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 know some are.

As I said upthread, women who sat in the same (employer/union/pension company) briefings as me in 1995 are now bleating on social media they 'woz robbed' or 'woz cheated' by the government.

I even recall male colleagues laughing/joking and asking how it felt to finally achieve the 'equality' we'd demanded. I said I didn't mind, but I'd have preferred a mid-way point of, say, 63 for everyone as that would have been fairer to everyone. (That's before I had even a basic grasp of economics of course!)

But you can commute your pension to create a lump sum.

We are currently in a pension dispute with the (independent) employer (the NEU FB page is full of disputes).

CARE TPS is substantially better than the equivalent payments into a DC scheme. For someone in their 50s who was in NPA60, it's an estimated shortfall of £5-8k pa. For someone in their 30s who will have most of their money in CARE, it's in the region of £25k pa.

So whilst it may pain you to see what other people have, like @Kathryn1983 (I think) said, it's still a great scheme.

As was I and several colleagues who were affected. We were given he runaround and completely inaccurate information. Posters here are not appreciating that any compensation will not be in respect of financial loss, but maladministration on the part of the DWP. If they can ever be persuaded to admit it.

If the communication was anything like when DM died I can quite believe it wouldn't have been received. Bunch of useless fools who can't even send a simple letter unless it's asking for money.

Yes, but the failure of the DWP to act on recommendations to improve communications after 2005 was severely criticised. The DWP didn’t even start to directly, officially inform women affected until 2009 and then a lot of the information was wrong. The compensation is based on that maladministration.

I was one of the women affected. I heard about it purely coincidentally on the radio. I made several enquiries via DWP and was consistently given totally wrong information because basically their staff weren’t well up on how the changes were being phased in. Even my pension forecast at the time didn’t accurately reflect the changes. DWP say they started to write to people affected officially from 2009. That’s 14 years after the changes were implemented. I was never officially informed. I don’t think l’m alone.

That being the case they wouldn’t have been entitled to compensation anyway. The ombudsman didn’t recommend recompense on the basis of letters not received, but those not sent, or sent too late. Maladministration by DWP.

But what people on a defined benefit scheme fail to realize is even if they voluntarily paid 13.5% into a defined contribution scheme they would be getting approximately 80% less in the end because that employer contribution is never going to compare to what you get now ! To equate to the same pension pot you'd be salary sacrificing 30% of your salary !! That's an enormous difference no matter what way you slice it!

I agree teachers are underpaid I totally do (and nurses and police etc) but sorry people moaning about a pension that pays out up to nearly 6-8x more than literally every one in private industry on a similar working salary is crazy talk! Anyone can add voluntary tax free contributions to pensions so yes I can get mine to be equal to a teachers but it would mean reducing my pay by over 30%! Because my employer only contributes 3% which is standard these days! It incomparable.

Mine is 68 but totally expect it to go up to 70. Personally, I do actually want to work that long as I enjoy holidays and dont like the idea of not earning while im still fit and able (I know this can change, not taking it for granted). I keep myself fit and healthy and cant imagine filling my days from 55/60 onwards. I think it has been fine for our parents generation as lots of other people were retired (MIL does every club under the sun in a week, retired before 60). My friends wont be retired at 60, my DH wont be retired at 60 and i’d rather be working and mixing with all ages. I do think the general feeling out there is everyone expects it to go up to 70.

I’ve been making my plans based on it being 70 for a fair few years now.

I intend to actually be in a position financially to retire at 60. Whether or not I will do that depends on how I feel when I get there!

Agree with this - I know several ladies working into their late 60’s/early 70’s and they do it for the extra money, the social side and the routine. They dont work full time and their social lives are better than mine. I dont see work as a negative, I see it as a positive at this age. I really feel it actually keeps them younger.

The big difference though is wanting to work versus having to work. For those that are capable of and want to work past retirement age work can be very beneficial (Aged 82 my grandmother helped other people with their gardening and my 73 year old father in law is building a house). What some people are worried about though is being unable to retire and therefore having to work but struggling physically to do.

I agree that 40 hour weeks at 68 would be too much for alot of people. But surely thats fairly unlikely if you’ve worked your whole life? You would most likely be able to reduce hours to a reasonable level?

I think the issue would be employers offering that flexibility.

Yeah l used to think like this at 35

Then: the menopause kicked in and gave me terrible anxiety. The 3 ‘mild’ car accidents ( not my fault) I’d had it my 20’s and 30’s came back to haunt me with a vengeance. I was crippled with pain and off sick with it a lot.

My knees after 26 years of teaching, crouching down and racing up and downstairs became unbearably painful.

l got ill health retirement at 57. I’ve been ill with other issues ever since.

Dont take the ability to work to 67/8 as a given. I hardly know anyone who’s made it to that age in my circle. Most have had to stop in late 50’s early 60’s. Mainly professional jobs.

The ability to cope mentally and physically reduces as you get older. Started about 47/48 for me. I managed to hang on, but no way could l have made it to 60

I work with mainly women in their 50’s (as I mentioned others in their 60’s) and this really isn’t my experience at work. They are just as enthusiastic as I am in being younger. Im busy raising kids too, but they are often talking about what they are doing after work - walks/clubs/going to the gym etc. They seem to have more energy than me! It does sound like you have had some incredibly difficult experiences that I can imagine can totally knock you back and I definately dont take health for granted. Its a good thing menopause is talked about alot more too and there seems to be alot more help out there and workplaces having to make adjustments too. I’ve already seen menopause help on offer at my work so hopefully thats a sign its being taken seriously and not something thats going to make women give up their careers.

I agree with @ArseInTheCoOpWindow

Up to my mid 40s I enjoyed my job and thought I'd be happy and able to work for another 20 years to my late 60s. But now a few years and peri menopause later I feel exhausted, physically and mentally. I've worked FT for 35 years and I'm done. I'd retire tomorrow if I could afford it. A few years ago that would have been unthinkable to me.

Everyone is different, especially regards health, it's definitely not a given that you'll be able or willing to work to late 60s. And employers can be notoriously ageist and lacking in flexibility so the ability to reduce hours etc might not be possible.

Ironic that I've just posted at the same time as @Isitautumnyet23 with complete opposing views.

I think this shows we are all different!!

I do agree and can only go on how I currently feel and seeing those who work around me. I do think there is no getting out of the fact we are going to be working longer as we are living much longer than past generations. I dont think anyone in my age group (most of my friends are 30’s/40’s) thinks they will be retired by 60 or even 65. Employers will have to make adjustments for that and offer more flexibility, alot more measures in place to support women through menopause etc or other health problems they face. But im surprised at anyone who isn’t aware of it being 68 as im fully expecting it to be 70 by the time I retire.

My mum worked part time as a housekeeper until she was 70, then her employer died. DH had a part time driving job until he was 68. I retired from full time work at 60, my minuscule, much reduced state pension, plus a small occupational pension wasn’t enough to live on, so I also worked part time til I was 65.

It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

Life expectancy in the UK is falling since the decline in the quality of NHS services.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/lifeexpectancies/bulletins/nationallifetablesunitedkingdom/2020to2022#:~:text=Life%20expectancy%20at%20birth%20in%20the%20UK%20in%202020%20to,from%2083.0%20years%20for%20females.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/231119/life-expectancy-declining-many-english-communities/
Life expectancy was already declining in many communities before covid

They are just as enthusiastic as I am in being younger

They may act it, but l bet they’re not. Who really cares about climbing the corporate ladder at 60?

I know a few people who have gone for (and got) big promotions after 60. It depends on the individual, surely?