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 have a very small pension and doubt state pension will exist when I get there. I'm lucky to have my own house (will pay off the mortgage in my sixties). My plan is to only ever work p/t although more hours than now and then kill myself before I become a burden to DS. My biggest fear is losing the house to care/retirement when I want DS to have it.

This is one of the many problems thrown up by the increasing diversity in economic circumstances. I do a job that I could easily do provided my mind was sharp way beyond my ability to walk. I am intending to continue to work well after 67 (though not for money as that would take opportunities away from younger people).
But if I were a manual labourer then to be able to retire at 60 would be entirely reasonable.
I simply have no idea how this can be solved, though if taxes were only raised to a level that they could provide good health care into old age whether working or not, there would be less of a problem. That, and proper audit standards throughout government departments and no double standards in government (remember £130m spent on a needless election or £1bn given to the DUP to bribe them to prop up the resulting mess anyone?).

It's like anything in life, it's all about priorities, and for us, preparing for old age was something we thought about years ago.

For some people keeping a roof over their head now is the priority.

Don't forget, the people who raised the retirement age will never be affected by it, they will have enough in the way of private pensions and private health care to keep them.

DH is self employed in the building trade. This week he is doing foundations, shovelling concrete, gravel and up to his knees in freezing mud as it's rained heavily overnight. He is 62, getting dodgy knees. Another 4 years to go to claim his state pension.
How the fuck do the "I'm all righters" expect him and millions like him to continue past 65 I have no idea.

And yes, we did pay into a private pension, but it's tiny not a fraction of what we were promised.

Oh, I hear the tories say, get an indoor job. B&Q employ older people.
How many roofers, plasterers, scaffolders have they actually met?And like that would either provide enough jobs or pay well enough.

The cynic in me says this is deliberate, a policy to kill off the working poor young so they don't have to pay our pensions.

Mean while lets distract everyone with a Royal wedding bread and circuses

I don't worry about it. I am 40 ish and I may not even be around then. Life's for living now.

fluffiphlox but how are young people supposed to save for a pension when many can't even get on the property ladder. I would argue that having a home is a better goal as that asset may appreciate & you could possibly pass it on plus you will have more security.

From reading this thread we need some kind of dignitas in this country!

Yes 20 year olds to get a pension of £12,700 at 66, have to pay in £350 a month every month, and more if the stock market performs poorly. That is for a pretty modest pension, and beyond many people to pay that for 46 years.

There were plenty of years where paying the rent was difficult enough for us. Of course better earners are also more likely to get employers contributions, lessening the cost of their pension. I have only this year for the first time, had a 1% employers contribution.

We focused on buying a house, and we are lucky that we managed to accomplish that. So I figure we can live very very cheaply in retirement, when we finally get there.

It's like anything in life, it's all about priorities

Two worlds really do collide on MN don't they?

Yep. I should have not bought any Christmas or Birthday presents for anyone ever, I could have managed with just beds and a cooker in our house, and who needs winter coats? We even had some fun family days out - how dare we!!

No iphones or sky packages here though.

I am 25 and I am already worrying about this. Working a shitload of hours every week, with more and more meetings that start an hour before scheduled time to start work, on a salary that's decent but definitely not enough for the amount of time and stress and I'm putting in. And all of this... what for?! Not sure, tbh.

I am also worried for my mom who's 50, worked her ass off all her life and still is, and still has a shitload of years to work (though she will definitely opt for early retirement).

I know, I may sound ungrateful, but it seems ridiculous that we work so much of our lives... and so much time/day.

allergic my thanks for the time you put into reply to me! I think what stuck with me from the article was the bit about students tuition fees being spent on pensions, something they will only read about in history books....this very much echos my mindset.

The only upside to all this is that the kind of jobs that knacker you physically should be on the way out with mechanisation...we will all have a better chance of working till 80 when the only jobs still available is youtuber, or etsy hand crafter....

YANBU. My poor mum never got to retirement age. I pray I'm not going to be the same. It definitely makes you think. Is it really worth running around like a scalded freeekin cat.

I'm doing well in comparison to a lot of people on MN but I privately rent on my own and therefore pay all bills. Am paying off debt I incurred during a long period of sickness from work.

I don't have to think about every penny like some and I am fortunate in that sense.

But I buy (infrequently) clothes from ebay or Primark. Haven't been away for a holiday for 6 years. Can't afford to run a car. Have two evenings out a month for dinner with friends costing about £60 total. Other than that I'm at work or at home. On my own. I do pay for a TV package but when you spend so much time at home on your own it's quite important you have something you want to watch.

Of course I could cut out the TV and the 2 nights out a month as 'not a priority' and save for my old age but they kind of are priorities when you don't have much else and work full time in a very stressful NHS job.

It's very easy to be smug that you thought about the future years ago when you have 2 incomes coming in and a partner you can spend every day with rather than really on the TV for company or your 2 nights out a month.

But of course that wasn't good fortune or luck that you found a partner to share life and finances with. Probably excellent planning...

Allergictoironing If we weren't disabled enough to get PIP, DH and I would be able to continue working for longer so we'd have wages coming in. We're lucky to be in London where we get the 60+ Oyster card (although I also got a disabled Freedom Pass before the age of 60 as well).

I'm in a similar situation except I'm already on benefits for poor health. It is possible thou that doctors will find the root cause of my pain an then I can look for a job that doesn't state something along the lines of young energetic person required not to mention I've not been employed for about 7 years so my cv will be shit. The highest rate of u employment is already women in their 50s

I'm in the first tranche of women who will have to work till they're 66. I'm 62, and riddled with arthritis and degenerative disc disease.

I've recently cut my hours to 24 pw from full-time, because I simply can't manage my pain levels. I'm also acutely aware that mentally I find it much more challenging than I did 10 years ago. I really don't know how I'm going to manage another 4 years.

We're going to sell our (small) house in an expensive area and buy something rural with an annexe or similar that we can rent out as a holiday let. That will give us a bit of income to supplement my "gold plated" public sector pension of a bit over £200 a month. By then, I'll probably be decrepit enough to get PIP and DP can be my carer. He's 5 years younger than me, so he won't get his pension until I'm 71 (if I last that long).

I'm very bitter that the pension age rise for women wasn't staggered more. They've done me out of about £50k's worth on SRP. And I paid into SERPS/S2P for much of my working life, in the hope of increasing my state pension. I might as well have pissed that money up against the wall.

Both sets of parents rented council houses, so no inheritance to come. We could be in for a windfall if DP's ex dies, as he has an insurance policy on her life from when they were together, and will get £200k if he outlives her. Would it be terribly bad form to sing "We're in the money" at her funeral?

brasty. I think I maybe wasn’t clear. The iPhone X comment was about younger people choosing a fancy phone etc over saving. As you will know, your retirement seems far away when you’re starting work. My ‘advice’ such as it is that if you’re young and starting your career, get in to the habit of saving.

I have suffered from I'll mental health for years and have been hospitalised once. So, I took time to study, which I thought would give me better chances to get a job I'd be able to enjoy enough to withstand the stress. Here now 4 degree courses later and in a low paid public sector job, which I like doing, but it's financed/reconsidered yearly, so it's never a given I can stay. Hope to find something higher paying in future but in the public sector that's a big ask. I've got debts from the studying and haven taken time off after having my DS, which sparked an episode of PND, which lingered for years. I never thought I'd be in this position re. future, bit then never could consider it, as my priority has been to take one day at a time, stay as well as I can and take care of DS. I now know I have CPTSD and that explains a lot. But in my case, I have no way to save for retirement. So I will do what I have done so far and just try do one day at a time. When I become too ill, tired and old, I will, as I said, check out. But it's very presumptuous to declare everyone can and should save for their retirement from young and work continuously until retirement age. Many people, like me have small salaries and live hand to mouth, shopping at Aldi and buying used shoes from eBay. iPhone X is so far out of my budget it doesn't even live in the same world. Also, many, like me have chronic mental or physical health problems. They might or might not be "big" enough to warrant ESA, but may be big enough to significantly impact on work and could lead to dismissal or reduced hours. Again, in any case, this reduces or removes the ability to save. Count yourself lucky if you have a career where you are paid well and can save. Count yourself lucky if you have your health.

It's like anything in life, it's all about priorities, and for us, preparing for old age was something we thought about years ago.

There is nothing quite like the smugness of the fortunate.

In the 1960 my father took a risk by joining an obscure American typewriter company while a friend got a superb job designing blast furnaces. By the end of the 90s IBM had turned out to be the better bet. Was the engineer at fault?

Up to 1979 it was an entirely legitimate and sensible choice to go for renting your property to be assured of a secure home in a pleasant environment. Fortune has not favoured those who did.

Until about 1992 the sensible money piled into endowment mortgages: I recall being jeered at for my foolish conservatism in not having one. Thereafter they have not looked so clever.

And what about BonusPrint which ran a stable and gave prize money lavishly and within five years disappeared when camera film simply disappeared?

I'd be interested to know what proportion of your accumulated wealth, SusannahL comes from simply having lived in a house. My eldest sister 'earned' more in one house move in the 1990s than the entirety of what my third sister owns. The first one has an HND, works in advertising and has never contributed to a pension. She has a comfortable retirement in prospect. The third sister has a PhD, works at a high level in public service and has contributed to a pension since she was 22. She is worried about what will happen when she stops work.

So which of my sisters would you have been SusannahL? Which specific choices have you made to deserve your luck? And how well insulated are you in the event of a debilitating disease, the death of a child, blindness or divorce?

The link between choice and poverty is not so concrete as the political right would have us believe.

Some people can just about live as it is. Let alone plan and put away excessive amounts of money for a future they may not have.

fluff And I have done that when I can.

Yes sadly I know the highest rate of unemployment is women in their fifties. It does get tougher to get work as you get older.

Working a shitload of hours every week, with more and more meetings that start an hour before scheduled time to start work, on a salary that's decent but definitely not enough for the amount of time and stress and I'm putting in. And all of this... what for?!

because you are part of the machine
and to keep you stressed and busy so that you have neither the time nor the energy to pay attention to the various ways in which the piss is taken

@ohfortuna Unfortunately I'll have to admit you are right. But what other options do I have? None, for now. I'm afraid the system is getting worse and worse....