Realistically, what age do you expect to retire, if you're in your 40s now?

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State pension age will be 68 if not older.

I already know I'm slowing down. I'm very experienced and good at my job so I can get away with it for now but I know I'm not as productive as I was when I was younger.

My parents retired young (in today's terms) at 59. They've had a healthy, active retirement but now, in their early 70s they and their friends all have health issues that would make a full-time job difficult if not impossible, even though they are generally "well" for their age.

I don't know how it's possible for most people to work to 68, certainly not anyone in any sort of physical job.

So, doesn't extending retirement age just mean we'll have lots of people "on the sick" who would previously have been claiming their pension?

I know people can/should be making provision to allow them to retire earlier but I think for most that's a privilege for the relatively well off and many manual labourers/care home workers etc don't fall into that category, Could we really have 68yo care assistants etc?

Well, I work ft in education. It's not your average teaching job and is physically quite hard. I am 46 and aim to work ft til maybe 55ish(possibly sooner)then I'll drop to 3 days or ideally just get a little shop job for a couple of days a week until I'm 60ish. I think my official retirement age is 67-ridiculous. I do have a work pension.

Having the mortgage paid off makes such a huge difference in retirement. Those still paying mortgages or renting will obviously need a much higher income to get by.

Most people have very poor pension pots. Most will be shocked at how poor their pension will actually be.

I don't anticipate retiring, really. I work for myself doing a niche professional job which, being of clear mind, I can theoretically carry on doing as long as I like. Dh is similar (currently employed but could set up on his own). I assume we'll probably slow down/work less rather than stopping altogether.

When the retirement age was set at 65 the average person lived for another 2 years. Now the averages person lives for another 12 years. Moving the pension age back was sensible in that sense - as those working have to pay more in tax to support the state pensions of those who have retired. It makes sense to work for longer so that you can be better off for longer and have more money to live off in retirement. We now live longer and longer in good health - as well as in bad health. A 65 yr old today is generally a lot healthier than a 65 yr old 20 or 30 years ago. And as everyone says - work can give a sense of purpose and fulfilment, wider social contact and interactions and a sense of identity and belonging - in retirement filling 7 days a week can be hard. I have done a lot of work with lonely older people and it's not a good place to be. I still wonder at people who think retirement will be one long holiday......

However there is a big but. For some people who work in more physically demanding roles or jobs which don't feel recognised or valued - working longer can be tough or out if the question. And sizeable numbers of people have to give up working due to long term disabilities or conditions. That's a much tougher scenario.

I am 55 and don't feel old at all. I'm not less able in any way far from it. I still have a few more years on my mortgage and kids to get through university - it's a more costly part of my life. I don't look forward to retiring at all!

I was made redundant at 60 but couldn't get my state pension until 61.7. So luckily my private pension bridged the gap, thank god. It was enough to save the day, so I heartily recommend getting a private pension. My Ds started at 26!

I'm 55 & have no plans to retire any time soon. I love my job, I like earning money & working is good for my mental wellbeing. I don't feel old & I know that my skills & experience at work are valued. I can't imagine not working & I think I'll find retirement really hard.

I’m in my late 30s and expect to be working into my 70s.

I think people in their 40's not will be working as far into their 70's as they can. Most are buying homes late because they are so expensive and they will not be paid off by 67 my current retirement date.
I still have a 40K mortgage at 57 and it will not be paid off until I'm 70 so I expect to be working until then.
Luckily I have an NHS clinical job that involves most sitting all day.

Mortgage paid off in April past
I'm just turned 49 and been made redundant
Am using it as retirement!

I suspect I will never actually retire as such, can't help it love working in some way and think it keeps the brain active and body moving. Currently 51, have a private pension plus the usual government one - private one isn't massive so have been loading up house to pay off in total, will then sell and downsize with a wodge to DD when she leaves uni or before to fund a house purchase for her.

Why downsize so early? Well husband does not do diy and frankly I can't be doing all of that myself for next 30 yrs, so small manageable hopefully off grid and I am hoping to set up a small business that will tick us over. We run our own now and DH is still mega busy so we will milk that whilst we can, as I said whack down the mortgage and then look at a different lifestyle hopefully

Nudging 40 and DH is in his 40s. Our mortgage has another 29 years to run but I hope we will be able to retire around our mid 60s as we both have decent pensions and are also overpaying the mortgage whenever we can. House is huge as well so plenty of scope to downsize if we absolutely have to but ideally we would keep it.

I’m 50 and can’t wait to retire but won’t be until prob 60 as have younger DD. If she decides to go to univ might be even later. I have to work as a single mum of 3 kids, so no choice really, but I don’t enjoy my job - professional office based so good salary but that’s it. I’d like to retire and do my hobby - music - so possibly teach my instrument, maybe accompaniment for exams that sort of thing. On a part time basis. Wouldn’t pay enough to live off now unfortunately.

I don't want to work as long as possible , I want to retire before I become too old to do the things I want to , to spend more time exploring the world, walking, learning to play music. Things that I can't easily do because I need to buy food and fuel and new boots from time to time, so I am stuck. It's a good job, interesting and worthwhile, but it takes all my time and energy. My dad died before he retired. He never got to do those things. My best friend has secondary cancer.

I don't see myself retiring completely. I have my own company in a niche highly skilled professional role where 2/4 days can be done from home. I plan to reduce my workload as I get older, so I now do 4 days, maybe reducing by 1 day per decade (I'm 36). 13 years left on mortgage also so will be debt free by 49. We also live in an expensive city and I would eventually like to move near family where it is ridiculously cheap to buy property compared to here, so hopefully can cash in on that.

In 11 years my mortgage will be paid off I'll be 52 . I'd like if possible to work 4 day week then .
I'd save for retirement too , I've been paying into a pension since I was 23 so hopefully will be ok .
My dh will also be left his dm house too so I hope to retire by 60 .
Ive worked with people who still work full time into late 60's , not for me thank you .

I'm almoat 39 & about to return (thid week) to FT work after a decade as a sahm.

My husband is in the police & lucky enough to have a final salary scheme which pays out just before his 51st birthday. I'll already be 51. This pension thankfully is substantial so i expect I'll retire when he does.

Our youngest child will be almost 19 so we plan to travel, i also run a karate club and would very much like to keep that going and since most of our "old" association black belts are into their late 80s and still perfectly active i hope its doable.

But you never know, i may reach retirement & decide i dont want to. My mum retired at 50, she lives off a pittance in a camper van & although she is adamant she loves her nomad life i find it very hard to believe when she spends all her evenings at either mine or my sister's house as her van is dark & cold.

I'm 40 now, hope to have no more than another 10 years working full-time, then part-time/ contracting for as long as necessary - probably till all kids leave home. We have some private pension (from 60), savings and buy-to-let investments so our main goal for next 10 years is to own our own property outright. Then we will start planning our finances for retirement. Hope to spend it travelling, studying, doing what we enjoy!

Wow well done your mum rosemary squash..still a cater at 70
That’s so encouraging
Can I just say I felt very, very youthful when I met my husband aged 56 and him 55
Fast forward 11 years and I don’t feel like that anymore.
Technically I’d have another 6 months to work
He retired at 58 as he got made redundant and couldn’t find a job in his field of computers.
We had a blast. Travelled all over uk and some lovely foreign holidays too.
In fact I look at the time as the best time in my life
Then come 62 he had a stroke..just 6 months after we married.
Although he came out of ok he can no longer drive and I think the stress of all that and worry over him, he has arrthymia has aged me.
He’s the fairly laid back one and I had to go to counselling as I got myself in such a state

He’s 66 with technically two more years to pension if he hadn’t qualified last year and he has a small private pension.

I hope you all move into you mid 60s with great vim and vigour . This just hasnt been our case and I’m quite shocked in how much our lives changed in 5/6 years
I wouldn’t have thought we’d have met with problems like these unTIL mid 70 S or later.

Arrowfanatic..my cousins married an 8 th Dan..and he’s knackered
He’s already got a,pacemaker, he’s had one hip done and he’s ready for the other one

I thought he would’ve been as fit as a butchers dog
He’s only 62 😱
We saw them last month when he had to take a week off work as he’d put his back out and was in agony.

My doctor retired at 91
She loved her job
Passed away at 93
That’s the way to do it

I'm 55 & have no plans to retire any time soon. I love my job, I like earning money & working is good for my mental wellbeing. I don't feel old & I know that my skills & experience at work are valued. I can't imagine not working & I think I'll find retirement really hard.

That describes me to a T, except that I am nearly 61. I work part time, and love my job. I feel that I have my work life balance perfectly balanced. OP, if you are only in your 40s you shouldn't feel like you are slowing down yet.

Seems I am planning earlier than most.

I’m 46 and have a mentally demanding job but not physically (except long commute). Thing is there are very few older people in the office, I will be lucky to do another 5 years and if I were made redundant, it would be tough to get another role at this level in my 50s.

My mortgage will be gone at 49 and final DC uni should end at 54 & I plan to support financially to some extent. My pension is good but not payable until 60 unless I am made redundant after 50 so that is my ideal strategy.

That sounds awful, Dowser. The dr working until 91 and dying at 93. I can't imagine very many people viewing that as a good result. I hope I am lucky enough to have a long and active retirement. I certainly don't want to work until I'm in my nineties and then die 2 years later. Maybe for some but not me.

I'd rather have 2 healthy years of retirement rather than 10 years of dribbling in a care home.