To ask if anyone else over 50 isn't desperate to retire

[LornaDuh]

I'm 61 now so have taken a look at the retirement board on here and various threads about pensions.

People stating that life is too short. They want to retire to spend time on their hobbies, and to travel and volunteer.

Anyone else not keen on the thought of retiring? I like my job, my colleagues, the structure work brings. Work makes me appreciate weekends, holidays. If I had endless leisure time I'd probably waste it on Mumsnet and napping rather than crafting and hiking in the Alps.

I like some of the ideas here about winding down over time rather than stopping. I am having a second wind in my job, but I can also see that in a decade (so mid-sixties) I might be over that.

I have always found that slightly odd too: as if volunteering is intrinsically more worthwhile and enjoyable because you are not being paid.

Bur it is very dependent on what you do. Volunteering on a project with the potential to change people’s lives or make a big impact on an area etc I can see how rewarding that would be. Working in a political capacity, working with a drug or alcohol support unit or with children etc.

I’m pretty sure sitting on the till at a rural branch of Oxfam or Sue Ryder drinking tea and doing the crossword would not be particularly exciting. Kudos to people who do it but the idea that everyone should automatically prefer this to a paid job seems a bit odd.

@Thepeopleversuswork yes! I did some volunteer work for early years when my children were small and it was hard work - I was doing admin, grant applications, banking etc. So just as hard as a proper job, but unpaid and not in my area of expertise. I did it because my own children benefitted from the group, but I never felt fulfilled by it, it was tedious.

I wouldn't give up work and then volunteer, if I want to work I'll carry on as I am and get paid for it.

Personally, I like voluntary work where I can see a direct relationship between what I do and the recipient who benefits from it.

One of my voluntary roles is at a heritage steam railway. It's a very simple role, not technical in any way, and is basically just generally dealing with the general public (lots of them every day), giving advice, etc. The railway simply couldn't run without volunteers as the charity couldn't afford to pay wages for all the roles that need doing. They do have some paid employees (at all levels), who work alongside volunteers doing exactly the same thing. I live a long way from the railway, so don't go very often, but luckily they have hundreds of volunteers, so that's not a problem. It's really more of a nice day out for me when I go and is more of a social thing, plenty of fresh air, plenty of exercise etc.

Same with the library. I saw how it's closure by the council affected so many locals in the village, from the elderly who used it regularly, through to students doing homework, through to the young mothers who brought their toddlers for the mother/child reading sessions, down to the primary school children whose teachers used to bring them every week to borrow a reading book. For what is actually not much effort, a small group of us campaigned and got the council to allow us to re-open it to be run by volunteers. Really good to see it back to being what it used to be and seeing the users benefitting from it again.

I don't think I'd get the same sense of satisfaction if I didn't see an immediate result/link between what I do and the people benefitting from it, so I don't think I'd be happy to work somewhere like a charity shop where the funds go into some central pool to benefit people I don't see. I really need that direct link!

I WFH 4 days a week and mostly don’t hate my job so no, I don’t think so. Maybe if I had fantastically interesting hobbies or thought it likely I would have if not working but I’d probably be eating chocolate and scrolling through my phone. Might as well keep doing what am doing.

@Badbadbunny so I can absolutely see how rewarding your voluntary positions are. If I had more free time I would really enjoy something like this and you are lucky and probably very smart to have built this up.

But I think quite a lot of voluntary roles as @Almostwelsh says, can be surprisingly unfulfilling. In many organisations you end up with all the stress and irritation of a paid job (company politics, resource issues, lack of any real power or control) but without the compensation of money or the prospect of promotion or any real ability to make changes. Also charities and NGOs can be appallingly badly managed and chaotic.

I am very glad people volunteer and I would like the do more. I suppose I just struggle with the assumption that it’s all incredibly fulfilling and life affirming. I think a lot of people who are used to corporate jobs may actually find a lot of work maddeningly inefficient and ineffective.

63, and self employed with no plans to stop working but I'm re-drawing a few boundaries around pacing myself. My work is quite physical so building in more recovery time.

I feel very privileged to work in a role I absolutely love, and I take my hat off to anyone who isn't in that position and has to keeping working in a job they hate to keep paying the bills.

My DP was in a very stressful role and took the decision to go part time and work 3 days a week. We could afford for him to do this. Completely revitalised him and meant when he did retire 5 or so years later, he left a career he loved rather than job he despised.

I enjoy working; I have several jobs. However, if I had enough money to retire and still be able to afford to pursue my interests, I would.

Time is my most precious asset.

I was chatting to my DB1 yesterday. He's 68 and has no immediate plans to retire. DB2 is 64 and has also indicated no desire to retire any time soon.
Both of them could afford to AFAIK.
I also have friends in their 60's who could retire (financially) if they wanted to. They say they enjoy their jobs but if they didn't they would leave.

@Thepeopleversuswork

so I can absolutely see how rewarding your voluntary positions are. If I had more free time I would really enjoy something like this and you are lucky and probably very smart to have built this up.

I think it's just having a sense of direction to actually influence something. I had previously no interest whatsoever in our village library (other than occasionally borrowing a book) and personally, I really wasn't bothered when it closed. It was just the realisation that so many people missed it. I walked past every day, and there were constantly people trying the door and looking surprised it was closed. I just did a bit of googling to find that other villages were actively trying to get their's re-opened and I contacted our Parish council to help (other villages had their parish councils actively involved), but ours showed no interest whatsoever! So I talked to other villages about how they'd done it, and started causing a fuss in our village, eventually doing leaflet drops and local facebook group posts to drum up enthusiasm and over a hundred of us turned up at a Parish Council meeting which forced them to take us seriously. In the end, the PC were useless as a chocolate fireguard and not interested (too busy concentrating on the village bowling green!!), so we went straight to county council and started making a nuisance of ourselves with them. So, quite a lot of time and effort to get things moving, but now it runs itself and everyone's happy.

My next "campaign" will be trying to save our village post office, which is the last remaining "small shop" in the village and under threat of closure as the post master knows he'll make more money redeveloping the property rather than being the post master! I suspect we'll have to accept it ending up sold for a residential conversion to another sodding holiday let, but we're hoping to get at least a postage drop counter in the library as a last resort, if not a proper transfer of the full post office facility with a paid post master. It may not be "charitable" voluntary work, but it's certainly worthwhile for the community. We have to look after ourselves in our village as no one else will look after our ever diminishing amenities which have been on a downward spiral for the whole of the 25 years I've lived and worked in the village!

@Badbadbunny good for you! Honestly it sounds more worthwhile than traditional volunteering, not to mention more fun

I'll be 69 in a few weeks and am still working, albeit part-time. I love my job (welfare rights), find it incredibly satisfying, have great colleagues and a fantastic manager.

I expect if DP hadn't died very suddenly 4 years ago I might have retired, as we had things we planned to do that I don't want to do, or aren't feasible, on my own, but I'm very happy to carry on working as long as I am able to.

56 and tired of working. I plod along but my most productive years are behind me. Not sure I will go on much longer. I may change careers though as done this one all my life. I took a pension at 55 and could get by on that and savings until 67. Don’t know whether knowing that is making me think about it more.

I am 57 and not considering retirement for the next 10 years, I need the income to get kids thro uni and a bit more settled, plus I enjoy work and continue to get great satisfaction from it. I like holidays, but think I wouldn’t handle an endless holiday well. Ask me again in 5 years to see if I still feel the same! My job is quite flexible and I can wfh 2 days a week, all this is helping me continue to enjoy it. I do intend to start a few activities just for me now the DC are older, so when the inevitable retirement does come, I’m not all at sea. My DSis retired some years ago and rapidly got quite narrow minded and difficult, I don’t want to follow.

Instead of having retired a couple of years ago, which would have given me time to get a load of decoration/garden jobs out of the way before DH retires this summer, due to changes in government policy I still have to work another almost 5 years.

Dropped to 3 days a couple of years ago and that's a perfect balance. Can see myself continuing to 67 all things considered.

I'm so sorry to hear about your husband @godmum56 I don't take anything for granted (well, I try not to) as my mum died in her early 40s.

I try to do things that I want to now as part of my day to day life. I watched some YouTube videos of this couple who retired early with a view to travelling the world for 10 years. I couldn't be doing with that. Ten days and I'm ready for home!

Well, you'd be wrong there, Kimberley. We're just all different. You remind me of my MIL who loves to proclaim "only boring people get bored!"

Not true.

I had plans to volunteer but have yet to get around to it. I don’t want something that feels like a job that I’m doing to someone else’s timetable. I want something I can do as and when it suits me. Perhaps befriending by phone or litter picking.

stewarding is great if you are into festivals …..commit to 4 or 5 days at a time ….as many or few festivals as you like ….it’s great fun….lots of charities offer stewarding positions

Joe Biden wasn't, be maybe he is now? 🤷‍♀️

Agree. It’s such a ridiculous thing to say

It's just an everyday turn of phase. Like when people say "I'm starving" or "I nearly died laughing" - they don't mean it literally.

And shame on @Kitkat1523 for using that emoji when @Tralalaka explained about losing her husband 💐

I can't wait to retire (49) in a couple of years but retirement for me will still mean full time caring responsibilities for my younger child. But I do also love my job (self-employed) but I am so tired of the juggling between work & caring, I find it very mentally draining.
I was widowed at 42 after 2 years of illness & whilst working (different job) saved my sanity in some ways during this time it also taught me that at some point I have to start to put myself first. But that job wasn't sustainable as my child's needs escalated. My caring responsibilities also mean my retirement ideas all have to change but my job is very full on & very physical so looking forward to not having to constantly juggle everything

It was so offensive it just wasn’t worth responding to.

No I'm doing it so well and have loads of wisdom to offer. I know this makes me sound like a knobhead but it's probably true