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?

I feel a bit at a crossroads at the moment. I've been very ill this year and although I'm definitely recovering now, it's really given me time to think.

I'm going back to work soon and I'm fine with that, but I know that I need to consider a less stressful environment to work in. I'll keep working but I'm definitely considering doing something else. I'm early 50s.

Bad life decisions when I was younger , I had no one to give me good advice, only judgemental sniping mean I will only have a small pension (not worth diddly) and state pension.

I am 53, tired, hormonal, and quite frankly the thought of working until I'm 70 plus horrifies me.

I will earn 'entry level' wage until I die...you know what...I Hate that term. A large proportion of the country will only ever earn that regardless of how 'hard' or long they work.

But I don't have a choice.... but if I had, I could easily fill my life...

i do 4 days and one evening.
am 54.
quite happy with this.

@ItIsWhatItIsInnit go for it. Really hammer away at it!

@babysharkdoodoodood

75?! OMG that's utterly depressing and incomprehensible. How can they do that to ordinary working people?? What's the point of life.. surely it can't be just to work? Even now, working 5 days a week it seems the whole point of our existence is to work - if we worked 3-4 days out of 7 that would be more balanced.

We would be dead before we reached 75.. that's ridiculous.. all the politicians sit in their ivory towers no idea about working in god-awful jobs, and to do this until one is 75.. OMG. The Tories would definitely lose my vote!

You are not alone OP
Both me and my partner both feel this way
We are both questioning the reason.....
Having slogged our guts and lived a frugal life in that we neither drink, smoke, follow fashion, drive flash cars, take exotic holidays etc etc we are both 50 and are 100% debt free. We will never again use credit cards, take loans etc
Our monthly outgoings are covered by half of one's wage. We are both really questioning the reason to stay in full time employment.
I think we will knuckle down and save for maybe another year or so, then will look for part time jobs.
Yes, it would be a financial shock, but having attended too many close friends funerals in the past few years, Its becoming pretty obvious that time waits for no man. When your numbers up..it's up!!

Can't see the point of working until 67 to keel over and drop dead.
Many of the older generation we know (yep, looking at you boomers) don't realise how damn fortunate they were/are.

For the younger generation starting out today (inc' our 12yr old son) life is gonna be pretty shit. As the boomers are damn well determined to milk for every penny they can. If ever there was a generation that got far more than they ever deserved it was the boomers.

Can you sense how bitter I am, or am I being too subtle.

Well, I don't even have a state pension, or a private one (I have lived abroad too long and not worked enough)

Not sure what I'll do

Keep working I guess!

I'm 55 and would happily retire tomorrow if I could.

But I still have 2 teens to see through uni, and a mid-career move between countries means it will be difficult for me to retire early.

I'm 37 and feel exactly the same. I don't enjoy work and I'd rather spend my time travelling... But need to work to fund it!

I’m 47and do a job that I enjoy. The prospect of working for another 20 years doesn’t particularly fill me with dread. But I am getting very tired of the daily monotony and routine of work. Plus my job can be very stressful at times so I hit burn out moments every now and then. I’m not sure I’d cope with full on retirement yet but the idea of cutting my hours and having more free time is very appealing. The problem is that would mean my wages would drop and my pension contributions would reduce. To ensure I have the best retirement possible I need to keep up my current contributions.

This thread is so depressing, we're really not meant to live like this. So many people working meaningless, corporate jobs making other people more money and making themselves miserable. When do we have time and energy to connect with one another and our community?

But I don't think it will be always like this. We fought and fought to have the working conditions we have now (thanks to unions), we fought to stop child labourers (well, at least in the UK), we campaigned against the 12-15 hour work day in dangerous conditions. It's achingly slow progress but we have to keep fighting for our basic human needs to have time to spend with our families and communities and to work in meaningful roles that make a difference. It's really fucking hard though when you're just so knackered all time!

I'm 59 and am a self employed cleaner. I only work about 20 hours a week because I hurt my back badly a few years ago. I suffer with depression too. I'm not sure if I can keep on working till I'm 66, that's when my state pension kicks in. I have a very small private pension but it only pays around £800 @ year.
Luckily I'm in a housing association flat , so affordable rent. I'm divorced and have only a few hundred in savings. I get by but am worried about my retirement

“ and yet we are still told ..women can have it all..“

That’s got bugger all to do with it.

I understand the fear of dying while working....don’t want to give too much info but also had a colleague die in an accident just after retiring and he had been so terribly excited to get his life back. It was horrendous.

To the pp saying about having kids who’d be worse off - yes, the next generation will have it worse. People in their 60s talk to me of miracles like paid training and lunch breaks! I don’t have DC so no one stuck on my account.

I sold my business earlier this year and have cut down to 2.5 days a week. I am 55 and have 4.5 yrs until I can take my full pension. The last few years have been exhausting with the onset of menopause but I have found a new love for my job now I don’t have to run the business side of things.
I can carry on working part time once I retire and will do so to fund some serious travelling while we are still fit enough but then we intend to downsize so we can live comfortably on our pensions. We were late to parenthood so still have a teenager to deal with at the moment.
Selling the business was a massive decision and very stressful throughout but six months on I have absolutely no regrets.

Sorry @caranconnor I've not time to read all 6 pages but a few thoughts...

do you hate your job? Could you re-train? (quite possible at 50- I did it.)

Could you work part time and make extra cash doing something you enjoy ( ie something creative, making and selling...?)

The people I know who want to stop work usually hate their job or it's a very physical job which gets harder.

I work part time ( freelance) and now in my 60s work around two half days a week which is great- keeps my brain active and brings in cash. I am lucky if that's the right word to have had a professional career right up to my 50s so have savings.

I could quite easily never go to work ever again BUT part of my thi is I would miss the routine and the people, plus as much as I hate it, I do have a nice cushy number, it’s more the fact of being tied to it like a prison sentence. If it was something I could pop in and do as I pleased then yes I’d give it up.

Part of me thinks*

No advice OP but I guess a lot of people feel the same way.

I left school at 16 and took two short mat leaves late twenties/early thirties. I even managed to get through the menopause working full-time. Yet when arthritis in one hip got really bad last year I started reducing my hours and now do just two days with the odd extra thrown in. The work is stressful and my days are 9 to 6.30 with a commute of an hour each way, I am 60 but my DM retired at my age.

It got to the point that I thought of giving up work when my mobility was really bad. DH suggested we pay for a hip replacement privately, it made economic sense to pay and stay at work rather than give up a good job. Was back at work 6 weeks after the op this summer, but still do two regular days with extras when they are short.

I enjoy working these hours and hope to continue as long as possible.
DH makes noises about me working full time again and I have said it will certainly be an option when he does half the meal planning, prep and cooking as well as share the cleaning and chores 50/50.

We will all be working until we are 80 and drop dead at work. But most jobs will be automated in the next 30 years so that’ll be interesting!

"and yet we are still told ..women can have it all..“

The last time anyone said this was somewhere in the mid 90s

Seriously, WHO has been telling you this? Who?

I'm 57. I have in my head retiring at 60, so about 2.5 years to go, but I doubt my occupational pension and savings would be enough to get me through to 67. If I hang on to the thought of 2.5 years though (30 months) it feels a bit manageable and then maybe I could push past it for another 2 or 3 years. Frankly, the way I feel, 67 might as well be 80.

Reddit AntiWork is a good sub forum full of people questioning the point in it all.

I’ve kinda retired. I work for myself when I can ge arsed. Luckily I’ve very few bills due to working quite hard in my twenties but I cannot imagine ever doing a full time job again. Making other people money makes me feel sick

I took a year out 4 years ago!

I don't know HOW I did it all now with 4 kids. I won't ever work full time again. I'm just starting to think that a little part time might be nice.