To not have realised that my pension age has gone up?

[IIdentifyAsInnocent]

I'm 45, 46 this year. Checked online 2 years ago and my state pension age was 67, which I thought was bad enough, for some reason checked again today and it's gone up to 68!!

I knew that the govt were thinking of doing this but I have no recollection of being told it had actually happened. This affects my work pension which I now can't take until 68 too as it aligns to state pension age.

Annoyingly, my brother who is 2 years older can still retire at 67!
Have I missed some huge public announcement?

I have always been led to believe that you shouldn’t rely on the state pension as it was likely to be phased out so I’ve been paying into a private pension for years. I’ve worked FT with no career breaks except maternity. With my luck I’ll die a week before I retire!

They never seem to announce it. I found out a few years ago that my age had gone up from 66 to 67, by checking on the.gov website. I heard on the news a few weeks ago that anyone born after 1972 could find themselves working until 71. Like a couple of PPs my occupational pension is now linked to state retirement age. I hope to go at 67, but am factoring in 68 just in case. With all us oldies clogging up all the jobs, how are young people supposed to get onto the housing and jobs ladder.

We need people to be working longer and working more hours.

I'm 49 and being made redundant later this year. No way am I planning on working more hours when I get another job. Depending on where we can cut back I'll be looking for 4 days a week rather than 5.

At least with most private pension schemes, if you die before taking it, the fund value forms part of your estate and passes to your beneficiaries.

With the state pension, it dies with you, and you receive nothing if you die before pension age. (Though your spouse may receive something depending on age/sex etc).

An Australian style approach is needed where you contribute to your own pension and you can choose how that money is invested. It’s called superannuation. There’s still the state pension to fall back on for people who haven’t been paying in to their superannuation as long.

Fair enough, but don't expect other taxpayers to fund your lifestyle, whether during your working life, or in retirement. If you can work fewer hours and still earn enough to have the lifestyle you want and make provision for your required lifestyle in retirement, then fill your boots.

That's what we have with the compulsory workplace pension schemes.

It's also to similar to what we used to have with SERPS and S2P which were earnings related enhanced state pensions.

It is something we will all need to think about and prepare for, moving to less demanding, perhaps completely different jobs as we age. I am in denial at the moment......

As is the government. If people are to be expected to work longer into their older age, there needs to be far stronger laws to encourage employers to hire older people and to allow them some adjustments to enable this. Such as more flexible working to allow for greater fatigue and greater numbers of medical appointments etc (or easier access to medical apts at a time that suits!); more part time working; more job sharing opportunities; greater support for using technology and an onus on the employer to simplify technology needs as much as possible; stronger laws about candidate selection when hiring so that age is never a factor.

So far all I see is a government with their fingers in their ears basically telling everyone to work longer but with no actual thought about what that means and how best to enable it.

How would I be expecting other taxpayers to fund my lifestyle, did you miss the part where I said I would be making cutbacks? I've worked continuously since I was 17 and have no mortgage so why on earth would I want to work more hours as I'm getting older?

if people are thinking they will need to change jobs in their 60s they had better hope their new colleagues are not as ageist as many of this thread.

I think it's another "hump" we need to work through.

A lot of the problems at the moment with so-called age discrimination is lack of tech skills, as many people in their 50s and 60s didn't grow up with computers and so aren't really fully up to speed with modern workplace requirements as regards technology.

The following generation(s) will be more accustomed to "clicking" and apps for everything, so in 10/20/30 years as they approach retirement age, they'll be better equipped for dealing with the ever changing tech.

What I'm saying is that it's easier for someone, say, accustomed to using software on a laptop, to get used to apps on a smart phone or tablet. A lot of today's 50 and 60 year olds may not have been accustomed to using computers and other modern tech, so struggle to adapt to a modern workplace. Or, say a secretary or administrator having spent 20/30 years of working life dealing with paper and filing cabinets, etc., may struggle with the concept of a paperless office (i.e. the stereotypical person who prints and files all incoming emails!).

Obviously, not saying all older people will struggle in the same way, some will easily adapt, but what I am saying is that we've gone through a technological seismic shift over the past two or three decades, which has been hard for today's older people, that won't be quite so hard for the following generations.

Similarly with job applications as a lot of older people are accustomed to printing off a CV and sending it with a covering letter, whereas more and more employers are using online application processes where you have to enter data in online forms, followed by online aptitude tests, etc., all of which is alien to a lot of older people who can't navigate automated online application processes.

Nah, 50 and 60 year olds have worked throughout the entire technological revolution from the beginning of it impacting the workplace until now.

They literally learned their tech skills on the job. The reason they struggle to get work is due to discrimination and health/disability limitations.

A lot of today's 50 and 60 year olds may not have been accustomed to using computers and other modern tech,

I’m not 50 yet but this is a load of rubbish.

I started work in 2000 and have never had a job where most things weren’t done on computers. The 50 and 60 year olds now would have been in their 20s, 30s and 40s. Of course most are accustomed to using computers!

Not really - common sense. Can’t blame others for an individual’s ignorance.

How can they not give Gen X a state pension? I retire in 11 years, can't suddenly whip that away!

i think they’ve got themselves confused with Gen Z…..

i think they’ve got themselves confused with Gen Z…..

Or possibly they are a very late Gen X. I am, technically, Gen X but was born in 1980 so still have 23 years to go until state pension age.... (at least!)

@AnyDayAnyWay oh my god! Please! I'm mid 50s and I can't think of a single friend who doesn't use a computer daily in their work; we are employed in universities, NHS, schools. What planet do you live on?

Sorry it was @taxguru not @AnyDayAnyWay

I'm 35, am definitely working on basis I will be working into my late 60s. We are not going to be getting the retirements many of our parents have had. That said I quite enjoy work and I'm trying to not rush things with my career or do jobs that I don't enjoy. My hope is that by the time I'm 60 ill have my mortgage paid off and kids will be out the other side of university and some. I think that'll give me some flexibility to go part time or look at things like short term contracts with periods of time off which will keep me going for a good few years but with a more relaxed pace of life.

Every single person I’ve met in their 50s and 60s use computers confidently. There was a previous issue with the older generation but they’ve left the work force now. It’s pure ageism basically.

The problem with the government is a reality check is needed.

As we age, honestly? We often can't perform as well at 55 as we could at 30. Im hitting 40 and already noticing, I'm slower than i was. I don't concentrate as well, my memory is that bit poorer, I take longer to learn new things. Im fine staying in my current profession where my experience makes up for it and then some. But if i struggle with the stress and need to move to something "less demanding", all the things that are suggested seem to me to be more demanding, physically especially, not to mention involve learning new skills.

While it might be demographically ideal to have everyone work longer amd have a bigger workforce, a workforce of over 60s is very very different to a workforce of younger people.

If expect to live for a long period when elderly, we need to save a lot. Those years from 80-100 are expensive and basically unproductive. We live too long, sadly.

Oh and the computers thing is totally ageism. My parents are in their 70s and used computers confidently for a big slug of their working lives.

However, both are less good at learning anything new now, regardless of what it is.

Tbf, the only stories I've read are about the disappointment at not being able to get their pension at 60. Usually, it involves plans of being 'unpaid' carers to their grandchild/ren or plans to go live in the sun. Mostly, though, it's about their physical health not being up to working to 65/66.

Can you give a few examples of the financial plans that couldn't be reversed at such short notice i.e. one year or so(*), without significant financial loss?

(*) You'll see, even from this thread, nobody anywhere is buying the five/six year hike (at most given there was generous tapering in place) came as a genuine surprise to more than, perhaps, a handful who lived isolated (Amish-style) lives.

@biscuitnut Really good post, thank you!
Waspi women have had to campaign and fight for lots of things that seem so unbelievable now.
It seems so ridiculously unfair to the young servicewomen who had to leave their careers because they were pregnant. One example that still shocks me now.
Women who worked in a bank, same job as the men, sorry you can't get a mortgage, only for the men. Also , not eligible to join the company pension scheme in many work places in the past.
I agree though that young women are still juggling now , even though things like help with nursery fees, family credit payments , equal pay were not so much in place in the 70's and 80s .
Everything costs so much nowadays !!
We should not be hating against each other . Plays right into the Govts hands. Divide and conquor.