Retirement for those born after 1970 is likely to rise to 71 in the future

[Tiddlywinkly]

This Guardian article was a tad depressing to read:https://amp.theguardian.com/money/2024/feb/05/uk-state-pension-age-will-soon-need-to-rise-to-71-say-experts

I fully acknowledge that we are living longer, are having less children etc, but for many, our health might not be up to working for that long. There'll also be a knock on effect as to how much we'll be available for helping with grandkids/ very elderly parents.

I just wondered what other people thought?

Absolutely. And doing this for income from people over the state pension age is just one part of that, of course.

Not really. Government spend is currently around £200 billion on pensions, elderly social care and disability benefits. Compared to £46 billion for the unemployed, topping up those on low wages and child benefit. Elderly/care spending is already four times as much as working age benefits.

I'm 62 now. When I started working it was 60 for females. Then when I reached about 51 suddenly it became 65. Then 2 years later 67. It really is unfair. I've retired at 57 regardless. I was too exhausted and too burned out for more changes in my workplace. I was a teacher and when specifications changed once again I'd had enough. I could at least draw my Teachers Pension from 60 and a small secondary pension I'd been paying into for 15 years. I won't get my state pension until I'm 67 though. I don't think it's fair to expect, especially those in manual jobs, to be working after 67 but I know they will make people work until 68 and then 69, then 70. I've warned my DC to plan to have to work until 70. Many people now also have those longer mortgage periods of 30 or 35 years. I've even heard of a 40 year mortgage. It used to always be a maximum of 25 years. People might have to keep working to pay off these very long mortgages.

The Attendance allowance won't be included. It is just focused upon UC.

We can ask çwho would employ a 70 year old?', I suppose the answer is someone who needs an employee and the 70 year old is the only one available 🤷🏼‍♀️

What's wrong with 70 year olds??

There are plenty still running their own businesses, lots still "working" on charity committees, school governors, etc. Our neighbour had a 70+ builder to build their extension!

It's not "age", it's health and fitness that matters.

There are plenty of 70 year olds who are as fit as someone half their age, especially with the obesity epidemic affecting the young!

I think we need to start looking at bringing back adult education, re-training for adults, etc., rather than spend nearly all the country's education and training budget aimed at 16-21 year olds. We need to have more opportunities for older people to retrain and change careers, especially those in "manual" jobs who need to settle down into a less demanding/physical job.

Most of my elderly clients running their own businesses set up self employment specifically because they needed a career change as they got older, particularly in their late 50s, and most are working in a completely different trade/profession as an elderly self employed person compared to what they did in the so-called "prime" of their working lives.

Nothing is wrong with 70 year olds, absolutely nothing! 😊
but others have asked who would employ them at that age!

What are all the people that can't afford to save supposed to when all their income is just enough for them to live? It's all very well saying to save but it's not always possible. Distribution of wealth and a UBI scheme are really important. Money is valued over life and that is wrong.

So, someone who successfully saves to fund their retirement should no longer receive the state pension that they have paid NI towards all of their working lives.
People who spend their money on fast cars, exotic holidays etc and don't save should be entitled to the pension.
And those that don't bother to work full time and live off UC will get the pension.
Where is the incentive to save?

Also NIC's are used to fund the NHS.

Or the best for the job. Obviously that’s unlikely to apply to most physical jobs but 50 years experience is a valuable commodity in some occupations.

Exactly. Pensions would need to be compulsory

And just for the record in respect of the Waspi women, back in the 1970s we had no equal pay, and also no right for part-timers to join their pension scheme until the mid 1990s. Imagine

Workplace pensions are sort off compulsory in that we have auto-enrolment where eligible employees are initially enrolled into the workplace pension scheme and must actively "opt out" to stop the pension contributions. That makes the "default" position to join the workplace pension. It's not much of a stretch for a government to withdraw the option to "opt out" thus forcing all eligible employees (and the employer) to contribute to the pension scheme.

This is where I would start to solve the problem. Unfortunately, at the moment the people opting out are the people who are most likely to be relying on the state later on and additional bits of pension would be what would stop them getting their pension credits etc.

I’d also cap the state pension and effectively freeze it so it becomes less of an overall income in the future.

Radio 4 PM program covered this yesterday and today the guest was giving suggestions on jobs/career changes older people could do - care work - though carers my family are using at minute have quite a physical job even using hoists - HGV driving and taxi driving.

Also suggests we kept working in same job but less hours. Can't say it was very inspiring.

My first thought was that care work is physically demanding. That might be fine for some older people, but not sure why care work should be named as being particularly suitable for older people.

HGV drivers have to have regular medicals - again, fine for some but as you age you are more likely to have nagging health problems that might tip you over the health requirements. Taxi driving is both stressful and not great for your health, being hunched up in a car all day.

All three jobs require driving - given that you have to reapply for your licence at 70, that doesn't seem to be compatible with the recommendation that these are perfect jobs for older people working into their 70s. Eyesight is one thing that almost always deteriorates with age, and there is a big difference between being fine to do the driving of your choice on familiar routes and having to drive for work when you might not know the route, it might be dark, you might be feeling tired.

Same job, fewer hours - OK then, but how do you manage for money? If you can't afford to work part-time when you're 45, how is it supposed to be magically possible when you're 65?

I agree. Have any of you tried finding new employment in your 50s/60s? If people can no longer continue in their job because they are getting older they will have to find something else - and good luck to them with that!

I don't live in the UK, and we get superannuation here at 65, and there is no word of that changing anytime soon - thank goodness. I retired at 64 as I was well and truly sick of working - I started three weeks after my 16th birthday, no time off to have children, just constant work, work, work. There is far more to life.

I’d also cap the state pension and effectively freeze it so it becomes less of an overall income in the future.

How does that work when it’s the maximum anyone of pensionable age with no other income can claim? Are you seriously saying that it should remain the same regardless of the inflation rate and increases in wages? Do you really want people at the bottom of the heap to die of malnutrition or hypothermia?

Pension Credits! Those who don't have a certain level of income and/or savings can claim pension credits instead.

The point is to stop/reduce the automatic state pension to those who don't actually "need" it by virtue of having a high enough level of other income/savings.

I.e. means testing, but gradual over many years as the current state pension is phased out by stealth by not keeping up with inflation.

@Acatdance for some of us at 45 we had children still in education and a mortgage. At 65, no dependents, mortgage paid off. Also in our case, DH carried on working part time til he was 68.

The most any pensioners get including pension credits is the equivalent of the maximum state pension. I actually said that in my first sentence. The day it stops being a universal benefit will be the day people stop paying into occupational pensions because there will be no point in doing so for the low paid.

Well this must be the plan, staying with auto enrollment and over time it'll be compulsory because they already know state pension is unsustainable there have been reports produced saying so.

They won't stop state pension straight away but by having auto enrolment they can now start to then I teoduce means tested state pension and then eventually do away with it entirely. It won't happen fast unless there is a crisis but I see auto enrolment as thay first step to a means tested state pension

There already isn’t as pensioners with a small amount of additional pension would be better off on credits.

the sooner pension saving is compulsory the better and removal the exemptions and base on all regular earnings.

My retirement age is 67.
It means nothing to me as I intend to work for as long as I am able.
I don't love my job and it's manual work. But unless you have loads of money I can't see retirement as something to get excited about.
When my health fails I'll be at the mercy of the state and it doesn't fill my heart with joy thinking of watching daytime TV and being too skint to put the heating on.