How can I carry on working until I'm 67?

[hulmegirl1]

I work in the NHS and it's a physically and mentally demanding job that although vital is not well paid.
I am in my mid 50s and am definitely a lot more tired than I used to be.
Quite often I get home (my job means I'm standing most of my shift) and I'm exhausted physically and mentally.
I can't see that I can carry this on until I'm 67. My husband is five years older than me and self employed and doesn't earn much so we rely on my meagre salary to ensure the bills are paid.
Does anyone have any ideas how we are all going to cope with this new reality?
I know if I'd been advised a lot sooner I'd have made very different decisions.
I still have never had a letter advising me of my retirement date and really was not aware until well into my 40s.

Could you change jobs to something more office based?

Thinking about it, I don’t know many people who have fully retired. Most of my parents friends still do something. Some are still working at 70, others have a portfolio of consultancy jobs, some a local councillors or sit on trustee - exec boards. The teachers still tutor, the doctors and dentists don’t do clinical work but are key players in various working and advisory groups. I appreciate that not everyone has those kinds of options but the idea of not working at all when they’re in good health is unfathomable

I am in my mid 50s and know lots of people who have retired early or working part time.
Sure I know people who are Trustees on boards. My FIL did this into his mid 80's. This is VERY different from actually working for a living. Going to a 2 hour meeting and being asked to input your views, plus read minutes and papers is nothing like working for a living.

The 60/65 retirement age was set when people were expected to live 7 years after retirement.

This x1000

People seem to think that the state pension pot is a bottomless pit of money - it was not designed to support people for 20+ years post retirement. Think about how much you actually pay into your pentiom and then work out how much you'd be claiming from that same pot over 20 years.

@hulmegirl1
Have a good think about what aspects of your job you like and what you dont. Then make a list of the things that are challenging now or you think will be challenging in the future. This might help give some insight into other things you can do.

In your mid 50s it is worth thinking about what other opportunities might be out there for you - for example if you have been working in health care related work could you start to retrain as a counsellor, advice worker or educator? Anything that would be less physically demanding might be worth pursuing.

I have also worked with local Councillors. Most are retired or unemployed. Apart from a few positions such as Mayor, Councillors can be as active or as inactive as they want. I know people who have worked full-time, had children and still been amongst some of the more active Councillors. For most, although there is some small pay, it is more akin to volunteering in retirement.

Plenty of money for wars in Iraq, bloody brexit bottomless pit etc

You need a pension statement asking what your pension entitlements will be at 55 60 or 65. It’s free. I’m unsure if your in the pension scheme.
Yes I’m 54 and have enquired about going at 60.
I’m have a mortgage for another 10 years but I will downsize.
Is this an option for you. It is tough. In my job as a community mental health nurse there is no one over 60!!!
Some people retire and come back working part time.
Good luck.

OP I could not physically do my last job anymore. I retrained and am now earning much less than I have earned for 20 years. You do need to look at other roles, but be realistic. Older women are heavily discriminated against in the workplace. So getting a job is not easy.

I'll be retiring as soon as I can get my pension and looking forward to a pay rise. Only another 15 years to go.

OP - I agree with you. The thing is that although it seemed hard, most women accepted the raising of pensionable age to 65 for the equality of sexes. However, the problem is that it was raised again to 66/67 for women born in the 50s and it was not communicated in a way which was accessible for all. Read up on WASPI you younger people - it really is not fair.

Get that statement for retiring earlier.

Dh is retiring from that at 55. We will have paid our mortgage off and we are going to live fairly frugally but I think fine on that. We have very inexpensive interests and about 3000 books to read.

I'm in my late 50s, so looking at the same scenario & I think it's fair. We're living far longer so we have to work longer. Simple economics really.

Look into voluntary redundancy schemes. My mum worked for the NHS and got a great deal (she had no idea it was available until someone clued her in). Like you she was finding the work increasingly stressful and really destroying her quality of life.

Is there any way of downsizing to reduce your outgoings?

The state pension was introduced in 1908, payable to those over 70 and was means tested based on having an annual income of around £2200 approx or less in today’s money. Bear in mind the life expectancy then was less than 70, this pension wasn’t designed to last for years. Greater life expectancy and better health means that we are all expected to work longer, we cannot expect to draw an earlier pension as previous generations but expect it to last longer with increased longevity. Sorry you can probably tell I work with pensions everyday!

Speak to HR. You may be eligible to retire with pension almost immediately, depending on when you started working in the NHS.

@NicciLovesSundays - counsellor? I think you have no idea of the immense cost to train as a counsellor? Academic fees, personal therapy, working as a volunteer for as much as 450 hrs to get accreditation, hardly any paid jobs. Start on that in your mid fifties and you probably will be just about breaking even at retirement age.
Mental health work can be extremely draining too, even if you are not on your feet all of the time.
OP - might you be able to afford to go part-time? You can take your pension earlier too but it is reduced, go onto the NHS pensions website and you'll get that information.

Is your house paid off, op? Could you downsize and use some of that money to live off?

With respect insancerre I personally don't think it is reasonable to expect younger generations to bank roll decades of retirement.

WTF are you talking about? I have bankrolled my own retirement AND also bankrolled the NHS for those younger than me who have paid hardly anything yet to use and enjoy.

Get your head straight.

People of our age were told that NI would pay for our state pension. And we have also been told that our generation would live less years than our parents. That hasn't happened. But it is what we were told.

Voluntary redundancy is now rare because of the costs.

49 year old florist here. I feel your pain. I regularly do 15 hour days without a break/ sitting down and I am so over it. I'm relatively fit and strong but I won't be at 67!

I'm self employed as well and I'm a lowing wage. I'm not kidding when I say that while I hope my mum lives a long and happy life, assuming I don't have to sell her house to pay for her care, she won't even be cold before that place goes on the market to fund my retirement.

• lowish wage

In the US you can claim your social security retirement benefits starting at age 62, but you'll get a lower amount monthly than if you waited for your full retirement age. Your payout goes up by 8% for every year you wait, until age 70 when it tops out.

I rather like this approach as it gives people some measure of choice.

And remember, most of us started full time work at 16. Not the 21 that many people start working now. I will have been working for 51 years by the time I retire.
And we were paid less than men.

Have a look at the ERRBO scheme that is possible under the 2015 NHS pension scheme. By increasing your pension% ( eg 1-2% more of your gross wage monthly) you can buy extra years to retire at 65. Not great but more manageable than 67.
You couldn't stay in the NHS1995 scheme, you had to be a certain age on 1/4/2015 to remain in it- about 54/55 years old- on that date.
You also can't retire at 55 under the 2015 NHS pension unless you want to massively compromise your pension. If you get sick, it may be possible to be medically retired on a slightly better pension but really it's very depressing for NHS workers on our feet all day😥