to think the whole idea of retirement is going to become unrealistic

[worksmartandfast]

I am sad writing this as I think it is a truely nice idea that people get to take some time out to enjoy life but my practical head says it can't continue. When the age was set to retire that was a policy made for a totally different era, people started work at 15 and died at 65 in general society has completely changed since then. It was never envisaged that education would last so long for children/young people it is really an accident of history that for the last decades it has been possible to effectively stop working in their early 60s/late 50s despite being perfectly capable adults and spend potentially 15/20 years living a life of pure leisure. While I'm sure this idea will be unpopular in reality I can't see how in a world with ever better medical care increasing life expentancy it can be expected that it will be possible for it to be the norm that most people can spend the final quater of their lives retired even if they are perfectly able to work. Aibu?

I disagree, but the nature of retirement, when it starts, and what you can do will change.

I agree - it’s not unusual for someone to spend as many years retired as they spend working. If they’re lucky they might be healthy for a good part of that, but certainly more likely to spend more time in hospital/care incurring further costs to the State as they age. I don’t know what the answer is - yes, working longer will probably help but it’s a pretty depressing prospect!

State pension is 67 so you can only stop working before that if you've got a decent private pot.
It feels too old already, not sure if a 67yo firefighter would be quite as fit as a 30yo one and I certainly don't want to be doing the role I'm currently doing (not a fire fighter!) until I retire in 16 years time. Physically I am not the woman I was 16 years ago and reduced health needs to be considered, not just whether you're capable of breathing or not.

The workplace needs to change to accommodate older workers. More part time hours and more funding for career changers could bring a whole lot of benefits.

I'm not sure I do agree - I think we know more about health conditions that affect us into older age than ever before ...... I think it'll become harder not easier to employ anyone at current retirement age (despite legislation)

I do think we desperately need to look at how we care for our older generation ...... this is a growing problem not diminishing

People are living longer and the retirement age needs to reflect that.

How many posters on here get furious about ageism and say how their parents are 60, 70+ and are far from elderly, still fit as fiddles, hiking etc.

These are not people who need to retire, clearly.

A system where you can get your pension early (say at 60-65 instead of 70) on medical grounds but if you are fit and healthy then you work until 70 if you haven't got a private pension that allows you to retire early.

Of course, that also requires massive input to stop employers age discrimination.

The state doesn't owe us all 20 or 30 years of retirement. There should be a medical element to retirement age imo.

I don't wish to be working full time until 67. I'll die of exhaustion before getting to enjoy my private pension pot and state pension. I hope to be working part time from 50-55 and retire at 60 at the latest.

Things have changed since people retired at 60/65. We have (in the main) a better standard of living than even in the 80s.
That said, DH and I still have 10 years to retirement and we’re shattered. We often comment that surely we weren’t meant to work from 15 to nearly 70 (we both started work straight from School at 15 in 1979 and 1980). It does make me a little sad that unless we live a long life we might only see 10-15 years of retirement.

I don’t like the idea of this.
imagine someone working a manual
job… would they want to still be working at 70? The physical element of the job will take its toll on the body overtime so they may not have many years of retirement compared to someone who worked in an office all their working life.

Even with those working in non-manual jobs, I reckon they will want a better work life balance too, like a 4 day week if they had to retire later in life.

Definitely. They want u to be ready for your coffin or at least lost your marbles by the time u retire so you cannot claim state pension that you have been paying into all your life. You cannot even opt out of national insurance contributions anymore.

I work in an office based role and two of my colleagues have been discussing retirement. One of them is adamant she won't retire yet, but I think she should. She is no longer capable of keeping up with the job role, the technology is beyond her. She "downsized" her role last year and even with that I am having to redo a lot of her work, fix mistakes, talk her through steps and processes that I've already explained 50 times and generally I feel that she's now only capable of the most basic of tasks. And that's really worrying because in less than 20 years I can see myself being the same.

We might be living longer but it doesn't mean we are capable of continuing with the same output.

Yes, I agree. I actually find it a bit of a relief though as ageism is rife in the private sector and hopefully this may change and older people will have to be thought of as viable options

it’s not unusual for someone to spend as many years retired as they spend working

Yes it is! Even if you retire at 60, for most people, that's 40 yeas of working. The number of people who live to 100 is tiny.

While people are living longer, many of them are only having the same 15 or so years of good retirement and then a load more years of ill health. Not sure what the solution is. Ability to press an off switch?

I think about this I lot , my DH and I retired at 52 and 55 so could well have longer in retirement than working.

The problem is that as you get older (in general), your eye sight deteriorates, fine motor skills are lost, reaction time is slowed and physical fitness decreases. Previous posters already mentioned fire fighters but a lot of jobs become more difficult or dangerous as your body becomes older.

I don’t think I’ll be physically able to do my job at 65y, but if I can’t retire, does that mean I’ll have to move to a lower skilled, lower paid position? Pretty depressing prospect really.

I don’t know what the answer is, but I really want to stop work while I can still enjoy life. But I also want enough money to be comfortable.

Given the younger generations are likely to have difficulty getting on the property ladder, maybe we are going to see an increase in extended families living together. And instead of peaceful days in the garden we’ll retire to provide childcare for grandchildren.

I've been reading a book I saw recommended on here and one of the ideas is that we need to enjoy the here and now rather than saving up for a future time when we might enjoy ourselves. I think retirement as it is now seems like a reward for a life time of hard work.

I think we need to rebalance things so that work is part of our lives but there is time for family and health and leisure pursuits. Then we would have a better chance of working into older age, hopefully part time, giving meaning back to people at that stage of life.

I will have worked for almost 50 years by retirement and doubt I will be capable of going on much longer past 67. Already I find the getting to and from work pretty knackering. Also with a large and growing population, I think it makes sense to make way for younger people.

What do you propose as an alternative OP? Banning retirement? Forcing people to work even if they have saved enough to provide themselves with an income?

How would you define that? Would it apply only to defined pensions? SIPPS? What about someone who was drawing a passive income from property? Would they be allowed to continue, or should they start a paper round alongside?

Or are you “just” talking about going away with the state pension? Thereby disproportionately affecting those who are most likely to be physically in need of retirement after (statistically) a higher burden of manual work?

I suppose the trouble is everyone varies so much. My grandparents all lived independently into their 90s, my Mum is fit and healthy at 76 and I've got a primary aged child while in my early 50s. I'm not thinking about retiring at all (still enjoying the post baby energy boost) but I have slightly older colleagues who are on the final salary scheme who are talking about retiring soon. Since life expectancy is mid 80s they are looking at 30 years of retirement in a career that only started in their mid 20s (all have PhDs). It will be interesting to see how attitudes at work to older workers change as we stop being able to take early retirement.

State retirement age is 67.

My DPs were hale and hearty in their 60s and early 70s but quickly started developing minor and major health complaints.

I don't know what job you expect someone in their late 60s to reasonably do. Is the idea that people should work until they drop ?

The issue is life expectancy- but not quality of life - is longer than it used to be. Frankly give me a pill at 85 if it means I can retire at 60.

I think the retirement age will inevitably go up. I would like to see more flexible jobs - PT, diversity in age. Better carer’s allowance or tax credits for those who look after elderly relatives or childcare for grandkids. Better provision for those unable to work on health grounds - which affects manual workers more.

Generation Rent may not be able to retire because of the cost of renting their homes.

When Bismarck originally introduced a retirement age it was set at one year less than the average age of death. This was to enable people to stop work and get their affairs in order before they died. Definitely not to enjoy yourself. It feels a short retirement could become more normal.

I like this thinking!

Whether you can keep working passed your mid 60's very much depends on what you do for a living. It's not just manual work that is challenging as you get older, but high stress jobs that can involve huge mental challenge or/as well as physical challenge.
Many people go on to do voluntary work on retirement - but they do limited hours. They may have great mental capabilities and underused skills, but long hours, long commutes and just a weariness from a long life of full time work may have taken its toll in many ways.

Really, as a society we need to value leisure time more. If the older people keep working into their 70's, how do the younger people get their feet on the ladder? Maybe shorter working weekend more flexible working arrangements is the way to go instead of thinking we need to work til the coffin turns up!

I actually agree with this. I think retirement as we knew it is a thing of the past. I'm in my 40s and don't expect to retire TBH.

My parents are in their 70s. Mum doesn't work and never has since having us kids TBH. My DF still works albeit PT and has admitted he doesn't want to stop working.