To be worried how I will manage to work until I am 67?

[brasty]

I am in my mid fifties. I already get more tired than I used to when younger. I wonder how I am going to manage to work full time until I am 67 years old. And continue to do my share of cooking, cleaning, family stuff and actually having some fun.

I was teaching and my friends and I were caught up in that trap where we had always thought we'd get a state pension at 60 and then the goalpost changed. The retirement date for everyone in the staffroom was different (which seems very unfair) but the youngest woman, aged 30, had a letter saying she wouldn't be able to retire until 73.

I mean, she wouldn't get her state pension until 73.

I was due to retire at 59 but stopped at 50 for health reasons. I wasn't unwell enough to be allowed a medical retirement so I have lost out on a significant chunk of my pension. Our only option was to sell up and downsize to much cheaper area of the country.

I can draw my modest work pension when I'm 62,will still have to work part time until 67.Feel exhausted just at the thought of it.

The cost of living is so high that not everyone can afford to put anything aside for a pension as they can barely afford the basics of life. A lot of people will face poverty in old age and won't physically be able to work. It's a horrifying prospect. We are heading back to a Dickensian way of life. They are already saying on the news that living standards are currently the lowest for decades.

im nowhere near this and worry about it already.amongst other things.
I know it what everyone says but worrying wont help you out of the situation.worry is something nasty that fills the space where uncertainty is.its what ur mind makes when its scared or fearful.but half the time its heightening everything.dont let it become something you cant overcome to at least enjou thr life and time you do have.becasue then youll miss the oportunitys that will make the coming years highs and lows possible to get through.
because when the point comes you will have to find whatever it is in your to contine and make the dam hard best of it.cuz ur life and you are worth it and ur dp.
can you talk to dp.is there anything you can do to make it better or if not then to make it easier to handle together.
your not alone.i worry.youve seen on here so many others are too.
its not an easy time.xx

I'm not sure anyone under 40 will actually receive a pension in the future.

Pensions and retirement were never a thing in the past...the overwhelming majority of humanity worked until they dropped (and dropped because they couldn't provide for themselves any more).

There has recently been a crazy period of pyramid scheme based economic activity which has enabled a couple of generations to become fabulously rich and hence able to retire in style. This won't continue because its a pyramid scheme.....

We need to readjust our whole mentality in this area.

presumably you have made other financial arrangements for when you retire!
Yes of course we all have millions in pensions cos we all have earned enough to pay into a private pension what with mortgages/rent and kids to bring up on minimum wages.

Jesus wept.

Brasty, can you downsize or move to a cheaper area? I'm no longer working due to health problems but we've adjusted our lifestyle accordingly and it's been ok. I'm not well enough to go out much or to travel abroad so our expectations are very different to people who are still working.

I predict some people will choose to end their lives. Working longer is unavoidable, though, as life expectancy has increased. It's a poisoned chalice. Retirement was never meant to involve decades of economic inactivity with increasing health problems.

Police have had the goalposts changed on their pensions contracts. It used to be that they had to put in 30 years service to claim their pension - bear in mind the sort of work they do, over-worked, under-staffed, and putting their own personal safety at risk - then the government changed the law so that they could alter the terms of that contract. Now they all have to work an additional 10 years service in order to receive the exact same amount of pension.

Expat - I think you are right. I think some people will see suicide as the only way out because they cannot afford to live and won't want to financially burden their children

For a generation or more successive governments kicked the can down the road where pensions were concerned. None wanted to face the unpalatable truth - that for pensions to be affordable people would have to:

1. work longer

or

1. pay higher contributions to their pensions

or

1. accept a smaller pension

or a combination of all 3 of these. Now finally there is an attempt to get a grip on the pensions crisis and it is creating some genuine difficulties for some people.

@Morphene unfortunately I think what you say is true.

Suicide, Moving in with children as your only option. Working until you drop. Sacrificing other things (fewer children, living in a property too small, living very meager lifestyle) to save for some kind of retirement.

That is the bleak future we are headed to.

Chrys, most women over 60 don't have private pensions. When I started working women weren't even allowed to join company pension schemes let alone set up their own pension arrangements!

I think there will be a cultural change and we will start seeing more extended family living. Out of necessity.

I think it will happen at both ends. Children will stay at home for longer, unable to afford to move out and elderly parents will move back in with their children. It's only relatively recently that this stopped being the norm for elderly relatives.

Police have had the goalposts changed on their pensions contracts. It used to be that they had to put in 30 years service to claim their pension - bear in mind the sort of work they do, over-worked, under-staffed, and putting their own personal safety at risk - then the government changed the law so that they could alter the terms of that contract. Now they all have to work an additional 10 years service in order to receive the exact same amount of pension

This is interesting. I’ve very recently joined the police. I’m 30, so will inevitably retire long before I hit 40 years service. Most people on my intake were in a similar position. What’s most interesting though is how many of us applied and were rejected in our 20s. The required length of service is an impossible goal.

Presumably you have made other financial arrangements for your retirement? Genuine question, do you honestly not realise some people aren't in a position to afford their own private pension?

Some people might say I'm burying my head in the sand, but for myself, what will be will be. I'm not going to let myself spend a life worrying about it, I know easier said than done.

Tip: try and keep fit and healthy if you can.

I think Japan is the country with the greatest proportion of older people?
.... How do they manage things?

I have paid into a pension. When you are low paid, a private pension is simply to top up your state pension. That is always what I saw it as.

I don't think younger people realise how you feel as you get older. I still play sports so probably look fine. But I know I get more tired working full time than I used to.

I wonder if we'll see the return of the workhouse

ohfortuna In Japan adult children are legally obliged to pay for their elderly parents. And parents can and do sue if they do not get their monthly maintenance from their children.

I'm in my early 30's now so strongly suspect I'll be working until I'm 99!! I can completely understand you worrying. It does seem quite ridiculous, it also won't help the whole future job situation for those younger than us.

2ndsopranos I meant looking after elderly family. This is increasingly part of our life anyway, I don't see it going away.