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 dunno.

Both Great Grandmothers on my paternal side lived until their late 90s; both developed Alzheimers in their late 80s. Not a way I want to live. Both retired at 60.

My paternal Grandparents are 80, have been retired for 20 years, no serious health issues as of yet.

All 4 were mortgage free by 40 and had/have significant private pensions and other savings. Luxury is definitely the word for them.

Meanwhile, I’m 35, still renting, will probably never get a mortgage let alone own a home outright because I’m single and my earnings are kneecapped by 3DC (including a disabled child).

The thought of me retiring is a fucking joke, won’t happen.

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?

Exactly this. There won’t be enough jobs to go around. And is it realistic for surgeons, airline pilots, etc to keep working into their 70s?

My state pension age is 66, just less than 4 years away. (If I had been born 2 days later it would be 67). I am a widow and retired last August. Two adult DC both have their own homes now.

I downsized my home and have sufficient equity remaining to top up a small NHS pension each month, which gives me a reasonable income. I could have stayed alone in the big family home and carried on working but I have several health issues and didn't want to risk working for 4 more years to then be too unwell to appreciate retirement. The large house was too much for me to cope with anyway.

Yabu to suggest that most people over 65 are 'perfectly able to work'.

I'm 40 and it's already noticeable that my energy and stamina at work have decreased since my 20s and 30s. My health is awful and I honestly don't know how I will make it to retirement.

What I would like is some kind of earlier phased retirement, so to make it easier to work part time and shorter days from an earlier age.

There are so many graduates and capable young people chomping at the bit. Until employment in under 25s is much higher, it makes no sense to be keeping older people in the workforce for so long.

I’m 57 and a nurse…most of my colleagues and me have taken retirement in their 50s …. I retired then returned on 2 days…i don’t pick up much less than when I was working 5 days…l will retire completely at 59….very standard still to leave before 60 in nhs where i am

I retired at 58. By that time I had in inflammatory arthritic condition which flares up periodically and when that happens I feel generally unwell and tired and I just have to rest both physically and mentally. I can now do that without feeling guilty about work.

Live for the moment rather than doing x when "retirement" is ment to be .

When I retire in 7 years' time at the age of 67, I will have been working for 51 years. I think that's quite enough thanks very much.

I agree, OP. For the more than 50% of people who go to university, they won't work full-time jobs until 21. If they retire at 61, they could realistically need to fund close to 40 years of retirement on close to 40 years of income. Even if they work to 70, it's still funding 20+ years off the back of 50 years working. Economically you'd need to be saving 30% of salary for the whole working life to pay for that.

I work with people a lot younger than me (I'm mid 40s) and many of them speak of wanting to retire at 50 or 55. I don't see how that's possible for anyone other than the absolute highest earners.

I think a pp had the right idea about living in the moment, taking time out to travel, reduce work hours to make space for hobbies, to prioritise health (including mental health) rather than saving up for some mythical retirement golden time.

I agree Schoolchoice The problem is that people have grown to expect long retirements based on what they see at the moment. There’s going to be a lot of discontent when people realise that isn’t economically viable, for all but the highest earners/those who inherit. There will also be a shortage of jobs and an employers market - people staying in work an extra 10 years will expand the workforce hugely.

yanbu. I'm struggling to stay in the black already. I have a private pension that will pay me an income of (drumroll) £2k per year. I don't know how I'm going to meet my budget before I retire, so, retiring feels impossible.

It’s not feasible in its current state no but nor is just whacking up retirement age. Not only are there manual or technical jobs where that would be dangerous but it then creates a system where job progression only really comes when someone dies so we have a downward trajectory of living standards for those of childbearing age (which in turn affects the next generation down). The head of young persons counselling at my old place of employment was in his 70s and dangerously out of touch so if we don’t come up with a tenable solution there will be more and more examples of poor practice and inefficient work environments due to it.

You can retire when you want, you just need to match your spending to your situation. There’s a whole movement based around retiring young called “FIRE” (financial independence, retire early) based on spending incredibly frugally while working in order to give up working young.

It’s worth looking up if a long retirement is your goal.

I'm not convinced that most retired people had lives of pure leisure.
They had grandchild care duties, many had paid work part time &/or volunteered, and then they turn into carers for partners & other relatives.

Retired people have contributed a lot to keep economy going.

The government could always means test the state pension as they do in Australia.

Are you in your early 60s or even late 50s? Do you know what it feels like to work full time for more than 40 years?

I'm a fit 59yo. I still run at least 5k every week. Cycle, practice karate. I have more energy than most people my age but I'm getting to the point I just don't want to work the 9-5 any more. I can't imagine working full time at 67 and contributing as much as I used to.

I'll go part time in the next 2 years, and retire as soon as I can.

Except that the state pension is a pension, not a benefit to means test.

People who have paid their national insurance into a state pension for 35 years, are entitled to it. If they haven't paid in enough to live comfortably on, that's a different issue, but the pension itself must be paid.

I am a working pensioner and I am going to continue to work, in fact my employers have actively encouraged me to continue to work promoting me at age 65 and then when I reached SPA at 66 even though we were in lockdown my financial director took me through the pros and cons about deferring my SP ( I decided not to) paying for a financial advisor to help me with my private pension (non works) Payroll ensured I had the correct NI code applied so I didn't pay NI after pension age (apparently its not automatic) and have been very supportive, physically I am good health (although my knees are temperamental and my bladder seems to have a mind of it's own) but mentally I am just as sharp as I ever was, today was a normal day but included chairing a meeting with 10 department heads, working on a client presentation, working on person specs with HR, and a host of other things I have no problem with new technology either. And I am not the only one in my family to work past pension age, my late dad worked until he was 80 my DH retired at 65, took a volunteers role in a charity shop and now has a paid job running 2 shops at age 72 .

I am a 50s woman I did know in 2000 that my pension age was going up to 65 after the pensions act of 1995 and I did know in 2011 it would go up to 66, but a lot of women did not know this and there is real resentment and anger from the WASPI women who want compensation for the extra years worked with very short notice but who agree the the pension age needed to rise, to the back to 60s group on face book (along with others) who want the age rise reversed and to be honest (yes I know I will get flamed for saying this) a lot could work until 66/7 but believe they have been cheated and are angry they are having to do so especially when they had no chance of paying into a private pension when they were working age and I do understand some of their worries and concerns, however these people are so unrealistic in their demands the latest petition is to take the age back to 60 for men and women and increase the state pension to £380 a week, that is never going to happen, petitions have been organised before for both the increase of pension and the decrease on age and the government have already said no and they are not going to change their minds this will just fuel more anger

As for means testing the SP, the building blocks for that are already there, pre 2016 your state pension was more determined by your actual contributions, you could get more of you paid into the second state pensions (I did) less if you contracted out or paid half stamp, you can no longer do any of these, the new full pension is capped anyone with no NIC history or little NIC history pre 2016 will only ever get the the full pension for 35 years even though they may work for 50 plus, once you blur the line between contributions and payment, once the majority of people are all getting the same amount then it's easy to means test.

Well, that's depressing and just another reason why life is generally shite.

If they retire at 61, they could realistically need to fund close to 40 years of retirement on close to 40 years of income. Even if they work to 70, it's still funding 20+ years off the back of 50 years working.

But the average life expectancy is approx 80.

Believe me, I'm not advocating this, just wondering if it's crossed the mind of those in government. This current government has shown the capacity to rip up the rule book whenever they like.

Agree there needs to be more opportunity for flexibility, eg dropping hours and tailing off gradually. Maybe be able to draw part of your pension alongside a part-time salary. It also needs to be easier for older people to switch career,

Sorry, posted too soon.

It needs to be easier for older people to switch career if they are in a more physically demanding job. However, ageism is still rife in the workplace so where are the opportunities for older people going to come from. Some industries also frown on part time. I'm a teacher and most schools dislike having you drop down to part time because they have to find a job-share.

people retire on money they have put away. some with the government and some all privately. it's not like the money that is given back is magic'd up out of thin air.

i'm retired and most of all my retired friends and family once retired from their more intense jobs pick up what we call a "jobette" a little side job to help with socialization, mental health and coffee money.

Retire at 67, who looks after the elderly parents if the kids are still working.? Who looks after the grandkids? Where will the volunteers come from?.
The older generation have a lot to offer society.

State pension needs more contributions, I would rather pay more money to a state pension than the pitiful work pension.

Where are the thousands jobs that want to pay an army of 60+ Yr olds