Can you do your current job until 68?

[CrystalVision]

Me and DH are trying to work out plans for the future. I'm 44, he's 48. I'm high up in an office based professional role (think Head of HR) and he's a builder. I'm trying to get to a Director position as I think I'll be better protected against younger (cheaper) whippersnappers doing my job but I feel like this will be completely exhausting in even 15 years time, never mind 25. It's even worse for DH as building is a young persons game (his words). The reason we're worrying is that we've recently moved and to afford it, the term is currently running til we're 73. Obviously we're trying to overpay and will reduce the term when the five year rate ends, but it's got us worried that we won't be able to work at the same rate we do now when we start to approach retirement. Two kids (4&6) so at the point we might be looking to drop hours, we'll be part funding university! Are we the only ones in this position??

I'm a nurse, one of my colleagues is in her 70's but will not retire. She clearly isn't up to it any more. We all wish she'd go.

I’m a social worker, I’m knackered now and I’m only in my late 40s, I’ve no chance of sticking this out until retirement but I’ve no idea what else I could do that pays the bills!

Absolutely not. I’m a midwife, I won’t be able to work much past 60 I imagine

I'm a speech tgerapiet in my mid 50s. Until a few months ago I was working in acute care and would have said I loved it too much to leave. But various stresses hit a crescendo, I was starting to spend most of my time obsessing about retiring, and I decided to apply for a community job. This certainly isn't easy but the stresses are different, and having years of experience is really beneficial. Now I can see myself making it full time to 60 and then a big drop if they'll let me, maybe 3 days. I'm also applying for a job in the next band up in the same team.

I think what i would say is the absolute bonkers nightmare of working full time with small children does get easier! Ds is 19 now, I have much more time and space to recuperate from the day. So plans are good but don't panic.

I’m mid 50s. I am office based so I could do my job until I am 68 but I don’t want to. I work in the City and it can be stressful. I’ve been planning for years to make sure I can get out when I need to. I have one child left in school - the other is in Uni. I’ve been overpaying the mortgage and putting money aside for school fees and Uni costs. We also have passive income streams and I am working on increasing them.

I won’t retire fully - I am hoping to transition into the creative / arts sector but with a lot more freedom about what I do as the finances will be sorted.

DH is late 50s he has a more physical job but he works part-time for himself so he can do as much or as little as he wants. Once the finances are sorted then his work will be optional.

I'm an academic. Technically I could do the job until I'm 68 because its pretty easy work really and I'm not on my feet all day.

But the idea of working in academia for another 30 years makes me want to heave.

So, no, I'll be out by 50.

I rent. I will have no choice but to work to state pension age. Then my rent will be paid by housing benefit, IF that still exists then and it probably won't. If not, I'll have to move in with my mum if she's still alive.

No, I would struggle. I'm a police officer and these no chance I could do the fitness test at 68.

Yes I plan to continue working but I have my own private practice and will eventually reduce days. I can also work flexibly and remotely. Dh is 7 years older than me so I will want to spend time with him. Im 40 and mortgage free and paying a lot into my pension and a LISA.

I think I can, I work in prof services. Mentally draining but not physically. DH won't, he's a PE teacher and is already creaking and groaning at 46.

My job is definitely doable later in life and there are some very well-respected colleagues who are very successful in their late 60s and beyond (plus a couple who are struggling). Whether I'll be able to do that, or want to, is much more difficult to predict.

There's obviously a greater risk of ill health the older you get, plus the potential for needing to be around more for elderly parents etc. It's also clear that many women encounter ageism and difficulty of finding a new role if they are made redundant or are miserable and want to leave. For those reasons I think it's best to plan for the possibility you might not be willing and able to carry on, even if you think you will want to.

I'm hoping that we'll be in a position by mid-50s that we don't have to work if we really don't want to. I say hoping because, although we have a plan and are making AVCs/ISA contributions etc, I am very aware that life has a habit of not working out the way you thought, even if you have made a pretty spreadsheet to say it will. IF the plan does work, that should free us up to be able to take things in a different direction in life if that's what we want to do. If we're still enjoying our current careers and it's working out for us then we can spend more on enjoying life (or, more likely, house deposits for the kids!).

PS in your positon OP I would hope that either you'll be able to downsize if you want to retire earlier and/or that inflation will mean that what looks like a daunting payment now will have become much more manageable in 15/20 years time so you'll be able to pay it off much earlier than you think.

Generally, unless they love their job, we'll off people retire early. Lower paid people like me have to keep going. Many of us started full time work at 16 as well. And on average we die younger.

I'm hoping both myself and my husband can go to age 65. Both computer based jobs mainly from home but quite number heavy so we may struggle!
I would like to be able to both go down to a 3 day week at 60 though
We're both 43 currently and he has an OK pension mine isn't great but I am going to start paying more in and hope to clear the mortgage at 55 if possible
My main worry is that state pension age is 68 for us and I'm worried that by the time we get there we won't be entitled to it. I really do think it will start to be means tested and think if you have private pension then you won't get it regardless of having the required number of years NI

Will be extremely difficult, farmer, but probably have to

100% no. I work in veterinary. There’s only so long you can crawl around the floor, lug heavy animals about and wrestle out of control angry dogs or cats.

I need to get out and fast but I’ve no idea what else I would be good at.

The real challenge is finding a job you can do in your 60’s, particularly if like me you have done the same thing for your whole career. As a nurse for more than 20 years I will need to decide in a few years whether to carry on nursing on reduced hours or likely take a significant pay cut and look for something different entirely! Or keep saving like mad to fund my lifestyle until my pension kicks in! With 2 dses at university that’s tricky!

Or win the lottery🤣

Yes as it's s a desk job and i can hybrid work but I wouldn't want to do this until retirement as its stressful.

I can't fully retire until I receive state pension (68 for now, probably at least 70) as my workplace pension won't be enough to live off. To ensure a big enough workplace pension to retire early I'd need to live extremely frugally from now on which I don't think will be worth it given the health of people I know in their 70/80s. Some days i really panic about my pension then other days wonder whether I need to as I'll be so old when I need it that I might not actually get much use out of it(!)

Anyway im hoping to have paid off the mortgage by 60 and can then work part time in something less stressful (drawing down pension early if needs be and if I can). It's probably a little rose tinted glasses but sometimes I miss retail and hospitality work and would like to return a couple of days a week. I think a more sociable and physical job for a few hours a week would be good for me long term.

@Ionapussy I've been having the same worries recently
My private work pension won't be enough to live off so I am relying on state pension to some extent
But I do wonder if I worry too much and whether I'll even live long enough to run out of money!
Like you I'd have to start cutting back now in order to pay more into my pension but then enjoying life in the here and now is important too. Not that I'm a reckless spender by any means, we have no debt aside from our mortgage and drive old cars but I do like an annual abroad trip
I feel like lately I've read so many posts with posters with high pension pots and posts saying you need about a million quid for a good retirement and it massively worries me. We've no inheritance coming our way so it's up to us to fund our life now and our life in retirement as well as try to help the kids out in some way

Yeah, office job with partial home working and not super taxing. And not super monitored either with targets or anything like that. A few people in my team have dropped to part-time and/or semi retired nearing or even post 60 with seemingly no plans to fully retire anytime soon. It's low paid work though so that isn't a surprise.

However, I think there's a reasonable chance that advances in technology could conceivably make the job redundant by the time I'm in my 60s (which would be over 30yrs away)! Which I'm not sure has been considered by any of the PPs on this thread this far?

I could but am not going to, and have only been doing 4 days a week since aged 55.

However, I doubt if I could have done if it was still five days a week and every day commuting to an office.

I hope that if the SP ever did become means tested (in any way) that we would protest the hell out of it and stop that happening.

@Jmaho I work in payroll & I've said from the minute automatic enrolment was announced that the reason for it was because they'll eventually get rid of the state pension & it'll be whatever version of universal credit is available for those without a private or workplace pension.

Whether that's by the time I reach pension age in 24 years or some point after that I don't know but I'm certainly not banking on a state pension being available for my retirement.

I'll be doing my current job until the day I die. (unpaid carer).

However, I think there's a reasonable chance that advances in technology could conceivably make the job redundant by the time I'm in my 60s (which would be over 30yrs away)! Which I'm not sure has been considered by any of the PPs on this thread this far?

Yes, this has been discussed tangentially below.

If you can see your job being made redundant by tech, I suspect that the time line to it will less than 30 years away.

Many desk-based admin / processing jobs that rely on repetitive behaviour are being performed by software technology without human error, even now. The jobs will then be to people who can operate that software (so no technophobes) and maintain it (more IT projects). The skillsets needed are in analysing, interpreting and implementing the results spat out by tech, incl ChatGPT or the like.