Are you mid-50s? Do you still work full time?

[elsaandanna]

I'm the only woman I know of my age who works full time.

Admittedly I have a small circle of people I know and none of them have glamorous or high flying careers.

I'm a childminder so I'm busy long days, 5 days a week. Can't drop a day as I'd lose income. The parents that need childcare 5 days a week because they work full time are much younger than me.

Nearly 58, still working full time as a nurse specialist for the NHS. I’m tired. I’d love to cut my hours, but I can’t afford to. I live alone, so there is no one else who contributes to my household.
My boss has just announced that she’s leaving to take a job with half the hours, she’s younger than me, and I’m gutted… that she’s leaving, that the team will not be the same, and that I can’t afford to do likewise. Even if I could afford it, our hospital does not consider any requests for reduced hours, they tell you to do the job, or leave. It makes me feel sad and not valued for the wok we do, especially when it takes 6-12 months to train a new employee to do our job.

I don’t know what the answer is.

I went back to uni to train in another profession. Tbf I had wanted to do it since the kids were young but because of the nature of the course & childcare issues needed them to grow up first!

I did until I was 54, then the mortgage was paid off and DC left home and I went down to 24 hours. It was too hard working FT, doing everything at home and looking after elderlies after 35 years of the same (replace elderlies with DC).

Took Voluntary redundancy at 57, now a “house wife”. Very happy, but I’ve bloody earned it. DH agrees fortunately. I am very grateful.

Age 59 here
work 40-45 hours per week
none of it feels like work and I think I would be bored being retired
and love earning money!

50, a teacher and working full time-which I reckon I'll be doing until 67.

I'm 51 and have planned for my retirement at age 55 for years. This has entailed boosting my pension, paying off the mortgage and developing a side hustle that I can carry on with after 55.

I currently work ft in a demanding senior role.

I'm really looking forward to retirement. I will probably work pt at something small such as a charity - but nothing that would entail me being in charge of loads of people, big pressured timelines etc.

In my social circle the opposite trend can be seen. most of us are going from part-time work to full-time, partly because the money is nice, but mainly because children are growing up and moving on and don’t need us in the same way.

Senior role here where PT isn’t an option.
I’m early 50s and will be working until 60 as I don’t want to burn through savings.

Yes, self-employed. I’d love to go part-time but I’m a single mum with teens and have to stay put housing-wise, in an expensive part of an expensive city, to be near school, their dad and because of uncertain housing market. When I can, I’d like to move, get a cheaper place to live and then have a more low-key, frugal life. And I feel lucky that even that’s an option, because I have some equity in my flat. If I was renting I’d be stuffed. And I’ve paid as much as I can into my pension for decades now but it’s still nowhere near what’s recommended.

I know loads of women my age who work part-time - mainly in couples with well-paid husbands.

I'm 65 and still work full time.

i worked full time in my fifties and had the best job I ever had. I on;y retired because our department was merged (ie taken over) and I hated the new management style.

I know lots of women in their late fifties and early sixties who haven't worked for years and I do wonder what they do with their time. But I like my job and would
do it on a voluntary basis if I won the lottery (fewer hours maybe)

Yes and will be until retirement. Did work a variation of school hours and 3 days a week for 9 years. Only reason I went full time was that my job share retired and I wanted 4 days when son started high school but would have to chanfe jobs so went with full time doing the same job. Wfh 2 to 3 days a week now.

I'm an NHS podiatrist and I still work full time. I'm 62. I intend to carry on until 67 and then do two days on the bank when I retire.
I need work and my mortgage isn't paid off until I'm 67 because of divorce.
I'm trying to get as many savings together as I can because retirement is expensive.

Honestly yes . My job pays ok. But I don't have a lot of outgoings so we can manage. We paid off our mortgage at the start of the year. Have a 17 plate car which is paid off in full. A chunk of my wages goes on childcare. £500 a month. Roll on June when he gets a funded place😅. Husband is a bricklayer and makes decent money

I could easily fill all my time! So much needs doing around the house, DIY, decluttering, rearranging to make better use of the space, plus hobbies I never get time for, exercise I’d like to be doing, going on trips, spending time with people, reading my tbr pile. I actually like my job and don’t mind working, though it’s tiring - I’d just like to have spare time in more than just the odd exhausted hour here or there. Part of it is being a single mum and running the home on my own too, plus having a teen who’s in need of a lot of support and . I’m knackered but it’s not just the paid work.

I worked full time until last year - I'm 68. Now on a three-day week and will retire finally at end of March 2024. I'm divorced and perform without a financial safety net.

49 and I've worked full time my whole life, no breaks with children as I'm running my own business.

I'm just saving to take 2 years out to travel then will go back to a job rather than a career until I can't work.

I never want to retire fully, I'd like to stay working as long as health allows, I'd like an active busy life, pottering doesn't suit me.

55 and currently having some time off after working full time all all my adult life. I do contract work, so if the right job came up I’d go back immediately. I’m not keen to race back to something dull, though. I like work. I also like not working.

People are giving up their lives in their mid fifties? Jesus I don’t feel anywhere near retirement age! You’re making yourself old before your time.

I am 49 and work full time. I have two early teens and am the main earner. Husband's business is struggling and he has no pension for the future so it is down to me to work until I can't anymore! Plan to work full time until at least pension age then see if I can keep going. I need to somehow get the children though university and pay off the mortgage, which will happen when I am 65. I have no savings whatsoever and no prospect of any inheritance at all. Our fnancial future scares me.

I know many women my age who worked until they had children in their mid 30s then never went back to work, or just went back part time. I love my job but I envy them not having such pressure to support everyone and keep the house and family going.

I'm late 40s and there is zero prospect of me or DH going part-time any time soon. We have another 20 years left on our mortgage and until that's paid off, no part-time working in this house. We will possibly have inheritances depending on longer term care needs of GPs, but not relying on that at all. We also have two DC to get through uni/college when the time comes and need to budget for that as they won't be eligible for much in the way of student support loans.

@UseOfWeapons I work in the NHS and see exactly what you are taking about. We just lost a highly specialised therapist because she wanted to reduce her hours and the trust said no, so she has taken her niche skills and knowledge elsewhere and we are left trying to recruit someone else. I see it repeatedly, especially people wanting to diversify a bit, do some research ect... The NHS really need to embrace flexible working and not just talk about it.

I took semi retirement from toxic exjob in 2021 to see if I was ready to fully retire. Now ready to get back into it and earn some money (and my latest pension statement is a horror show, so need the pension boost, as well). Even in my sixties I look forward to working again, but temping not perm, so I can decide how much or how little I work.

I know a lot of people who work full time. I didn’t have DC until over 40, so I have felt secure enough to work part time. I’ve had continuity of employment with university academic pension that moved with me in different jobs. The max you can be on the scheme is 40 yrs - this is almost impossible anyway, nevermind being part time - I ‘bought’ some extra years when they still allowed that which means a fairly respectable pension. So not motivated to go beyond 20 hours.