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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

In thinking that I may never be allowed to retire.........

280 replies

whymumwhymum · 17/06/2011 21:43

Have worked in public sector for nearly 20 years now and just saw in the news today that they are planning on keeping the pensions for my age group and under back until we are 66 ffs.

That was not what I signed up for when I decided to pay into the scheme!

Thats nearly another 30 years and tbh I don't think i'll survive in this job that long, and thats not taking into account that by the time I'm 50 or older they will probably have pushed the age back further.

I don't feel particularly ' lucky' to be a public sector worker, i worked and studied damn hard for years to get my now reasonably (not by any means highly) paid job. I will never ever get a bonus even if i do twice the 'reasonable' work, will also never get overtime payments. I'll never have a company car or private health care or any other perks.

Many's the night I've lain awake worrying about the people i get paid to look after Sad.

The pension was the one thing that made it 'wothwhile' long term and i am losing faith that I will ever see it, in payments alone i calculat I will have paid in somehwre in the region of 100k over a working life of 45 years not accounting for inplation. Should have just saved the money or better still blown it on stuff I could actually enjoy before i'm six feet under!

OP posts:
TheCrackFox · 17/06/2011 22:35

Anyone who takes a job based purely on the pension is an idiot. Seriously, you could drop down dead when you are 50.

mumnotmachine · 17/06/2011 22:35

And itsnearlysummer- the stationery is ridiculous isnt it- theyve done away with most essentials in my dept- but the cost of what they do by in from certain suppliers is atronomical- give me some petty cash and Ill nip to the £ shop!!

itisnearlysummer · 17/06/2011 22:36

expat - only speaking from experience. Might not be other people's but it is mine.

Not anymore of course. I hear plenty of horror stories from friends who work in the private sector now.

but during the boom times...

mumnotmachine · 17/06/2011 22:37

My friend dropped dead at 23, no guarantees of anything in this life.

The pension was at least something to look forward to- if they dont bury us under stats first!

mdowdall · 17/06/2011 22:38

itisnearlysummer - I suggest your hub goes over to the dark side. I'm sure he would walk straight into a job right now...

Original poster
whymumwhymum · 17/06/2011 22:41

lol expat!!

I've had a job since I was 11 fucking years old, we live in a 3 bed terraced house which happens to be in a nice area.

I dont feel guilty that others have made carp choices or haven't worked as hard as I have!!

If we 'downsize' we will end up in a retirement flst or something but I dont mind as my DC's are everything to me, why are you so bitter??!!

And actually my DP's pension is 'HIS' money, I am fine with that as I have my money thanks. Doesnt mean he doesn't spend it on me lol!!

OP posts:
MajorBumsore · 17/06/2011 22:44

What are you talking about trixy? I've worked in the public sector for nearly 20 years now and have had not one christmas party paid for. Also mat pay was statutory.

LineRunner · 17/06/2011 22:45

If you drop dead whilst in a public sector pension scheme there are death benefits for the named beneficiary.

Fact. Not expressing an opinion.

hannahsaunt · 17/06/2011 22:47

As a former public sector worker (in limbo as being relocated with dh's work so not working until we have house, school etc sorted) and as one who would prefer to go back into public sector work, I can't imagine retiring at 60! It's madness to think we could be retired for almost as long as our working lives again - who are we kidding if we think that is financially sustainable? Quite frankly, I think I would be bored witless tootling around from 60 (assuming I'm as fit and healthy as my forebears). My mum is 60 and works full-time as a nurse and has no intention of stopping until at least 65 not least for the boredom factor despite the fact her job is being made increasingly hard on the management front. Dad, at 65, has decided on health grounds to reduce his working time to 3 days a week but again relishes the company and the mental stimulation of work but enjoying the slightly slower pace of a shorter week. They are still making a full and active contribution to society, paying taxes and rubbing along nicely - that's what I want too, not wondering how to fill my days and lurching from one day to the next until the end.

mdowdall · 17/06/2011 22:47

Separate thread needed on this whole xmas party being paid for by employer issue. It's important.

FakePlasticTrees · 17/06/2011 22:49

Really OP, would you not have taken that career path if at the start you were told it would be 66 not 60 at which you retired? Relax anyway, you've got 30 years, that's so many changes of government, changes of policy, changes in focus and changes in the stock markets!

jetgirl · 17/06/2011 22:55

Full mat pay for 6 months? I wish!
Our yr 11 prom will cost me £29.50 a ticket and I have to do a duty during that time (making sure the pupils don't bring drink, cigarettes, drugs)
Christmas party is similar in cost. Then again, I wouldn't expect anyone else to pay for my Christmas party.

ShellyBoobs · 17/06/2011 22:55

"And people are mising the point, the pension is one of the reasons some ppeople joined the public as oppose to private sector so in effect got paid less for the equivalent work in private sector..."

I thought that myth had been dispelled many times over - the public sector isn't lower paid for an equivalent job, is it?

TheCrackFox · 17/06/2011 22:56

I really don't believe that people choose a career path based on the pension. Utter bollocks.

trident · 17/06/2011 23:01

...don't believe the hype..as the goalposts will always be moved..

For my parent's generation it would be that the NHS would look after them from "Cradle to Grave"..... they are now realising that this is not the case.

My Mother has paid so far over £200,000 in care home fees - she is a living corpse...

I feel a revolution coming on ???

HHLimbo · 17/06/2011 23:23

The key issue here is that pensions have already been reassesed for affordability (2006 iirc).

Current public sector pensions are affordable as they are. The ONLY reason this government is squeezing the public sector is to give the rich tax cuts. The money wont be going to private sector staff, that is for sure.

What's more, if more money is diverted away from local economies and into pension funds/tax breaks for the rich (which will get locked away in bank accounts), our economy will only worsen, and the private sector will be worse off.

claretandcheese · 17/06/2011 23:59

I chose to work in the NHS because I had a vocation to help people and I preferred to help not only those who could afford to buy help. A reasonable pension felt like a bit of appreciation and compensation for a lower salary. I could have earned more in private practice. I suppose many of the public I am treating think I don't deserve this either.

expatinscotland · 18/06/2011 00:45

'I dont feel guilty that others have made carp choices or haven't worked as hard as I have!!

If we 'downsize' we will end up in a retirement flst or something but I dont mind as my DC's are everything to me, why are you so bitter??!!'

Bitter? I don't even know who you are.

Plenty of people have worked just as hard and it's not the result of their 'crap choices' or laziness that they don't have the option of downsizing or whinging about how they can't retire at 60 and swan around for the next 30 years playing golf and travelling because they're 'tired'.

And to those plenty of people, their children are everything to them, too.

CogitoErgoSometimes · 18/06/2011 01:14

The choice is that we either keep more public sector workers employed but they accept pay restraint and changes to the pension/retirement system. Or we keep pension terms the same, bump up wages and treble the number of redundancies. Private sector has been making those kind of adjustments for some time now.

ShellyBoobs · 18/06/2011 02:25

"Current public sector pensions are affordable as they are. The ONLY reason this government is squeezing the public sector is to give the rich tax cuts."

Are you being serious? Confused

Tortoiseonthehalfshell · 18/06/2011 02:47

You pretty much lost your audience when you said that you were comfortably off because you work harder than everyone else.

You don't have to work in continuous service in the same position to get a public sector pension, though, do you? It might not be available till you're 65 or whenever, but that doesn't stop you taking a different job in the meantime?

My Mum's 60 and disabled. She'd find the idea that she got to stop work now, forever, absolutely ludicrous. She's young and bright and hardworking, she'd go absolutely potty without work.

claretandcheese · 18/06/2011 02:56

Tortoise, do have any suggestions as to which private employer would want to employ an older professional with no business experience? Or should I just look for a non skilled job?

claretandcheese · 18/06/2011 02:58

I'm sure there are plenty around for over 60's out there.

TheBride · 18/06/2011 05:23

There's no point in blaming the current government for this. No government, Conservative,Liberal or Labour can "solve" the pensions problem. Here's why.

When the pension system was designed, and even up to say, the 1970s, people started work at 16, debt free, worked till they were 65 (40 yrs), then maybe lived another 10 years, giving a working life: retirement ratio of 5:1. That is, for every five years you were contributing to the pension pot, you only relied on it for one. Now, people start work around 20-25, work till 65, and then live another 20 years, giving a ratio of 2:1 or 2.5:1, best case. That's still a decline of 50% in terms of contribution vs drawing down. It can't work.

It's unrealistic to think that 40 years of work entitles you to 20 yrs on the taxpayer. We can't keep burdening the working population like that. I think expat is right in that what we think of as "retirement" may just have been a historic anomaly which was never affordable (we all know that the British state pension is just one big Ponzi scheme- it's just that every government has just ignored it and passed the problem down the line).

However, the elephant in the room is that the actual problem is that we all live far too long once we pass the age at which we are not fit to work. Don't envy the guy who has to come up with a solution to that one.

TheBride · 18/06/2011 05:30

I'm sure there are plenty around for over 60's out there.

Actually, in terms of unskilled work, employers are coming round to the idea of older employers because compared to 16-25yr olds in these sorts of roles, older workers are more reliable, more conscientious, have better interpersonal skills and take fewer sickies.

However, this is a problem in itself because it increases youth unemployment and reduces available "entry level" positions.

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