To not really want to work anymore?

[caranconnor]

I am 50 and although I have enjoyed working in the past, I would prefer never to work again. I feel I have done enough. It is not an option, I have to work for another 17 years. But anyone else feel like this?

Yes, I want to stop working. I’m in my early 50s. I’m exhausted and have a long commute. I worked hard at school and have a good degree from a top university but have never earned much. I will be relying on the state pension. I expect to be made redundant in the near future and don’t know what I will do. The thought of having to retrain and compete for jobs in a new field at my age is daunting.

Yanbu. I'm 45 and worn out. I keep telling myself I'll feel better in 9 years when both dc's should be at Uni. I only work 3 days a week and hope I'll have the mental energy to go full time in my 50's .

@mindproject - that statistics doesn’t apply to businesses set up by women in their 50s. 70 percent of first time businesses set up by older women in their 50s are likely to last 5 years or longer. Just need to do something that OP is already good at.

I’m mid 30s so it’s all a long way off. However I’ve seen how retiring early (55) really negatively affected my mother. Overnight her world seemed to shrink and she began to obsess over little things that wouldn’t have bothered her at all when she was working. It seemed like she lost a lot of herself by giving up work, and now she seems SO much older than my dad who has just retired at 67. I think in an ideal world I’d reduce my hours after 55/60 but not give up altogether. That said the world will be completely different in another two decades so who knows!

I’m 59 , self employed , and have never been able to afford to pay much into a pension
The business is up for sale now.

Whether it sells or not , I will be retiring ( or semi retiring at the very least by this time next year )

I am so tired , I can barely be pleasant to my customers at times , the energy it takes to smile and be nice is just wearing me out
But , I’ll plod on

Luckily I’m good at being nice to people , and they don’t know the reality

l'm 61 and l've had to go back to work after major surgery three years ago, and being on JSA. l have my occupational pension but it only just covers my rent and some of my bills. l've worked since l was 18 (more than one job at once, at times when l was younger).
l work on a supermarket checkout. l like it and the people are lovely, but it's quite physically demanding, heaving big packs of beer etc about for hours on end.
They had me doing 9 hour shifts until l had to see my GP and get a certificate saying that l could only do 7 hour shifts as l've got arthritis and hypermobility.
My manager is fantastic, and as soon as l took the certificate in, my shifts were altered. But l'm always exhausted after my three consecutive days, it takes me a full day to get over it. lf l was getting my state pension, l wouldn't need to work. And someone else could have a job.

ugh yes. And I'm in my late 30s with no prospect of a pension either, so I'll probably be working forever. It sucks. I keep hearing about ideas for a 4 day work week and thinking that would suit me very well...

I dream about retiring early. I'm early 30s and hope to clear my mortgage whilst in my 40s all being well. I would probably still work but I wont feel the pressure as much. Would either go really p/t or do something else.

Late 50's here. Worked f/t since 16. A few short stints as sahm after children born. I have until 67 until I can retire. Hate it when people talk about 'working hard' so you can retire early. That means that those of us who can't retire early are somehow lazy or/and thick. The reason I can't retire early are some bad life choices, I'll admit that but I am a very, very hard worker. And that is probably why I'm so very, very tired.

YANBU
I’m 42 and sometimes feel I could stop but I think I would get bored. I do 3 days and I think 2 would be ideal.

Over the last couple of days I've had this exact thread in mind. Never had the guts to start it though in case I got flamed.

I just want to be a lady of leisure.

I'm 40 so I reckon I'm not even half way through my working life. The retirement age will rise (if not disappear altogether), I am not in a particularly great paid job. Same with DH.

There have been a couple of times when I've not worked, but these were when I was made redundant or on maternity leave. So not going back to work was never an option.

Unless the lottery (which I can never afford to play) comes up then I really don't know. I wish I had made different choices when I was younger so I could be looking forward to early retirement, but I didn't and its too late to make them now. I'm stuck like this forever, in dead end jobs that I don't really enjoy probably until I die.

That all sounds more depressing than what it really is. I thought most people felt the same. Just plodding along until they can afford to stop. Don't we all want to not work?

I'm the opposite, just had 30 years out and now I'm working.
I've just set up a Ltd company at 53, and raring to go.

Me too. 56 and knackered. Teacher, every day is a struggle. Pain, anxiety, working alongside 25 year olds. I just feel l have too many things wrong with me to keep going like this.

I fully support the Waspies, but when l was planning retirement, l want expecting to work to 67 either. I was aiming for 60. As it is, l can’t afford it.

And l know the pension age had to rise, but there has been no help or advice on how to keep going when you’re knackered. It should’ve staggered or something. I’ve paid enough NI to get my pension now.

Yup. 55 and self-employed with a decent business but would give it all up tomorrow if I could.

That's not an option though as we have another 2 terms of school fees, and an interest only mortgage due to be paid off in 5 years.

Relentless.

I used to feel very much like this for many years. Now I actually want to go to work because I have a job I like even though I've taken a big pay cut.

@Drabarnim If I hadn't worked for 30 years I think I would feel enthusiastic about it too. Enjoy.

I won't ever retire.

I am 39 and due to my health, I won't live long enough to reach retirement age, and if I did, there's likely to be nothing in the pot anyway. I don't make enough to save, theres no point in me investing in a private pension due to my health...

So I will work until I drop dead from a heart attack.

I am self employed, because I am not well enough to be employed by anyone else, but I don't feel like I want to claim out of work benefits and therefore have never investigated that avenue. I probably could, but the hoops Id have to leap through to prove how ill I am would be more stressful than just doing what work I can.

These are not really fun thoughts to have but, well, thats my reality and probably that of many disabled people.

Yep! 38 with another 30 years on the mortgage and a very very very small pension pot, fucking sick of corporate bullshit

Yup. 54 here and teacher + local govt pension when I'm bloody 68. Aaargh. And just read a piece in the Independent that the Tory's are looking to raise it to 75!

That's my vote gone forever.

YANBU. 39 and can’t imagine another 30 years of this. Fingers crossed for a lottery win....... oh yeah, I can’t afford to play [santa]

55 and work full time.
I am knackered every day and long for the opportunity to retire or work part time.
Aside from winning the lottery, it won't happen. I feel your pain.

For those saying they'd be bored, I did wonder whether I would be. So far so good, I can be lazier than I was when working but I have kids so can't be too lazy. I do know how lucky I am never to have to work again.

I'll be urging my kids to aim for retirement as early as possible. Being able to choose whether or not to work isn't possible for many people of course, but the decisions you make as a young adult can really pay off later in life

Yes. %1 very menopausal and knackered beyond belief! I'm so tiresd when I get home from work I can hardly function. I work in a school nursery with two year olds. I am hoping to retire when I'm 60, so another 9 years to go. I've worked since I was 16 too, 26 years were spent in the NHS.

Its meant to say 51!

I'm 48 with 14 years left on our huge mortgage so a minimum of 14 years FT to go. Work is just so much harder than it was before. Admittedly I am in a senior position now but I remember in my twenties working fairly hard (I thought) and watching the senior managers take long lunches with contractors, bribery was the norm, with huge presents and holidays given out for work, and anyone who did get sacked seemed to get a massive payout in return for keeping their trap shut.

I have virtually no downtime in my job, I am held accountable for everything I say and do, and everything has a deadline of, well, yesterday. Part of this is down to emails I think which demand instant responses. It is obviously a good thing to get rid of all the corruption and poor behaviours but the productivity we demand now is surely non-sustainable. I am knackered now at 48 but I see much younger people struggling with the pace too, and stress and anxiety are common.