To think that a lot of us will be in trouble when we retire...

[Fleetheart]

This generation seems very unlike the previous ones in that we take out loans for everything, buy holidays on credit, kitchens on credit, new clothes etc etc. And pension schemes are getting less and less generous. And most of us don’t understand them anyway. I’ve always earned well, but have split up from partner, so still have s lot on my mortgage, no savings, and really not very much in my random pension schemes most of which are money purchase schemes and won’t pay a lot. And I know many people of my age (mid 50s) who have no pension at all. And meanwhile the govt is being less and less generous. What will become of us all?

@jennymanara the point is not how well public sector employees are paid in absolute terms. You claim that public sector employees are underpaid compared to people doing equivalent jobs in the private sector. They are not.

Abundant bonuses in the private sector are another myth. Yes, investment bankers get them. Most people get no bonus, or a small one. I worked for one FTSE 100 company who slashed the bonus by 50% a fortnight before it was due to be paid, because they wanted to boost the profit to please the institutional shareholders. Stuff like that doesn’t happen in the public sector.

I paid into a pension when I was on a very low age - below minimum wage now in real terms. I wish I hadn't bothered. I am unlikely to live long enough to take advantage of it. Life is a lottery. For every person living into good health in their 80's, there is someone else dying before they even retire.

@Iamthewombat You are mixing me up with another poster, I did not say anything about levels of pay. I made a comment about pensions that was inaccurate.

Oh, yes, it's all due to people having gadgets and cars and holidays, nothing to do with destruction of workers rights meaning many are trapped in low-wage, zero hours/freelance gig economy 'jobs', unable to buy no matter how much they try to save and paying huge whack rents, no pension is all due to peoples' frivolous spending .

To be fair I'm guessing poor older people aren't the noisiest or most visible people in society

@jennymanara, if you have health problems that mean your life expectancy is reduced, there are ways and means of getting hold of your pension money. My exP had a brain cyst; it meant he couldn’t work. He is 50, but was able to get hold of some of his pension so he could live. Hopefully he will be ok, but his point was that he needed the money now, it’s no good to him later.

I pay 9% into my pension, not sure how much employer pays.

I don’t worry about not owning a house. I honestly don’t want to live that long. 80 will be fine for me. I’m around sick old people all day everyday and it is not how I want to end my life. Many many many of them would’ve died long ago without medical intervention. A number of them tell me they don’t WANT to be alive anymore. But we keep patching them up and sending them back to the old folks home against their wishes.

I’m going to start smoking again at 65. I’m going to eat whatever I want and get another 15 years out of life and then I’m gone!

With the rise of insecure rentals I wouldn't be surprized to see the return of poorhouses when people become too ill to work. Guess it will give the Daily Mail something else to moan about.

Not everyone walks into a job at 21 with a great pension and leaves at 65. Sometimes life gets in the way - illness, redundancy, seperation, raising a family. Not everyone has the money to buy a second retirement property or gets inheritence. That isn't hard work its luck.

I am 32, work part time and will do so for the foreseeable. I would like to stop working between 55-60 but will probably work till the end. I have a work pension and a private pension. I do have savings but they are for more immediate things like kids clothes, birthday presents, holidays and house improvements. My dh works in pensions so has a great understanding of different schemes etc. We will get by just about but people really need to wise up about saving for the future in general.

Never mind teachers or marketing- although I agree I wouldn't want to be doing either at 74. What about jobs that require maunal labour? Or driving? A lot of people are already concerned about the number of older drivers on the roads- now imagine them driving your bus or a HGV!

I don't think raising state pension age to 75 would be possible in one fell swoop. Last time the teaching pension age (as an example) went up from 60 to 65, there were regular strikes.The same happened recently with academics at universities when their pensions were being changed. If the change applied to everyone at once, there would be mass strikes and the country would effectively cease to function.

I also really do think this would put a large burden on companies/organisations who might have lots more elderly workers taking sick leave, or have to force some of them out if they become incapable of doing their job.

If the government wants people to work for longer, I think instead there needs to be a push to support people doing this in a range of organisations e.g. through facilitating part time working, and perhaps providing incentives to companies who employ older people. However, they also need to think through the impact of this on younger people and the opportunities they get to progress in their careers.

FWIW I think there are definitely people in my generation and younger who are very resentful of older generations and I think would further resent older people being given help to get back into work/stay in work when there is so little out there for people e.g. in their early 20s.

@fleetheart It is a local authority pension, I can't get hold of it now.

Steppenwolverine

Obv depends on other outgoings etc. All i know is when I was a child, most people drove older, less premium brand cars, yet nowadays despite housing and energy costs having risen by more than wages, you see far more of the premium marques on the road. People are making choices.

Interesting about driving. I know a few people who were manual workers, who can no longer do that job in their 60s so are now working as drivers. And will probably be working as drivers at least until their late 60s/early 70's.

I have a 'saver' attitude. Unfortunately my employer doesn't have a 'pay workers enough to save' attitude.

I've always lived extremely frugally. Started paying into a private pension my twenties but had to stop mid thirties when kids arrived, which I though would be temporary. But severe illness, family breakdown, two kids with additional needs which mean I can't do a full time decent paid job and therefore money is very tight. I don't buy on credit. We can just afford to go on a camping holiday. Any clothes I buy a preloved/sales. Minimal social life. I have no idea when/if I can start paying in again. I find this hugely stressful

Zaphod - there is a real problem with poor pay in this country :(

Can you access any training to move job? Employers can only get away with paying crap pay when there are people willing to take the jobs despite the unliveable wages

I honestly don’t want to live that long. 80 will be fine for me.

Come back and tell us if 80 still seems so old that it's not worth living when you're 78.

The thing about 'too old' is, it's a moving target - 'old' is always about 20 years older than you currently are. My grandmother was 85 when she went into a home and used to talk about the 'oldies', by which she meant those over 95!

I am paid much less in my 50s than I was paid in my 30's. Getting a job as you get older gets harder. But wages are higher than they used to be. Minimum wage has meant a real terms increase in wages for the very poorest paid. It is those in between minimum wage and well paid who have seen a real terms decrease in wage levels.

@NewAccount270219 I used to think I wanted to live to 100. The older I get the more I think I would be happy dying at 80. I do recognise what you are saying, but living to an old age means lots and lots of bereavements as you outlive all your peers. I already feel worn down by the amount of bereavements I have already experienced. I don't want to be in the position of being the only one of my generation of family and friends still alive.

To be fair you rarely see anyone over 90 with quality of life.

I do worry about it, and we're in a relatively good position, in that we own a home that will be paid off in just over a decade and we have some pension and don't have any debt aside from mortgage.

I'm waiting for some money to come through from my grandfather's estate and then we will probably use that to pay the mortgage each month for a while (we can't pay off in a lump sum for a few years and this might be a better way to do it for various reasons) and then I can actually stick a reasonable amount in my pension for once.

I didn't put anything in my pension while kids were in nursery, or else I wouldn't have cleared any money at all given the cost of childcare - I think this is a parenting penalty that someone needs to look at.

But I think for the generation below me I really worry - a lot of people will have to rent for life, will never earn enough to put much by for a pension and then will not outright own a property when they retire. And then we'll have a huge number of people whose pension doesn't cover their rent, let alone any other costs. I think authorities should be planning now for how to deal with that.

@Jennymanara Yes, I mentioned driving because the company my mother used to work for employs a number of older men as part time delivery drivers. AFAIK they are all capable and safe drivers- but none of them are in their 70s yet! Given the concerns that people have about (some) older drivers, encouraging people to continue jobs where they are driving for long periods and under time pressure as they get older probably wouldn't be popular with a lot of people.

I know lots of people are safe to drive as they get older, but some do become unsafe, and obviously it only takes one serious collision to potentially end someone's life.

I think authorities should be planning now for how to deal with that

Absolutely. Problem is any solution is going to cost money and be unpopular. It’s not a vote winner and any government implementing the drastic changes needed would be unpopular. Same with environmental changes that desperately need to happen on a large scale.

The pension situation hasn’t just cropped up out of nowhere, analysts have been talking about it for decades. Successive governments haven’t been interested in making it sustainable for the population to invest in independently.

Look at the outrage from some people at the suggestion their home should be used to fund care needs. The goal posts of buying property have been moved a few times over the years. It used to be seen as an inheritance for your children, then it was to fund your pension and now it’s to pay for your care home. That’s a lot to expect from a three bed semi that requires a decent amount of money to keep a good selling price.

The fact is there’s a huge mess looming and we’re just waiting to see which generation cops the shit for it the most.

Imho it’s a case of a generation pulling the ladder up after then instead of laying the foundations for sustainable benefits for everyone.

Apologies hrtft, but all of those who are thinking of heading over to Switzerland, don't you have to be terminally ill or something? Like you can't just head over when you become too ill to work or pay your rent?

Bravelurker No you don't need to have terminal illness, as long as you have a sound mind.
Within 20 years the choice will be available here, the dying with dignity campaigners for terminally ill in the UK has a petition to consider it.