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?

And I know that my calculation was very basic but it's illustrated the

I’ve not taken anything I wasn’t entitled to.

You're aware you are one individual & when talking about millions of people there will be differences. If everyone paid millions in tax then none of this would be an issue.

I probably won't as I think I will retire at 70 although my boss says he won't let me!

And the state pension is not an investment fund. Payments are made out of current contributions.

There is no individual pot which people save. It goes into a general pot

I think we all know that but if you are going to value our contributions it is reasonable to include notional interest, if the govt hadn't had our money it would have had to borrow it and pay interest.

@ancientgran 🤞🏼

Absolutely. Pensions were supposed to prevent people becoming destitute in old age, or financial burdens to their families. They were never intended to fund 30 years of cruises, and new cars every few years.

I can’t quite get my head around this thread. Are people genuinely suggesting that all savings or passive income sources be confiscated from people when they reach 67, or is it “just” the state pension people want to abolish?

Nobody wants to abolish anything we are saying it will become unaffordable for most people to have a long retirement.

The state pension isn't funding cruises and new cars. If people have provided for their retirement in other ways that is up to them.

Just to clarify my state pension after 50 years of work is just under £800 a month, well 4 weeks. If anyone seriously thinks that is giving me the money for cruises (never been on one) or a new car every few years (mine is 6 years old and I plan on it lasting till I give up driving) or some sort of luxury lifestyle they are obviously alot better at managing their money than I am.

If people have provided for their retirement in other ways that is up to them.

How is a young person meant to pay for their education, afford a house & save for a pension against a backdrop of wage stagnation & ever increasing costs?

Pensions were supposed to prevent people becoming destitute in old age, or financial burdens to their families. They were never intended to fund 30 years of cruises, and new cars every few years.

Do you seriously believe that is what a state pension funds??? You do realise that money is all some people have to live on.

OK, so I made my comments based on my mum, who lived this lifestyle for years before she became too unwell. And it was not just on a state pension. But she has a defined benefit pension, which is no longer (never? rarely?) an option as the finances for them just don't add up with people living so much longer now. She also had a retirement age of 60, not 67 as it is currently.

What very much needs to change is educating people to start to safe for retirement much earlier, educating SAHM they they need to top up their state pensions too. We seriously started thinking about our retirement at 30 and started planning. We topped up pensions when we could, did pre tax additional voluntary contributions and made sure our mortgage would be paid off by 60.

so educating people to think about retirement early massively helps them in long run

I am not saying it is enough to live of. It isn't very generous in amount. It is the length of time it is paid for that is completely unsustainable compared to the tax burden on the next generation

There is a reason defined benefit pensions don't exist any more

There is a reason defined benefit pensions don't exist any more (or won't soon) for new entries

I don't know, how did I save in the 70s with rampant inflation and for women the problem with a bigger pay gap than now. I literally earned half what the guy sitting at the next desk did for doing the same job. Then there was my 16% interest rate on the mortgage in the 80s, followed by my husband becoming disabled and unable to work in the 90s. It isn't easy is it.

I didn't have to worry about paying for my education as I left school at 15.

Looking at that no wonder I'm still working at 69. Roll on 70.

I fucking hope not. I'm 52 and feeling like I can't work for much longer.

I think I got a second wind. At 63 I went part time and a similar job but in a less pressured environment. I enjoy work more at 69 than I did at 52. I think I'd struggle to work fulltime but then I am also my husband's carer as he's been disabled for over 30 years so that is an added pressure.

I don't know, how did I save in the 70s with rampant inflation and for women the problem with a bigger pay gap than now. I literally earned half what the guy sitting at the next desk did for doing the same job. Then there was my 16% interest rate on the mortgage in the 80s, followed by my husband becoming disabled and unable to work in the 90s. It isn't easy is it.

I didn't have to worry about paying for my education as I left school at 15.

Well said!

I don't know, how did I save in the 70s with rampant inflation and for women the problem with a bigger pay gap than now. I literally earned half what the guy sitting at the next desk did for doing the same job. Then there was my 16% interest rate on the mortgage in the 80s, followed by my husband becoming disabled and unable to work in the 90s. It isn't easy is it.

😆 Who said it was ever easy? I mean we could pretend that it's not get harder but what's the point of that?
I don't have an issue acknowledging that some things were far easier for me (buying a house, getting a foot in a good career without having the best qualifications, etc). And I would definitely take the high interest rates on a cheaper property & the wage growth!
The country never really recovered from 08, through Brexit & covid into the mix & it's a disaster.

Those life expectancies don't tally with what I see on Google (Blackpool 74/79, Belfast 76/80 and Glasgow 79/83). Where are they from?