To have thought it was normal to retire from the nhs on your 60th birthday

[Vinteduser8]

Colleague is sixty late July. I asked him what plans he had for retirement and he wasn’t happy as he has no plans to retire.

And of course we are all making the assumption this guy is actually paying into the pension at all. A surprising amount of colleagues haven't.

No they don’t have to go at 60. Some people can go at 55 ( myself included) but that would be a reduced pension for claiming early. At 60 there is no reduction, you get the full amount. Thats only for those who have years in the final salary pension scheme, 1995. People can choose to work as long as they like. You can also claim the 1995 section of your pension at 60, remain in work and continue paying into the 2015 pension and then claim that part when you reach your state pension age. Usually by 65, very few people are still working full time in the nhs.

What? I don't get my state pension until I'm 67. I can't live off my NHS pension for the next 5 years, I need both to have a fairly decent retirement. I can claim my NHS pension now if I had to but it would mess up my financial plans.
I'll need to work on the bank until I'm 70 thanks to my divorce which again has messed up my plans.

If you are in the 1995 scheme, I would get some pension advice, in that scheme anything you don't take at 60, is gone if you continue to work. For example if you 1995 pension is £1000 per month, you will have lost 2 years worth of this ( I am assuming you are 62). There are options to take your 1995 and carry on working and paying into your 2015 pension.

I wasn’t being ageist the job is very physically demanding

It seems ageist to ask that question. I wouldn't make assumptions. I plan to work until my body can no longer. I might keep going until I'm 70.

Retired at 55 from NHS with my full pension….

I could've gone at 60 but went at 63 and I'm loving it. I was in the 1995 scheme.

Exactly. No-one has to retire at 60 but many people can't wait to do so.

I'm not NHS but public sector and have a lot of colleagues in their late 50s who've worked for the organisation since they were teenagers and fully intend to retire at 60, which they can easily afford to do so.

Those who stay after 60 are viewed with suspicion as 'why on earth are you still here'? as few need to work for financial reasons.

Not true, it depends which NHS pension you have got. It is the 1995 scheme that allows retirement at 60, many approaching that age will be in later pension schemes which rule for later retirement. Speaking from experience here.

Not many people can afford to retire at 60 these days. My job share lady is 69 and has no plans to retire. People are working much longer these days.

@Springtime111 These are people who are mortgage free, DC left home, are receiving near six figure lump sums and a pension income of around £30k pa, or more if in senior jobs, often both partners are in similar professions so two pension incomes like this. There are many people in the NHS, also emergency services and wider public sector.

Younger people won't be able to retire like this at 60, but for the people who are now (coming up to) 60 of course they can afford to retire. Even those who are younger but were in the pension scheme before 2015 I think will be able to take a significant amount of their pension from 55/57 with not that much reduction, which will enable partial retirement - part time working with little or no loss in income, which is what I'm planning on doing from 57.

Yep. Working longer and working more when the kids are young too. Fucking depressing.

I've got a colleague who is over 70. She retired and returned. We are all desperate for her to retire for good. But it's not happening.

You were rude and ageist - no one has to retire at any age.

and the OP never suggested he did - you are just making things up now.
It isn't rude and isn't ageist to chat about life plans. It's normal conversation.

I've had conversations with people in their 20s about retirement planning.
As @AnnaMagnani said, it is a pretty normal conversation in jobs that are physically demanding, particularly - that's things like Nursing, emergency services, teaching, but also builders, gardeners, decorators, plumbers.

@Springtime111 - of course there are people able to retire when they get their works pension. Everybody has different circumstances, and, even if you look at everyone who has earned similar wages, everybody has made different choices over the previous 40 years as to overpaying mortgages, saving, or spending.

Really rude and tone deaf to ask someone that.

It's not a question I'd ask but it's actually causing a problem at my work.

There are lots of very senior people in their 60s happily working away (some part time) earning very good salaries who have no intention to retire anytime soon. The difficulty is that we can only support so many people at that grade so there is little room to promote younger people so the younger people are leaving 🤷‍♀️

Why should you be pushed out of the workplace because you get to a certain age? How would you feel? Should they all go and work at b&q? You don't know their financial and personal circumstances. Just easier for younger staff to go elsewhere for a promotion. Would be very hard for 60 somethings to be employed in a similar position elsewhere due to ageism like this.

He probably thought it was none of your business.

Perfectly acceptable question to have asked IMO.

Never worked in the NHS (although I have family who do) however I spent almost my entire working life in a privatised industry (ex-government owned) so I sort of get the form.

When I joined it was compulsory retirement at 60 for both men & women.
Obviously with government legislation this changed however it was still the thing that people went at 60 and lived off their (really quite good) company pension until SP kicked in, it was very rare for people to stay much after 60 (some did stay and I knew a couple of people in their late 60's and even early 70's but they were definitely the exception).
In this situation, the talk often came around to retirement and if someone wasn't leaving at 60 (or before in my case I am pleased to say) it always prompted a good natured discussion.

DH 'retired' at 60 for 4 days and returned to his senior management role on a new contract. He was on the 1995 scheme, so got a lump sum and monthly payment. We'll both be working till we're 67!

We're not mortgage free, still have DC at home, didnt get a six figure lump sum and not receiving £30k a year in monthly pensions!

Well that’s an ageist comment as you are very unsubtly saying that someone of his age can’t possibly be fit enough to do the job, whereas the correct test is whether they can carry out the duties of the job. You could have got yourself into a really bad situation here as by asking it could be interpreted as you creating a hostile environment based on age which is harassment.

That is really intrusive and ageist of you. It’s like asking someone on their 30th what their plans are for marriage/children if they are single/childless.

67 or 68 soon to rise.