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 read the UK stats recently. When the state pension was first introduced, the life expectancy for a retired person was only a few years.

In contrast the average life expectancy has increased due to better health care, less smoking, etc to age 80+.

Therefore, I agree that the state pension age had to increase.

I know someone who lived to age 90+ who had 32 years of retirement.

I've paid into a private pension, so I hope to retire earlier than the state pension age
However, I have friends who are working until their state pension age.

Crunch the numbers, it makes perfect sense to increase retirement age

DH is probably retiring next year at 55 and I worry that he will get old before his time. But his job is very, very stressful and and he deserves a break. I am hoping he gets some kind of consultancy work but that appears to be harder to get these days in a recession. Also DC don;t appear to leave these days; they just boomerang back. One of my DCs is studying for a low paying profession as well because it's her passion. I expect reality will soon set in for her.

My own job is very part time and something I can do till I die, so I hope to continue doing it. With maybe some breaks.

@SkyLarkDescending what was the name of the book you were reading? It sounds sensible!

The earliest age that I can access my private pension is mid 50s

State pension age is 68 (+)

Average life expectancy 80+

I'm possibly planning to change career at 55 & work less hours than I currently work

There is a lot of push for the normal working week to be four days now. I'm hopeful that eventually even three days (for a good salary) may become the norm. It would allow more people to be in work, and for a lot more people to carry on working for longer.

I have absolutely no intention of working for my whole life and started financial preparations to make that possible as soon as I entered the workforce. State pension age will probably be early 70s by the time I retire but I’ve been planning on the basis of retiring around 60. I think my life expectancy is roughly 80 but to reach that age without any significant health issues is very lucky and I want to be able to have some time in my life that’s just for me.

Soylent Green!

I feel like by the time my generation get to retirement age (I’m in my 30s) that the state pension won’t actually exist.

I do wonder if the reason the work pension was brought in was so they could eventually remove the state pension.

And I expect only the people on really low incomes to receive the state pension.

@3leafclover
Four thousand weeks by Oliver burkeman

I found it an interesting look at how we relate to the concept of time and how we try to 'use' it well.

While common sense might suggest people will have to work longer and longer, this won't actually be feasible. Not because older people are incapable of working, but simply because most jobs currently done by humans will be replaced by computers and robots before long. Society will need to find a way to deal with a huge number of unemployed people of all ages - it will become abnormal to be in work, not out of it.

Just a thought, but aren't those older people working into their late 60s and 70s occupying jobs that could be taken by younger people? And, on the whole, don't older people need less government support than younger people (mortgage paid off, no dependent children)? Obviously excluding those older people needing high-level care, but they're unlikely to be working.

So wouldn't it be a good idea to let those older people retire, even if it does mean paying a pension, and allow younger people to move upwards?

Society will need to find a way to deal with a huge number of unemployed people of all ages - it will become abnormal to be in work, not out of it.

There’s a chilling little short story by J G Ballard, called Wish You Were Here, dealing with that very theme.

I'll believe that when the robots learn to navigate stairs and are cheap, adaptable and safe enough to be deployed wiping bottoms in care homes.

I hope those same robots are self repairing when the residents decide to smack them with a stick/frame/trip them up/throw stuff at them/hit them/fall on them.
Given care home bosses renowned stinginess, people will still be caring for others for decades.

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/ageing/articles/livinglongerhowourpopulationischangingandwhyitmatters/2018-08-13

'Through the latter half of the 20th Century, the UK population has been steadily getting older and this trend is projected to continue in the future. In 2016, there were 11.8 million UK residents aged 65 years and over, representing 18% of the total population – 25 years before, there were 9.1 million, accounting for 15.8% of the population.

Looking ahead 25 years to 2041, the 1960s baby boomers (aged in their 50s now) will have moved into older age and by 2066 there will be a further 8.6 million projected UK residents aged 65 years and over, taking the total number in this group to 20.4 million and making up 26% of the total population. This increase in numbers is broadly equivalent to the size of the population of London today.

The fastest increase will be seen in the 85 years and over age group. In mid-2016, there were 1.6 million people aged 85 years and over (2% of the total population); by mid-2041 this is projected to double to 3.2 million (4% of the population) and by 2066 to treble, by which time there will be 5.1 million people aged 85 years and over making up 7% of the total UK population. In contrast, the population aged 16 to 64 years is projected to increase by only 2% over the next 25 years and by 5% by 2066 (Figure 2).'

I semi retired 3 years ago... after a heart attack. Do not see myself getting to 67, so thought I'd take early retirement from a stressful IT post- on call 24hrs etc- and work part time in a less stressful environment... gives me around the same amount of cash as I would have at 67. So no big round the world cruise money. But enough to muddle on with.

People with a big paying career can probably afford to do what I am, others... not so lucky.

God, I'd love to think I'll have much of a retirement. I'm single and childless, so only my income to take into account. I'm 46, and my pensionable age is currently 67.5. I'll have been in the scheme for 43 years by then. I don't know how I can continue to work at this intensity for another 20 years. My pension scheme is going through significant changes which will be detrimental to my payments.
I'd like to marry money, but I can't see that being likely.....

I know someone who lived to age 90+ who had 32 years of retirement.

Which is lovely for them and I wouldn't begrudge anyone that.

most people need to be working part time from 16 alongside studies

Wow. Retire later, start working earlier. Who would want this life? Awful.

And yet this is a valid point.
The elderly in our society are often not valued the same way that they are in other cultures.

Is it? What do elderly people with no family do? What do people with no parents do for childcare? I don't think society should be set up on the assumption that elderly parents will be cared for by their children or that grandparents will be childcarers for their grandkids.

One thing I wonder about is the use of the wisdom of older workers without the continuous need to stay up to date with the latest methods.

I work in an IT/Ops role, and even forty year old seem to struggle to adapt to the most basic and intuitive changes in technology (like MFA). I think more thought could go into how to use older staff wisely without requiring them to keep up to date constantly.

Ref
most people need to be working part time from 16 alongside studies

I started PT work & studied from 16

So if I retire at state pension age, it will be 52 years of working

Some jobs are just not safe enough to carry on doing when you reach the current retirement age though. I mean 70 year olds driving huge lorries and buses....I mean what could possibly go wrong?

On the other hand, if they don’t retire then there won’t be enough jobs for young people. I had this argument with a friend who thinks it’s great that his Dad is still able to work at 84. I pointed out that he was depriving a young person of that job, a person who wanted to use that salary to get a mortgage and have kids. Who was probably broke and stuck renting because his Dad was hogging that secure well paid job instead of passing it on.

This argument is wrong. There are not a fixed number of jobs in the economy, and there is no reason every able adult who needs or wants to should not be doing something useful, all of the time.

Every person who goes to work adds to GDP, everyone who opts out decreases it. In the above scenario, if the young person is not better qualified to do the old persons job, there will be something else they can do, and if the pay isn't enough to induce them to do it, then it's probably because politics is sticking it oar in and overriding the economic incentives that would otherwise exist.

It’s quite common though. At least they have medical checks annually. Car drivers self certify. Anymore drivers leaving haulage will only exacerbate the acute lack of them meaning even higher prices/shortages.