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Original poster

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

252 replies

elsaandanna · 10/12/2023 21:23

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.

OP posts:
Treesinmygarden · 11/12/2023 14:23

Sirian · 11/12/2023 08:39

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.

On the contrary!!! It's not "giving up" - it's freeing yourself up to do all the things you never had time to do before, while you still have the energy and fitness to do them.

I would just love the freedom to do as I please when I please. No booking leave in advance, no checking that there's enough cover, no waiting for approval... you wake up in the morning and can't be bothered getting out of bed so you don't have to!

How liberating and rejuvenating!

SomeoneYouLoved · 11/12/2023 14:26

I am 55 and work part time, approx 24 hours.
I live alone and enjoy a simple way of life.

Treesinmygarden · 11/12/2023 14:27

Sirian · 11/12/2023 11:34

Honestly I’m feeling traumatised by the idea that people are on the scrap heap of retirement at only 55! At that age I’ll have a 12yo and a 17yo, I won’t be ready to be put in the bin!

Well then don't!! I know of people still working in their 70s and 80s. I wouldn't have any desire to do that whatsoever. I had a 15 year old when I was 55.

I don't see retirement as a "scrap heap" at all. I'd be gone in the morning if it was financially viable.

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RuthW · 11/12/2023 14:39

I'm 55 and work full time. No intentions of going part time before I retire but most of my friends are winding down with s view to retiring. I aim to retire early at 63.

GnomeDePlume · 11/12/2023 14:41

EmmaGrundyForPM · 11/12/2023 12:04

I don't think men have these conversations. No one asked my dh if he was planning to work pt when he was in his 50s. He's now in his 60s and is planning to drop to 3 days a week next spring/summer.

Both my DBs are civil service and retired in their mid 50s. It was all they talked about from the day each turned 50!

I'm 57 and plan to retire at 65. But I'm private sector so bigger salary but lower pension. I've never been anything but FT. I'm main earner so we need my income.

ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea · 11/12/2023 14:45

Late 50s. Just retired but previously worked PT.

The majority of my friends have worked PT at some point . A few who initially went PT with young DC returned to FT when they were older, some who stayed FT have now dropped to PT as their health won't cope with FT and some have always worked PT since their DC were young, possibly because like me, they moved straight into supporting elderly relatives. Friends who have always worked FT tend to either not have DC or be single parents .

None of my friends have particularly high achieving careers - and neither do their partners .

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 11/12/2023 14:48

Honestly I’m feeling traumatised by the idea that people are on the scrap heap of retirement at only 55! At that age I’ll have a 12yo and a 17yo, I won’t be ready to be put in the bin!

Not everybody regards retirement as a scrapheap! Some people have a whale of a time! Work to live, not live to work and all that. Put in the bin Confused I quite like my job, but not as much as I like not being at work!

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 11/12/2023 14:51

People are giving up their lives in their mid fifties?

That only makes any sense if your job is your life. Why should it be? The people I feel sorry for are the ones who can't cope with retirement because they never had anything meaningful or stimulating in their lives outside their job!

twilighteaser · 11/12/2023 14:52

Yep, full time 40 hrs a week. I will be doing this for at least another 10 years yet. Keeps me young I reckon!

mantyzer · 11/12/2023 14:52

You can work and have a life outside of work. Most people do.

ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea · 11/12/2023 14:55

Sirian · 11/12/2023 08:39

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.

All depends on whether you consider your job to be your 'life' or not. Most people I know work to pay for their life outside of work.

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 11/12/2023 14:56

You can work and have a life outside of work. Most people do.

Yes, you can. You have a lot more time and freedom to pursue your non-work life if you've stopped working though. And some people don't do much outside of work anyway.

blobby10 · 11/12/2023 15:03

54 and working full time. Can't quit for at least another 13 years as I still have a mortgage to pay. I would have liked to not HAVE to work but a divorce 10 years ago and failed relationships ever since mean I'm on my own and its more expensive to live as a single than part of a pair.
Planning to take out enough from my pension when I turn 55 to tart up the kitchen and buy a micro caravan as they would both make me very happy. Grin

mantyzer · 11/12/2023 15:04

@AllProperTeaIsTheft People who don't do much outside of work tend not to do much in retirement either.

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 11/12/2023 15:08

@AllProperTeaIsTheft People who don't do much outside of work tend not to do much in retirement either.

Exactly. That's what I meant when I was said: "The people I feel sorry for are the ones who can't cope with retirement because they never had anything meaningful or stimulating in their lives outside their job!"

dillydelight · 11/12/2023 15:13

@AllProperTeaIsTheft It baffles me how people have no interests other than work. It is actually quite sad. Seems like they don't develop themselves or a life outside the confines of work. It must also be galling giving your life to a career and then the ageism rests its ugly head and you are ridiculed and out on your ear. It is all so fake!

I'm glad Gen Z have better boundaries!

Iheartmysmart · 11/12/2023 15:13

Still full time here at 56. A divorce in my early fifties meant taking on a mortgage later in life which still has 11 years to run. Plus the women in my family tend to live until their late 90’s so not having a job to occupy my mind for what could be 40 years doesn’t fill me with joy.

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 11/12/2023 15:16

@AllProperTeaIsTheft It baffles me how people have no interests other than work. It is actually quite sad. Seems like they don't develop themselves or a life outside the confines of work.

Yes, although tbf I've had very limited time to pursue my other interests since going back to working ft and then taking on a new responsibility at work!

SabbatWheel · 11/12/2023 15:18

I can’t wait to retire at 58. I teach but don’t need that as a job to stimulate my brain, been there done that, always adapting new ideas and can do the job standing on my head.
My many and varied hobbies are what stimulates me mentally and physically.
It’s definitely the case that people with no hobbies struggle with all the free time in retirement.

mantyzer · 11/12/2023 15:18

Some jobs are a lifestyle though. Farming for example. You don't just clock off.

pointythings · 11/12/2023 15:22

Yes, I'm 55 and expect to be full time until I am 62, at which point retire and return part time becomes a better option. But I love my job.

dillydelight · 11/12/2023 15:23

@AllProperTeaIsTheft

Well that was kind of what I meant but wasn't clear. I don't get the histrionics about not having a job to "occupy the mind," when there is an abundance of opportunity out there. I don't have as much time, as I would like either to explore all of it. All the hours working get in the way!

TestingOneTwoThree · 11/12/2023 15:31

I will be retiring from FT work next year at age 51.

Can't wait but have worked FT since I was 16. Only time out was to attend university as a mature student and even then I did two part time jobs at the same time.

I have saved and invested to allow me to have the freedom to give up while I still have my health.

Katharineblum · 11/12/2023 15:33

At 57 I’ve had to take NHS flexi retirement as physically the job was killing me. I ended up with LC in 2021 and just couldn’t carry on as I was left with a chronic condition, made worse by the demands of the job. Regular night shifts, extremely busy stressful shifts, literally on my feet all day, just couldn’t do it. I now work 18 hours a week and that’s about right but it’s meant I’ll just have to work longer well into my 60s as my pension is much smaller. I’ll also have to fund DS2 at uni somehow within the next 18 months. I’m actually quite envious of those saying they’ll work as long as they can because they love their job.

Igmum · 11/12/2023 15:42

58 and still full time. Think I'll be working until I'm 68. Not sure I'm entirely thrilled about it.