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.

Probably taking the DB pension (very) early and the DC on drawdown thereby not expecting it to last 20-30yrs but perhaps as a stopgap until the SP kicks in.
In my case I am taking my DC as drawdown and expect it to last between 10-12 years.

Yes but there are thirty odd years to get there.

I think early retirement of the fifty somethings has to be funded by pensions or property assets we younger ones cannot hope to access. I have a good job and a decent occupational pension. I don't think I'll have a pot that will allow me to retire before my mid sixties.

@Cupcakequeen75 crikey the latter strategy sounds a bit risky - the state pension is a pittance and not something I really expect to be available when I retire.

Cupcakequeen75 · Today 13:07
Ginmonkeyagain · Today 12:55
I assume those over fifties taking their good pesions early must have DB pensions. A DC pot would have to be massive to last from your early fifties to death.
Probably taking the DB pension (very) early and the DC on drawdown thereby not expecting it to last 20-30yrs but perhaps as a stopgap until the SP kicks in.
In my case I am taking my DC as drawdown and expect it to last between 10-12 years
My DH and I have lots worth 1.5 million, we are drawing down 4% a year and am
expecting it to last our whole lifetimes.

I am in my 50s and don’t work, @Orangetapemeasure. I left my job as a theatre nurse when I had ds3 - because nursery fees would have eaten up my entire take home pay. We could afford for me not to work, if we were careful, so I stayed at home with the dses.

By the time they were old enough for me to go back to work, my registration had lapsed, and my skills were out of date, and we could still afford for me to be a SAHM mum, so I never went back to work.

Things were complicated because I had depression and anxiety, and now I have long covid, and there is no way I could go back to my previous job - or any job that requires standing for any length of time, or being able to walk more than a few metres without getting breathless.

I know I am lucky, that we can afford for me not to work, and that we could afford for me to be a SAHM when the boys were at home.

it really depends on what you have been earning, for someone on part time hours, it might be more than they earn now, just think of all that tax people will have to pay with their work pensions and state pension

Yes. Similarly, not such a long time ago, maybe 10 years, the Boomers were accused of hogging the top management jobs and blocking the progression of younger people. Surely as people retire, the silver lining is that it creates more opportunities for the younger cohorts to progress.

I'm 51 and now do work that suits me. Don't earn enough to pay tax and won't do so until I'm 55 and start to draw pensions. Love doing what I do now, so nice not having to report to anyone. Government will never get me back to full time employment!

I know 5. One has some mh problems plus some physical heath ones and wouldn't be able to cope with a job, even if someone were to offer her one which is highly unlikely. The others have great private pensions /no kids (the two seem to go together ) and no need to work. One couple do lots of voluntary type world, the others travel a lot.

@Unphased I'm not quite sure what you mean, do you mean reconsider retiring?

Our large mortgage runs till we're mid 60s unfortunately, as we married, bought a house, had kids etc all relatively late. Eldest will be at school/uni for the next 6 years at least, the younger one who knows - she's not even in school at the moment so the idea of her leaving home and being independent seems impossibly distant.

Three elderly parents between us aged between 75-85, one currently has Parkinson's, another has had a triple bypass, but the generation above them nearly all made it to their mid 90s, so I'm not anticipating losing them all for a few years yet, thankfully.

I can't access work or state pension till 67, DH till 66.

Those that moved to Europe did so pre-Brexit, the one who moved to Thailand did so on tourist visas starting with 90 days, then a year, and then student and can now apply for retiree.

I can and am in the process of getting an passport for an EU country. My understanding is that exact entry and residence rules can depend on the country. From the one I would move to I would have to declare myself as living there within 90 days or I should leave before then. This is exactly the same as with a UK passport before Brexit, and it's so you start paying tax there. However, many people did not and do not do this.

In my early 50,s when I was working 5-6 days a week 8-10 hours a day, the thought of retiring was not even in my mind, Then a few people my age had severe illness, 1 passed away, 3 of our parents passed away, then covid, it made us revalue our lives, Health is far more important than wealth

I can and am in the process of getting an passport for an EU country. My understanding is that exact entry and residence rules can depend on the country. From the one I would move to I would have to declare myself as living there within 90 days or I should leave before then. This is exactly the same as with a UK passport before Brexit, and it's so you start paying tax there. However, many people did not and do not do this

Previously... acting within the rules.. all a UK citizen had to do was register in that country.. there was no requirement to pay tax unless you were working & UK earnings say from a BTL didn't need to be declared & and any rules were not enforced...

Now a UK citizen cannot stay in the EU without a visa and beyond a 6 month visa are extremely hard to get.

You'll have a EU passport... completely different situation to most UK citizens.. its not exactly the same as before at all

Why risky?

I was in a DB scheme for much of my working life so taking that at 57 I know exactly what I will be receiving for the rest of my life and that will be what is funding my retirement.
I was paying into the DC scheme (that replaced it) for barely 4-years and that is currently worth around £120k.
Drawing down the DC at about £10k a year (a similar amount to SP) should drain it by the time I reach SP age.

This of course ignores savings, lump-sums, investments etc which are there for large purchases, rainy-days etc.

Ahh well you being in a DB sceme changes things considerably. Relying on a DB scheme is not an option for many of us anymore.

I know a couple of nurses who were on the old gold-plated NHS pension scheme and so retired at 55 in the last few years. Their future plans and budgets did not anticipate the massive hikes of pretty much everything though so they might have to go back to work at some point in the future.

Not at 50, but I know lots of 55 yo teachers and doctors, for example, who go as soon as they can take their pensions. It's part of the crisis in recruiting teachers and GPs. Also lots of people in their early 50s who are reducing hours ahead of a planned retirement at 55.

I had my DC early 30s and I shudder at all the posts here telling people it's perfectly normal to have them in your forties. Not because of fertility issues or the impact on DC but the impact on the parents.

As you get into your 50s menopause everything gets so much more tiring. The idea of having to do it with youngish children and financial commitments, meaning you still need to work full pelt horrifies me in a way I'd have never understood in my 30s/40s.

So I think the answer to the thread question is"

Carers

People with long term illness/disability

People with very good pensions

Or people married to very highly paid spouses. I’m a bit younger than this but the only people over 50 I know who don’t work (other than those who have now retires from long careers) are some friends-nearly all women-whose husbands have v highly paid jobs.

Me! Never went back to work after having kids and now that they are at Uni I don’t intend to either. I’m in my early 50s. I’m fit, healthy and I’m damned if I’m going to slog my guts out for the capitalist dream only to have the current government piss it up against a wall. I’m frugal, I have everything I need and mortgage paid off. I worked from the age of 16 and paid into the best pension scheme from that age. Whilst it’s not kicked in yet, it’ll see me ok when I get to official retirement age along with two other pensions I paid into plus my state pension.
I care for those who need it, elderly parent, ill friends. I’ve volunteered. Perhaps if I’d had a glowing career that I loved I’d’ve been more inclined to go back to it but I found looking after my own kids more fulfilling. Boring at times but someone needed to do it.
This age group are just the latest the government is targeting to avoid the fucking elephant in the room that is Brexit and their hard nosed stance against asylum seekers. And because the Tories wanted to create more folk in their mould. And guess what they did and now it’s coming back to bite them on the bum. Unfortunately at some point the drawbridge was pulled up. There are those of us who benefitted from being in the property market at the right time but that golden goose killed off the options for those still to get on the ladder.

I assume you must have a pretty well paid partner? Because how else did you continue to have a good pension scheme and pay off the mortgage if you haven't had paid work for nearly 20 years.

I'd like to add
People who have received large inheritances and gifts.
People who have invested well.
People who downsized and released enough equity to retire. Our neighbours downsized from a £800k house in a nearby village to £450k house. His wife has never worked since marriage.
Lottery winnings.

I don’t know about economically inactive, in the last three days I have been to the West End, spent money on train fares, early bird dinner, drinks at the interval, programme, etc., the following day I booked tickets to three shows in a fab little theatre locally, then went to an 80’s night (you know you are old when the 80’s are billed as retro 😂) and on Saturday I went out out for a long lunch with DH and DS and his GF in a cosy pub by the river.

Snaps wallet shut for a few days……

It's just like after the black death isn't it, when the aristocracy suddenly couldn't make the peasants obey any more