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.

They have either invested well , have good pensions or have Inherited. Good luck to them

@Amboseli I will let you know when it gets boring, nearly a year in and all good so far.

I have had years and years of being challenged in work and when I stopped working for blue chips and moved locally the pressure in some ways was worse, because it was a family business and you knew everyone on the payroll.

I also did all the child care because DH used to work twelve and thirteen hour days for all the years he was working most of it in the banking sector inEurope Mon- Fri or Mon to Thursday if we were lucky.

So for now we are really enjoying not being challenged and all ideas of joining the U3A are on hold for now, in fact tidying out the shed feels like a stretch at the moment. 😂

Like I said I will keep you informed.

The dichotomy is, however, that we all applaud and envy those early retirees, wonderful, great, have a good time. However, when those self same people become 80/85/90 and have to increasingly rely on the state, they are then vilified and decried as a drain on society. Which most are, as in reality, very, very, few people pay in enough in their working lifetimes, to cover their care needs in old age.

But the 80-90 year olds who are a 'drain' are offset by the poor bastards who dropped dead at 58 and never got to retire

very, very, few people pay in enough in their working lifetimes, to cover their care needs in old age
True but lots not forget the amount of unpaid work which is done by many people!
You may not have contributed much financially if you've never had a well-paid job, or not been able to do much paid work because of other duties but you have still contributed to society by all the unpaid work that you've done

I am in my late 60s now, but started paying my NI contributions at the age of 14 by working during every school holiday till I was able to work full time. By the time I was 18 I had 2 jobs, one during the week and casual work at the weekend. I retired at 60 because I was tired.

I know quite a few retired 50 somethings - all hit the ridiculous pension cap, so not worth them working. But we are probably the last generation who will be able to retire at 50+.

The pension cap has now been removed (though Labour are saying they will reinstate it so perhaps not for long).

I don't understand your logic!

Anyone retiring early will be paying tax on their pensions and paying VAT on all those days out and luxuries etc.... Plus will undoubtedly (if they reach very old age) have to sell assets to pay for care, as almost all is means tested, rules on deprivation of assets are quite tough and can go back long into the past, councils like mine (Cornwall) will pursue vigilantly.

You also need to explain why there are 100s of '000s vacancies in adult social care over the last few years despite the latest early retiree thing being very new.....?

imho the Govt is blaming the 50/60 somethings for the loss of EU workers caused by their brexit... if the UK really is reliant on a "Dads Army" of retirees, our problems are extremely serious!

I’m 50 next year and looking forward to upping my career. I feel I’ve been held back a bit by kids and have one or 2 big jobs in me taking me up to about 60 and then consulting. DP defintely also has at least one more big promotion in his career. Health aside, 50’s is when most people I know start flying in their careers and taking on the big money. I don’t know anyone at all looking to quit in their 50’s obviously with a health caveat around that

But ‘unpaid work’ doesn’t pay for elderly care does it? Only paid work and therefore taxation does. I don’t really consider caring for your own family to be ‘unpaid work’ which contributes to society. That’s just family.

But ‘unpaid work’ doesn’t pay for elderly care does it?
Unpaid work means it doesn't have to be paid for because someone is doing it for free, just because you're not getting paid for it doesn't mean it's not a valuable contribution to society.

We have income from pensions that are invested and will be bringing money in until we die.

If we need care, it comes from that same pot.

It's not difficult to work out, it has been mentioned time and again on this thread.

It's just different priorities or outlooks on life, isn't it.

Some people place a great deal of value in their career others get more meaning from activities outside of work. Neither is wrong.

DH is 51 and due to having worked in a very physically demanding job since the age of 18, he plans on retiring from that full time position at around 55. He will probably go on to do something part time and then we plan on renting our house out and buying a smaller one once the kids have left home. We’ve seen too many people not reach retirement age or get there having worked their arses off all their lives and either die or become physically unwell then all their retirement plans are out the window.
Several of my friends are either retired or work very part time. We have a friend who invested in property in his 20’s and now at 55 he has been retired for about 10 years but does a small part time job as he gets bored!

To an extent - but if you’re retiring in your early to mid fifties the chances are that you (or someone else) have placed a great deal of value in their career in order to fund that early retirement - unless you’re living very frugally or have inherited or benefited from the sale of a property that’s increased significantly in value obviously.

No one is economically inactive.

Or you didn't have children.

I say that partly in jest, but that and the fact I started work at 16 are the main reasons will be able to stop working in my 50s.

I’m one. Retired at 52. I decided in my early 20s that I wanted to retire at 50 (or at least be financially independent) and started paying AVCs (additional voluntary contributions) to my pension but the govt increased the pension access age soon after from 50 to 55, so I diversified my investments into ISAs rather than just pension.

I have always lived below my means in order to save - I could have a bigger house or a newer car, but I haven’t maximised borrowing, overpaid my mortgage and if there were any savings schemes available through work (e.g. company share save scheme) I would invest in them.

I have had to care for elderly parents for the last few years so it’s a damn good thing I could afford not to work. Menopause and the associated sleeping problems were also making holding down my job pretty hard too.

I won’t be going back to work.

My husband retired a couple of years ago from the NHS at 51 but went back to work in private companies part time self employed. I will be getting my NHS pension next year when I am 50 at a reduced rate. I will retrain and do a different non healthcare job looking forward to what Jeremy will offer the over 50’s in training.

My husband and I retired in our fifties just by overpaying our pensions and mortgage and saving/investing. Never regretted it and always said we would retire when we wanted to not when the government chose to let us. We aren't rich but don't struggle financially and by the time our state pensions pay out our income will be higher than when we were working.

We have income from pensions that are invested and will be bringing money in until we die. If we need care, it comes from that same pot.
It's not difficult to work out, it has been mentioned time and again on this thread

You have no idea if it will cover your needs, unless you are very wealthy. My mother and her second husband, very wealthy, properties, pensions, cash etc etc.

They paid for private health well into their 80's, when it hit £1800 a month, they gave it up. Then had to go via NHS, they were at the doctors, or in hospital every week. They had ambulance services out regularly. They had between them, dementia, several cancers, heart disease, mental health problems. They initially paid for live in carers, at £1k a week. Then one went into a care home at £1.3k per week, then the other at an additional £850 a week. They only claimed attendance allowance from the state, as they had plenty of money. However, how long do you think that money lasted? And how much, I can't even contemplate, do we think their NHS care costs were.

Being old costs money.

Yes, that's true - children are very expensive! I'm still not convinced you'd have been able to to retire in your early/mid fifties if you'd been on a minimum wage job or minimum/zero hours contracts all your life though - presumably you earned a reasonable amount (and placed value on your career) in order to fund your early retirement?

Also, and I am intrigued by the age profile of people on this thread. But we are mid/late 50's and still have DC's at Uni, as do all our friends. So, we are definitely all still working and supporting our kids through Uni. It's currently costing us £8k a year in top ups for DD2 at uni.