To think most of us will work to death?

[Fifi0000]

I was thinking retirement age is rising again. I'm now 30 my grandparents are late 80s and retired before I was born. They aren't wealthy , They have only started really slowing down health wise. I was thinking about this and very few of us will get a 30 year retirement. If the retirement age rises to 68 I'm dreading what it will be when I reach that age and my daughter. I do have an ok pension pot but I think the expectation will be very short retirements in poor health basically work until you drop.

My retirement age is 67. I doubt I will be able to work full time until then so will no doubt be one of those people on long term sick leave.
My parents both died in their seventies, I doubt I will make very old bones.

.The poster I was replying to said it was their fault the system is not working. They said:

The current retireds didn’t pay enough into the system so the rest of us will work til we drop after they’ve finished their long holidays and art classes

@IClaudine wasn't that poster just saying they hadn't paid enough not that it was deliberate?

That sounds like humans feeding a machine not building a world that works for us

It’s the capitalist fat cat class living off our labour. They don’t care if we spend our lives working even in a job we hate and then drop dead.

I retired 5 years ago, on the pension that would make you wince its so low.
I don't get my state pension for another 4 years, but I'm happy.
I don't go on cruises, I care for my elderly step father ( not officially, but spend up to 2 days a week helping him), care for my gc, after school 1 day a week and school holidays 4 days a week, enabling son and dil to work and pay into their pensions, and I do one day a week working for a petfoodbank.

I worked from 16 - 58, I had children, but went out to work when DH came in - we were like ships that passed in the night.
I worked no harder than anyone else ( although it felt like it at the time), and was fortunate enough to build up enough of a pension pot that I could take early retirement.

But I'm not cruising, don't have vast amounts of dosh. I'm just happy with my lot.

I hate the division between people according to age and assumptions. I do agree its harder these days, but I knew poverty too in my younger days, I often didn't have the bus fare to get to work, so please don't think our lives were a bed of roses.

No that can’t be right. You need 35 years to get the full state pension. You would get a reduced pension if you pay in for fewer years, but you can make extra payments to cover missing years. Which web site did you look at? You need the one where you have to put in your NI number.

This

My dd retired at 59. Lived til he was 81, and dm took over his pension when he passed and had it another 5 years.
I am 47, I have a private pension that kicks in at 60. Not long to go 😂 I just want to work part time now. I’m done with juggling shit.

I am 58 and have another 9 years to go at least.

A 54 year old man would have been born in 1969. Not remotely a boomer.

The boomer generation are generally accepted as those born between 1945 and 1964. Haven't rtft so apologies if this has already been pointed out.

I’m 54 and my DH is 56. We’ve been retired for 18 months and we love to cruise.

@pinkySilver

*Those people on the cruises didn't have any paid childcare, possibly no mat leave, very little sick pay, were much less likely to access health care when young and only went to the GP when really ill etc etc. That's not a prid pro quo but it's important to remember that not all older people have had a fun-filled easy time on someone else's dollar.

People live longer now - they rarely drop dead two years after retiring - which they used to do. It's good to work - we should all be contributing in whatever way we can. And we should be preparing for when we can't rather than expecting someone else to do it.

Setting up older people against younger people doesn't help us as a society though. And none of knows what's in store.*

Very true.
I'll be able to retire earlier than state pension age because I've worked full time, including through the era of 12 week maternity leave, no paternity leave, no subsidised childcare, mortgage rates regularly in double figures... oh and I pay 12 % of my salary into an occupational pension.

There's upsides and downsides in every generation.

My adult kids will probably have to work longer than me, but they also benefit from advantages that my generation didn't have.

And while my parents (now in their 90s) were able to afford a SAHP, there were huge downsides - hardly any regulated childcare back in their day for a start. My mother had no opportunity to have a career whether she wanted one or not!

It's pointless to try to pit one generation against another like this

I thought the same. 54 means thry were born in 1969? They are most definitely not a boomer.

Thought boomers were born between 1946-1964 so there is no way someone of 54 falls into this category. The youngest ones are turning 59 this year

I’m 30, I feel optimistic about my retirement if I plan it correctly. I’ve made sure that I’ve paid into my pension and taken control of my own retirement and hope to retire around 65 but do maybe a smaller job instead. I also wouldn’t want 30 years of retirement so I’d keep working part time and slowly reduce my hours over time.

Yep, agree with this.
Pensions were really designed to support people for 10 years or less.
Both my grandfathers died in late 60s.

@Ringmaster27 that's not 40 years of contribution it's 40 years left to contribute the remaining years you need which is 35 so I'm guessing you are 28 so 40 years til you are 68 , if you look on your forecast it will tell you how many full years you already have

I hope to continue working in some capacity until my late 60's. For me, I'm at my best mentally and physically if I'm working. I plan to do a job that has always interested me but is very low paid and seasonal. The thought of retiring in my 50s and cruising does not appeal at all.

If you are healthy and we are living longer (I know thats by no means guaranteed and should never be taken for granted), I actually dont want to retire early. The thought of retiring in my 50’s just seems way too young these days (obviously each to their own).

Holidays/hobbies are great but theres only so much time/money you can spend on those. Also, I think the difference for those in our 30’s/40’s now is that all our friends around us will also be working too, so it wont feel unusual to still be working. I work with alot of people now in their 60’s who love working and have a family member still working into their 70’s.

Also…I have watched my retired neighbours clean out the car and cut the grass as a team for many years (me and my Hubby joke about this whenever we’re doing jobs together) and that has possibly it put me off retirement🤣

That’s such a shame about your father. I’ve got such fond memories of wise, older headteachers from my school days. Sometimes change is definitely not for the better

All of those can be true and at the same time someone can prioritize their savings for retirement and their circumstances to allow for it.

Will everyone be successful with an earlier retirement, of course not. Will some have it easier than other, yep.

It comes down to the same thing as those who better cars, bigger families, better jobs, salaries, houses, holidays, or early retirement .

My suggestion to the OP and anyone else in the same age range is to sit down and come up with a plan if they don’t want to wait until gov’t funded retirement age.

I have money paid into pension but there's talk of you not being allowed to draw it until later definitely not 55 as is allowed now. I don't feel there's any benefits for my DD really I feel society is sliding backwards. Housing is less affordable we have managed to ensure she will have help with that and then the pension situation will probably be worse and with no NHS.

The person terms are much worse now my DF has a final salary scheme same as Grandparents they don't exist anymore for the younger generation. Let's not make out it hasn't changed for the worse.

The snag with retiring too early when we are still fit is that it is very common to develop social anxiety. It can be deskilling and you can lose your confidence. This has happened to so many people I have met over the years since working from home.

I will still have to work when I am 67. I am 60 in November though do not feel it. I think working reduced hours keeps us young and healthy.