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.

Without modern conveniences you are at a disadvantage, without modern communication you are out of the loop
Obviously it is good thing to spend money wisely and you can have all the advantages of a smartphone without having the most expensive top of the range smartphone
Then again maybe it helps you to get on in life if you look like a person who can afford the most expensive smartphone?
I don't know, I manage quite well with a cheap smartphone maybe if I had the best smartphone I would find it hard to go back to my bog standard smartphone?

Internet is a requirement for anybody job seeking. The expectation is that job boards are searched at least daily for suitable positions and I think that's part of the Job Seekers Agreement. Not everyone lives in walking distance of a public library with internet access.

Also, so many public services now are on line and virtually impossible to access in any other way e.g. all the necessary registrations for farmers have to be done on line despite in general them having the worst and slowest internet access in the country.

So in general, internet access should now be considered a necessity.

Vide my post on the 'Having to Settle' board...

I am facing HAVING to move in with my OH, because I cannot afford (on NMW, limited hours) electricity, oil, car, food, CT, etc. I have no central heating because I can't afford to run it. I have a VERY old car I can't afford to replace. And when I'm on a pension - well, I'm going to be even worse off.

Some clai,ants are expected to spend upto 37 hours job searching. Its tapered depending on circumstances.

Free computer access is available at job centres/librarie and some childrens centres/housing associations/community organisations.

And if you don't have caring responsibilities then you can spend more time travelling to somewhere that has such facilities.

hackney.gov.uk/internet-and-computers

Not everyone lives in walking distance of a public library with internet access
even if you do it's difficult to develop the same fluency in the online world that comes with having 24 hour internet access in your own home

If you Don't have a job 37 hours per week job hunting applying for jobs isn't unreasonable. I recently applied for a promotion at the place I work for already. 2 hours updating CV, 3-4 hours on cover letter. 3-4 hours reading dept and overall strategy, 4 hours preparing and rehearsing a presentation, 4t minutes for the interview, An hour for the presentation and panel.

That was 20 hours for one job in an organisation I know inside out. And fitting it in around what's already a 50 hour working week.

So - 37.5 hours a week job hunting, plus the travel to & from the job centre/library costing up £35 hours a week, making packed lunches and taking multiple thermos flasks of hot drinks (which of course you have to leave the job centre/library to consume) in the depths of winter. Versus having internet access at home.

Not sure what the point is of Raindrop's post. CVs should always be up to date - I have 3 always updated & it takes me 5-10 minutes to tailor one for a very specific role. 3-4 HOURS for a cover letter? Applying for a job should take up to an hour maximum researching the company, maybe 15 minutes tweaking the CV and cover letter. For lover level jobs the relevant standard CV & cover letter is usually all that's needed, and the majority of jobs these days are advertised through an agency so you don't even know who the employer IS so can't research them.

OK if it's a high powered job you are applying for that requires a presentation of course hours should be spent on prep for that, but those requirements are very few and far between.

The assumption for anybody on the Work Program used to be around 4-6 applications per half day attendance there, using their shite out of date slow & restricted PCs

What an interesting and absorbing thread this is. I have read the whole thing (which took quite a while!). I have found many of the posts quite thought provoking, especially those where the poster writes (even if not entirely seriously) of ending one's life as an option when savings run out in later life.

I do fear somewhat for the future generations and wonder how their old age will be funded if/when state pensions come to an end.

Someone further up the thread mentioned "universal income", where everyone, regardless of their personal circumstances, is provided with an amount sufficient to fund a basic existence. I have long thought that that must become the future of our welfare system.

With universal income, there would be no means testing, so it would be cheap to administer and there would be no, or minimal, form-filling in order to get it. It would ensure that everyone had the basics and it would eliminate the current poverty trap created by benefits, where benefits are withdrawn in proportion to income when the claimant finds work.

HIPTRIP...if you read the tread you would realize a core group of posters are 40-60+.
I’m not convinced you know much about pensions.
I could pay into my pension for 18 months that I didn’t contribute...because it was long ago the cost was rather crazy say 7K (higher interest back then) and the difference it made to my monthly pension was less than $25 a month.
I was cut from FT to PT at 55. The difference to my monthly pension was less than $50 a month...not worth the nervous breakdown I had over “my job”.

Hiptrip - internet access is a basic utility if you ask me. Saves money in myriad ways.

In the case of a low earner, for example, who is only able to contribute say £20 a month net for her/his whole working life... what difference would this make to her in retirement? Possibly not enough to make a vast difference but enough to stop her receiving certain state benefits. In these circumstances... I can see why people may not bother!

My CV wasn't up to date. The cover letter for a director level role took considerable thought and drafting. Two sides of A4 to say why my skills met the spec and how I could use them to bring the department in line with overall strategy

In some sectors, CVs are not accepted. You need to complete an application form, which can take a lot of time.

I wish I'd known that when I was 30. Instead I didn't learn until well into my forties and have NEVER had a letter advising me of my retirement age. Had I known at 30 I'd have made very different decisions when paying off my ex husband that's for sure. I've gone from thinking I'd be retiring at 55, to accepting it would be 60 and now knowing I'll have to work until I'm 67. I fully believe the idea is to tire us all out so we all drop dead and never claim a pension.

Depends on your job tbh . People are living longer so will have to work longer . My dad is 76 and still working full time as a farmer but then farmers rarely retire anyway .

Just realised how old this thread is 😱

I am 64 now, don’t get state pension until I am 66, luckily, I made provision for myself. I could not work full time now although I am healthy enough. I feel financial provision should be a subject taught at school as so many people really have not got a clue.

I really feel for older women who have to work full time and I know I am very fortunate, I retired when I was 59.

Raindrops, I would expect you to spend that much time applying for a role at director level, also kudos to you to be able to do this
at work, however when you are unemployed and your skill set is limited to selling sausage rolls at Greggs then spending 7 hours at a computer in the public library every day applying for suitable jobs might be a waste of time.

ZOMBIE ZOMBIE ZOMBIE

The closest to Andrew Lincoln I will ever get

You do know that not everyone has been able to build up a private pension for various reasons??

Zombie

What I dont understand at all is why the govt didn’t increase the pension age on a sliding scale so older people could go part time from around 60.
It is simply ludicrous to imagine that an average 60yr old can put in a days work of a 23yr old.
When I was 26 I got up at 6am with the baby, took the 4 yr old to school, spent the day cleaning, cooking, childcare. Collected 4 yr old, made supper and went out to work waitressing at 7pm-2am, back home for 4hrs sleep b4 up with baby again. It was tough but I was young and strong. Couldn’t do it now, yet govt expect you to just keep going 🤔

Because they bank on a good number of people never making it to 67 so they don't have to pay out.

Its basically unaffordable now and becomes less and less affordable as a model as time goes on and people live longer due to medical advances.

If you aren't capable of work until 67 then you stop on medical grounds.
Women used to work until 55, then 60.
Grasping government moved the goal posts so they don't have to pay out.
Put yourself first in what you need to do xx

It's really grim. The only way a lot of people will manage is to go sick instead of struggling on.

@ZsaZsaTheCat 'It is simply ludicrous to imagine that an average 60yr old can put in a days work of a 23yr old.'

Err...why not? I'm 60, single mum, up at 6.30, get ds out of bed, do school run, back to be on-line at 8, work full time. Commute into London once a week, run events and conferences elsewhere regularly.

I'm also a local councillor, plus parkrun and practice martial arts every week.

There's no reason why most can't if you look after yourself.