Anyone still working after they get state pension?

[WatchoutPetunia]

I get my state pension next month but love my job - I just do 3 days a week. I work in admin but in a challenging environment - think custody/mental health .
I am widowed and enjoy the work environment and the people I work with. Some tell me that I am crazy to stay on but I just don’t feel ready to go. I feel I will know when it’s time to go. Anyone else the same?

My friend is 82 and still works 6 days a week. He says if he stops, he'll drop down dead.

I have two part time jobs and my pension. I have to keep working as I will have a mortgage until I am 75 due to a relationship breakdown. I don’t feel ready to give up yet though.

Pension age is 68 at a maximum not 70

I plan to keep going. I work in a busy supermarket. It's fun and we have a great time. There is no point in sitting at home and retirement needs careful planning. Mum worked part-time in Sainsbury's until 74. She loved it.

My dad does. He's 74 and works a 3-day week as an HGV driver. His days can be 14 hours long, so his '3 day week' can be 35ish hours long.
He does this through choice and doesn't need the money. It keeps him fit, gives him a sense of purpose and structure, and brings in spending money that he uses to buy steak dinners!
Having seen my mum, MIL amd FIL retire as early as they possibly could, and how all three of them now seem 20 years older than my dad of the same age, I definitely want to follow his example.

Carried on for a year after SP age and left because the commute and the management was getting to me - not necessarily in that order. Looking at going back to temping eight or nine months a year for the money and the mental stimulus.

Not everyone's exhausted at 70.

My dad retired at 79 and only because they relocated.

i had an amazing colleague who carried on, and my DM too. I hope I’m in their mould! I also had a colleague who did partial retirement and started jobsharing which sounded really ideal.

I could have retired last year but decided to keep working and defer my state pension.

Up to now, I've had to watch the pennies - very few holidays, always worried about being able to pay my (interest only) mortgage off in time, buying "new to me" cars only when I really had to. Now, the mortgage is paid off, I have a couple of private pensions which cover the monthly bills and my earnings mostly go into savings.

I live alone and work from home - PPs are saying they like to work because of the company of their colleagues and customers, whereas I could go the whole week without going out at all. But my job is interesting and I have evenings and weekends out with friends and family. And best of all, I have savings instead of scrimpings. I have no plans for retiring yet.

I'm nowhere near retirement age but a friend's MIL worked until her 80s. She was widowed and enjoyed the structure and company.

Plenty of time for it to go up. 68 is ridiculous enough.

My dad worked till he was 70. People do it and people enjoy it!!

And people don't and people can't

Me - I 'm self employed (about 4 dpw) in work I find very satisfying, and would probably want to do anyway even if I wasn't paid - so why not charge for it? 😅

I'm still in my 60s but God willing hope to carry on for another 5 years at least, into my 70s.

My DPs both worked until 70 by choice - they're medics who had excellent pensions. It was good for them.

If you're enjoying your work, crack on. It'll keep you healthy, active and sharp.

No experience, but how come you can get your pension and continue working? That seems a like a flawed system? Just assumed you only get a pension when you stop working.

Default retirement age was scrapped in 2011, meaning you could and can carry on working after 65. Receipt of state pension is dependent on reaching retirement age, not employment status.

I plan on working full time until my mortgage is paid off in my early to mid 60's. Be nice if I could pay it off sooner, but cost of living and supporting children with disabilities makes it unlikely. Then probably drop to 3 days a week somewhere like B&Q or a plant nursery. Wouldn't feel like work of I got to play with plants. I would claim pension as soon as I can and not defer, as yiu never know how long you will live for.

That is of course assuming that my health holds out. Fingers crossed!

My dad is retiring, but doesn't like to think of it that way - more going full time with his passion (historical research).

If you're passionate about work, might as well stick with it and get paid.

I got my state pension at 60 - those were the days - and continued to work until I was 66 because I enjoyed the job. I was also getting my teacher’s pension plus a top up from the local authority thanks to an early retirement scheme earlier.

I have 3 colleagues who retired from their full time roles and joined our team for a day or two a week. They enjoy it and it gives them some extra cash. But we do an easy wfh job. I'm planning to do similar when the time comes (I'm 55 this year). I don't plan on having a set retirement date (all being well). I will go from 5 days to 4 and so on through my 60's and just see how it goes. It also helps that our job doesn't have set hours so it's easy to do a couple of hours here and there to make up a couple of days a week, rather than having to commit to 2 full days.