Who are all these ‘economically inactive’ 50 year olds

[Orangetapemeasure]

The government is trying to encourage 300000 or so ‘economically inactive’ 50+ year olds back to work. Who are these people and what do they do?
I can imagine some people in their 60s deciding to retire early, but I don’t know a single 50 year old who has or could afford to give up work. In fact I know several previously SAHM who are only launching their careers in their mid 40s. I’m mid 40s with a good 15-20 years left to work.
MN please enlighten me.

Made redundant at 57 at the end of fulough, accountant thought she could do my job, she couldn't they went bust, (hey ho) anyway I looked at the numbers and decided to just mooch for eighteen months until DH retired, and that is what we do, we mooch, we had a lovely two hour pub lunch today by an open fire, we have taken all week to de Christmas the house, as opposed to killing ourselves over one weekend.

Sometimes when I get a little bored, I google jobs in my sector that require people with my experience and qualifications and generally they want one person to do the work of two people. Not happening.

I will take a little bit of boredom in the winter months to no longer work.

@RRRException I know that’s why students have to work alongside, I worked three days a week.

The government obviously messed up when they introduced people being able to withdraw their private pensions at 55. My DH and I couldn’t believe our luck. I think they’re changing it to 57 soon.

My observation is also that employers mainly seem to want bright young 23 year old new grads these days

surely this is at least in part because younger people with less life experience are easier to manipulate, those of us who are long in the tooth won't put up with any shit!

employers mainly seem to want bright young 23 year olds

Or even just cheap young 23 year olds!

Not all students can do that - medicine eg Monday to Friday 9-5

@User135644 agreed and it’s a problem for those in 20s and 30s NOW as we have the highest NI and icons tax ever, the crappest pension deals that we are paying into to fund current retirees (who btw usually haven’t paid in as much as they are now entitled to considering inflation), we will never retired ourselves if so not until we are 70. The housing market is unaffordable and if you need healthcare you often need to go private or wait years.

I am quite envious of those in their 50’s and 60’s who have paid off houses, lovely cars and don’t have to keep working. It just won’t be an option for the next gen.

*income ofc

What many pp's are missing, is that in previous generations the working age mix was very different to today. The proportions of those in work v not in work is becoming unsustainable. Too many retirees, and non workers, compared to active workers. Look at your council tax bill. 50% of expenditure is already spent on adult social care, that will continue to increase. And that's not just the elderly either. With modern medicine that also includes many, many, more youngsters who just wouldn't have lived such long lives, even 20 or thirty years ago. It's a very difficult situation, both socially and ethically.

Same. Life is tough and a lot of people just aren't able to work into their 60s.

The issue is with a fading economy and reduced GDP post-Brexit (and the sheer ruin of 13 years of useless Tory government and the global crash that preceded them) the pension/welfare bill is becoming unaffordable as people live longer and longer. Not to mention the crisis in care and a collapsing NHS.

I'm 55, I know a fair number of people who have retired, only a little older than I am now. Most have recently inherited snd although not rifling outside the home, are for the most making their money work for them. They live on investments.

Can you prove your claim that taxation is higher now than say in the 1970s?

When the basic rate of income tax was reduced to 30% with another 6% national insurance

?

Where the resentment comes in as well is the Brexit disaster was basically achieved by the votes of those who are 50+ and it's made everyone poorer, while many are able to retire early and have decent pensions, paid off their home that has exploded in price since they bought it etc.

Those in their 50s now are mostly Gen X and that's the probably the last generation who'll be able to retire early if they got a decent pension/savings/bought their house at the right time etc. Not everyone by any means but that seems to be who the government are targeting to get back to work. The older 'Gen Xers'.

When it comes to Millenials the pension pot just won't be there, cost of living is ridiculous and the housing market is a joke.

We need to make work less shit.
I’m early 50s and feel worn out. I’ve always worked full time, short maternity leave, raised kids, no cleaner and work just gets more intense. It’s exhausting.

Thing is these early retirement years are the ones we want to make the most of, not all of us want to live forever. So we're spending the majority of our money in the next 20 years (54-74)
I for one don't want to spend any of my money on slobbering in a care home alongside someone who has never worked or saved or invested. If the government wants to save money on my old age care then they can make euthanasia available. Personally I am all for it.

My brother cashed in a large sum and is spending his way through it rapidly. I think he thinks when his money runs out the state will help. Perhaps some are using their money to enjoy life and not leaving to children etc. Maybe that is why many are retiring early, they are cashing in pensions early and then relying on the state to fund care if they need it when older.

I worked a corporate job for fifteen years, which I would have said at the time that I enjoyed quite a bit, before I burned out aged 43. At the time, I fully intended to find other employment after a short break, but after I experienced the first real down time in my life, with no homework due, no test looming, no sports competition to gear up for, no meeting to prepare for, no hiring or firing decisions to make… I realised how much I dreaded going back to it.

With me at home, we had a clean home without having to have strangers in our home, we had healthy meals, our pets were so happy to have company all day. Our household was less stressful. I learned skills I’d always wanted to and went back to hobbies I’d lost touch with. I stopped feeling the Sunday-evening dread that I’d had ever since my school days.

After a couple of years, the difference between my level of contentment and that of my husband, who was still working, became so great that we did our finances and decided he could quit as well as long as we were careful.

We have never been extravagant. We don’t have children. We spend on good-quality food, which we prepare at home, and we spend on top-quality gear for our hobbies, but other than that, we don’t need much money. Besides saving the money we used to spend on cleaners and restaurants, we have also cut way back on entertainment and discretionary spending that we used as distraction from our stress.

Even though I had a good career and loved a lot of aspects of going to work, once I’d been away from it, I could see the stupidity and unfairness that we all had to put up with so clearly that I couldn’t really go back. Now, we walk, read, and do things that interest us at our own pace. So, no, we’re not going back.

My quitting inspired a number of friends to exchange corporate life for something entirely different, and I think that is spooking some. If word gets out that we don’t have to slog our guts out for 45 years while a very tiny group skims off most of the profit from our labour, then the system collapses

I was in Cornwall last week. There were many beautiful brilliant yellow fields of daffodils , too late to pick - no pickers- lost business and revenue to the county.
The friend we were visiting retired at 60 last year, her partner will retire at 60 this year. Both teachers.
I can’t see them being tempted by daffodil picking. I’m 57, leaving the civil service in three months, along with several other friends of a similar age. We won’t be daffodil picking either.
I am going to be a full time foster carer, so self employed but in a very diffirent capacity.

🦋If word gets out that we don’t have to slog our guts out for 45 years while a very tiny group skims off most of the profit from our labour, then the system collapses🦋

Thank you for putting that word out 🙏🦋🌞

I am early 50's and still working but my finances are such that if I lose my job for any reason eg redundancy, or something happens at work that I don't like I can just say stuff it and walk. I certainly won't ever be job hunting again, And I haven't had any inheritance. I just live in the same house I bought when I started working and have saved whatever I could. I also made the choice to work for local government and all the benefits that brings in terms of pensions etc.

I’ve worked through lockdown , no break at all. Still working 3 days a week, find I’m the oldest in my team.
seriously thinking about stopping this year. I’ll have a four year gap until I get my state pension, so have organized a financial review and will see what they suggest. Just getting tired , but still concerned that I might get bored if I retire as I’ve always worked.

or some just made good life choices and don't want to work anymore?!

what is a good life choice?

Approximately 418,000 people live in care homes (Laing and Buisson survey 2016). This is 4% of the total population aged 65 years and over, rising to 15% of those aged 85 or more.

But many people need care in the home don't they?

I think the key here is 'I don't have children'.

They're a v v expensive hobby. We'd be thousands of pounds richer just by counting all the money we've spent on childcare over 14 years on 2 children. Not to mention the cost of having 2 extra people who contribute very little, other than cb.

what is a good life choice
Going to uni as a mature student so this will hopefully lead to a high paying job. Getting a highly paid job and paying a big whack into a pension.