. Each episode blends Jo and Kev’s raw reflections with unfiltered conversations from guests who have lived a little (and learned a lot). Jo and Kev’s mission? To break the silence around ageing, smash the stereotypes and make getting older something we can laugh at, cry through and fully own….together. It’s ageing, without the airbrushing Season 1 - The Journney Begins... Season 2 - The Search for a Co-Host Season 3 - A new Co-Host; my partner Kev Stockbridge Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/whenthefkdidibecomeold/ (https://www.instagram.com/whenthefkdidibecomeold/) Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WhenthefkdidIbecomeold/ (https://www.facebook.com/WhenthefkdidIbecomeold/) TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@whenthefkdid_i_becomeold (https://www.tiktok.com/@whenthefkdid_i_becomeold) YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@WhentheFdidIbecomeold (https://www.youtube.com/@WhentheFdidIbecomeold) Email us whenthefkdidibecomeold@gmail.com (mailto:whenthefkdidibecomeold@gmail.com)

Publisher

Jo Parker

Category

health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

4 Feb 2025

Latest episode

30 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 89 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   30 Oct 2026

   What does the budget mean for the over 50s...and other things in October that passed us by!

   This week we pick through a budget that was long on points and short on change, pulling out what matters for pensions, savings and tax, plus three actions worth taking. Then we lighten up with the things that have completely passed us by since leaving the machine, from the clocks going back to Halloween creeping up on us. Key Takeaways Most of this budget was about what did not change, and for anyone planning retirement that stability is welcome. ISA allowances stay at £20,000, pension allowances are untouched, and the tax-free lump sum remains capped at £268,275. The state pension rises 3.9% to £13,036, the triple lock survives for now, and pensioners living on the state pension alone will not be taxed on it. Cash savings sitting outside an ISA will be taxed more heavily, so if you have money in an ordinary savings account, now is the time to get it into a cash ISA or another tax-efficient wrapper. Use every allowance you have, including any unused allowance belonging to your spouse. The quiet sting is the freeze on income tax thresholds. As pensions, annuities and wages rise, more of us will be dragged into higher tax bands without noticing. If you are still working, increasing your pension contributions or giving to charity can keep you below the next threshold. The biggest change for retirees is still coming: from April 2027, unused pension pots become subject to inheritance tax, and beneficiaries may pay income tax on top. That flips the usual advice of spending other assets first and saving the pension for last. Talk to a financial adviser about your drawdown plan before then. On the lighter side, leaving work, the school run and the daily commute means the outside world simply stops telling you things. The clocks changing and Halloween both arrived without warning. Christmas, however, is a different story, and the decorations are going up on Sunday. We are not financial advisers, so please do your own research before acting on anything here. Timestamps 00:09 - Welcome and introducing the episode 00:50 - A defensive, "nothing to see here" budget, and our disclaimer 01:30 - What didn't change: income tax, CGT, dividends and ISA allowances 03:30 - Pension allowances and the tax-free lump sum stay put 04:55 - State pension up 3.9% and the triple lock reaffirmed 06:15 - Higher tax on savings interest held outside an ISA 07:18 - A 2% rise in landlord tax 07:50 - The Lifetime ISA becomes the First Time Buyers ISA 09:40 - Household energy payments and scrapping gas standing charges 12:04 - Fuel duty and VAT cuts on electricity extended 12:40 - Frozen tax thresholds and fiscal drag 14:50 - Unused pensions brought into inheritance tax from April 2027 17:00 - Action 1: make the most of your tax-free allowances 17:50 - Action 2: rethink the order you draw down your pension 19:12 - Action 3: dodging fiscal drag with pension contributions and charitable giving 20:00 - The things we miss now we're out of the machine 21:08 - Waking up to find the clocks had gone back 22:30 - Halloween gardens and becoming a grumpy old man 24:15 - Christmas decorations on 1 November, and why

2. 

   22 Oct 2026

   Goal setting in retirement - How and why should you do it?

   Do you really need goals once you’ve retired? This week we look at why goal setting might matter more after work ends, not less. We unpack retirement drift, take an online quiz to see how far we’re drifting, and share a practical, non-corporate way to set five-year and one-year goals without turning retirement into another job. Key Takeaways Losing the structure of work is one of the hardest parts of retirement. Left unchecked it can turn into retirement drift: unmotivated days, shrinking social circles, declining fitness and the nagging question of whether this is all there is. It creeps up slowly, so it is worth checking in on. You can take the free quiz at www.retirementwisdom.com/retirement-drift/ (http://www.retirementwisdom.com/retirement-drift). One of us scored 77 out of 100 (thriving), the other 66 (some drift, could do better). You do not need a rigid schedule to stay on track. A couple of anchor events, like a regular fitness class, give shape to the week and keep weekends feeling special. Goals work best as a compass, not a performance review. Rather than agonising over your life purpose, try writing three to five statements you want to be true in five years, then work back to what you would like to achieve this year. Use categories that matter to you: passion projects, relationships, health and learning are a start, but finances or travel might fit better. Simply writing them down creates a kind of contract with yourself. Purpose often is not found by searching for it. It is what is left when you notice the things you keep turning up for, whether that is the dog walk, the football team or the book club where nobody reads the book. If a goal needs action, break it into small steps each quarter, or it will quietly never happen. And if you are not ready to set goals yet, that is fine. Being lost is a legitimate stage of transition. Just decide how long you will give yourself before you start finding your way. Timestamps 00:09 - Welcome: why we’re talking about something as dull as goal setting 01:15 - Loss of structure and the idea of retirement drift (Mark and Judy Rollins, Retirement Transformed) 02:34 - The symptoms of retirement drift 03:40 - How people respond: 5am routines, time chunking and to-do lists 05:15 - Anchor events, and how they keep the weekend feeling like a weekend 07:15 - The retirement drift quiz and our scores 08:45 - What a goal actually is 09:43 - Goals as a way to uncover your dreams, and why not everyone got to imagine retirement 11:45 - Richard and Jackie Pickles: goals as a compass, not a target 12:45 - Life purpose and the laminated mission statement on the fridge 13:50 - Ambition revisited, plus our Ikigai episode coming in November 15:15 - Skipping life purpose: writing a five-year vision 16:34 - One-year goals and choosing categories that mean something to you 18:58 - Our five-year aspirations, from healthy and upright to keeping the toys 20:30 - Seventeen goals versus two, and giving yourself permission to be lost 21:30 - Life purpose as the thing you keep turning up for 22:50 - Turning goals into quarterly action plans 23:40 - Calendar chaos, and the friends spreadsheet 26:15 - Why writing things down works 27:15 - Drift, being lost, and giving it a time limit

3. 

   15 Oct 2026

   Ambition isn't a career, it's a Drive!!

   What if leaving your career doesn't mean retiring your drive? This week we're joined by Hugo Brooks, author, speaker and guide, who walked away from more than 30 years running marketing businesses after his wife asked one simple question: are you sure you want to do this again? We talk about what ambition really is, why "purpose" has become a buzzword, and how to point your drive at something that genuinely means something to you. Key Takeaways Ambition is not the same as your goals. It is an independent drive, a simple human desire for tomorrow to be better than yesterday, and we all have it whether we work or not. Stopping a career does not switch it off. Of the driven people Hugo has spoken to who tried simply slowing down, only two or three in ten found it worked. The rest became uncomfortable and went looking for something new to aim at. That drive moves through three phases: dissatisfaction, desire and determination. It works the same whether you are reorganising a kitchen cupboard or tackling world hunger. Marketing, and plenty of social media scams, work by igniting the middle phase, showing you a vision of something better so you suddenly feel dissatisfied with what you have. Purpose has been hijacked. It started in the commercial world and has turned into pressure to do something worthy. What really matters is meaning, and meaning is personal. Curing world hunger and going fishing are equally valid if they matter to you. A useful way in is Hugo's eulogy exercise: imagine your best friend speaking at your funeral. Nobody wants them to mention last quarter's sales figures. Somewhere in midlife the horizon stops moving. For Hugo it was realising he was older than his father was when he died. The question shifts from what can I do with my time to what will I get done with the time I have left. That can send people into denial (cue the Harley Davidson), or it can be the start of a far more meaningful second life. Finally, treat goals as a direction, not something to worship. Reaching a goal is like walking through a pair of saloon doors: it takes seconds. Life happens in the corridor on the way there, so make the corridor count. Hugo's book, Ambition: Redefining Success for a Restless Age, is being published in four parts. Part one is available now on Amazon. Timestamps 00:09 - Welcome and introducing Hugo Brooks 02:24 - Closing a business on the way down, and the identity crisis that followed 04:47 - Why your drive and your goals are not the same thing 07:06 - Ambition as the desire for tomorrow to be better than yesterday 09:23 - The three phases: dissatisfaction, desire and determination 11:37 - Privilege and deprivation: why both can frustrate ambition 14:00 - A Minister for Ambition, and how marketing (and scams) ignite desire 16:13 - Why purpose has become a buzzword 18:33 - Meaning over purpose: from world hunger to going fishing 21:00 - The eulogy exercise 23:26 - Realigning your drive, and how it changes after 50 25:42 - When the horizon stops moving: outliving a parent 28:02 - A second life, and becoming visible in new worlds 30:22 - The book: Ambition, Redefining Success for a Restless Age 32:36 - AI, the future, and why goals are like saloon doors 35:02 - The journey, not the destination, and wrap up Hugo's book part 1 https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=9781067640828 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=9781067640828)

Inside a recent episode

How Erectile Dysfunction Affects Women

Published 26 Jun 2025 · Transcript excerpt

[…] You really, really have to have blood tests and prognonal screening, people, you take testosterone, because it's not as simple as no testosterone or low testosterone, although sometimes the menopause that is an issue, but it's a lot more complex because the lack of sexual desire can also be emotional as well, obviously, and also physical, in the sense of maybe someone's not well or they're, they've got things like EDS where they're skinned, hair small, they can be all sorts of different things going on, and I'm no expert, expert in those, I just have a basic knowledge to direct people in the right direction. […]

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• Amanda Forsyth
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