Age 56. Can't be arsed at work anymore.

[Whosaidthattt]

I'm a tired 56 year old. All these 'initiatives' and 'CPD'- I just can't be bothered anymore. Been there, did that 20 years ago. I have NO INTEREST in pretending to be excited/motivated by these 30 year olds and their enthusiasm! I get that they are young and excited about how they can change things but I just can't be arsed. Hoping to retire at 60 but that means another 4 years of excited puppies bounding about with their ideas. I'm not sure I can take it (or even care). How can I get through this final part of working life?? Help!!!

I’m 53 and feel exactly the same and I have been obsessed with retiring for a long time. I sit in meetings where some new initiative is being enthusiastically discussed and just think that we did this 20 years ago but better and with more money (local government). I feel tired, cynical and despite being middle management level I have so many layers of management above me I have no relationship with any of them and don’t give a shit what they think. I think I’m going to set up on my own as a consultant.

I hear you OP. I was extremely fortunate to be able to retire at 58 on a voluntary early severance package. Best thing I ever did.

Believe me when I tell you the 50-60 olds were once bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, fully on board, determined to make initiatives work.
@rhubay nails it with Disrespect for older people's learning costs businesses a fortune.

I feel same and I’m 46. Don’t think I can afford to retire until 60 as huge mortgage and my youngest won’t be 18 until I hit 60. DH 5 years younger than me.

id say plan plan plan. We’ve done the sums and I “should” be able to go at 60 but if the DC want to go to uni, I may go 3 days a week between 60-63.

if we downsized I could go earlier but we only bought our house 2 years ago so want to enjoy living in it.

most days I don’t mind my job and I don’t get Sunday night dread, but it’s the egos and corporate bullshit I can’t stand (law) which would make me go if I could financially

To add some balance, I intend to work until 70. I'm lucky in that I work for myself, but I like the mental challenge and it keeps me busy. Perhaps I'll change my mind when I'm in my 60's, but as I control my diary the freedom is great.

My people!!

Im 57 and have some decent pensions. Can I start taking them now? Will I get taxed if I take out £60k to pay off the mortgage?

hope you don’t mind me asking OP - seems like this might also be a factor in your life

I spent 20 years in the corporate world and aged 40 had a complete career change and it made all the difference. Life is too short to spend years being in a job/career you hate.

Its not that simple.

I earn a lot. 6 figures. The family budget is dependent on it.

The things i enjoy doing and find fulfilling, are not lucrative! I enjoy playing the piano. I'm nowhere near good enough to perform in any paid capacity and teaching would earn me approx 1/6th of what i earn now, at best, and I'm not a very good teacher either (lack patience).

I enjoy baking/cooking but would hate being a chef in a high pressured environment, also these things basically pay very little.

I think I'd have enjoyed something medical related but i would hate working shifts/long hours away from my children, and the roles that are more flexible are more poorly paid.

Whenever i look at things i could do that i would find more "fulfilling", they would involve huge sacrifices for my children, like moving hundreds of miles away from family & friends to live in a cheaper house, giving up their hobbies. As a mum i feel i can't do that.

I have absolutely no problem with them but it should be a personal choice and not something mandated as the company were dictating. In fact the one member of my team that massively objected to them mandating it would have been he/she but had no desire to broadcast it on all email traffic. It was the mandatory nature of the request that I felt I could not fully support or make others do against their will.

The main reason women have alleged equality and "opportunities" in the workplace isn't because the scales fell from the eyes of the menfolk who suddenly realised women are human beings capable of more than breeding and knitting, it was largely due to the realisation that it would benefit the economy in some respects. The price of everything now has it factored in that there are dual income households to pay for it.

See also the barely repressed resentment of women living off men.

Alot of the progress women have made has been at a cost - either choosing work over children for example, or finding themselves run absolutely ragged trying to do both. Sometimes no amount of household fiscal safeguarding can protect one from the vagaries of the market such as geopolitics, corporate restructuring, and technological progress moving so fast that suddenly one's 20 year career is reduced to "there's an app for that".

Obviously these things affect men too, but dealing with the fall out is often harder for women especially if they have a family to feed.

Unfortunately no matter how we try to dress it up, raise our vibrations and practise gratitude, society is still male centric in so many ways. What's the equivalent to the very real "old boys network"? A coven?

I am not trying to decry the hard work women have done trying to achieve a more equitable society in regards to work at all. I'm trying to point out it's still a Sisyphean task in some respects.

And it doesn't help when twats like a certain Canadian psychologist starts promoting quackery like "evolutionary psychology" in my humble opinion.

Sorry, I'm in a right mood today with a side order of the morbs. I'll just try harder.

Feel exactly the same. Doesn’t help that a few slightly older friends have already retired and I’m watching them enjoy their new lives, whilst treading water with my own.

I am a bit younger but feel similarly. I actually do quite like my job but it's relatively 'easy' - I wfh for 3/5 days and am part time. My last manager was a bit older than me and we didn't even have appraisals (I work in a v small organisation) as we worked so closely together and got on so well that she would tell me if there were any issues and pay rises were not linked to performance. Now I have a new manager and she's v enthusiastic, which is good, but no doubt after a year she will see that her ideas will not be received so well by the board of trustees.
I am staying there for the time being as the thought of moving to somewhere with quarterly appraisals and KPIs fill me with dread. I had this in my last job and hated it - was such BS.
I don't know if I want to retire in 7 years or so. I like having a purpose to my day - getting up and going to work etc. - but it depends on how my health is and what DH is doing and if we still need my income (would hope DCs will both be working f/t in good jobs as they will be in their late 20s then).

It’s not tragic. Most on this thread have had long careers and many still enjoy their actual job
It’s mostly the corporate bullshit bingo that we’re tired of.

Let us get on with doing a good job in peace without the role play, objectives and nonsensical jargon.

But the question is, why did you end up doing something that you aren't enjoying?

Did you have false illusions when you went into it?
Has the profession changed?

You must have transferable skills.

And if you have a partner, is there a conversation to be had around them stepping up their career and you stepping down a bit?

I don't think the things you say would be 'sacrifices' are necessarily that.
Basically, you're putting up with doing something you don't like for the sake of your children. They'd make new friends, their hobbies would go with them.

When they leave home and maybe moves hundreds of miles away themselves, will you regret not doing what you wanted to do?

55, used to have a very good, stressful high earning job. Every woman there except me was single, 40+ with no DC, that’s how all consuming it was. It left no space for anything else. I left when I had DC.

I now work p/t and I loved it for a long time. We are going through a major restructuring and it’s awful. I feel stressed out and overworked. The pay is poor too, but that didn’t matter. One manager told me that in a meeting it was said that they don’t care who leaves so long as they get the company
changes through. That’s nice! These are peoples lives we are talking about. A couple of my colleagues actually collapsed due to not getting a break and eating.

My point is, most companies do not give a shit about us. They’d throw you under a bus in an instant. I used to work in HR and the things I’ve heard companies say they are going to
do has made me into a complete cynic.

I want to keep my job till I’m 62, then retire. By then I can afford it. I’ll try and smile and wave, whilst quiet quitting. I am also looking for another job to top up my money a bit and give myself another interesting thing to do whilst my DC get older and fly the nest.

The corporate world has changed. Make sure you TAKE as much from them as you can because they take their pound of flesh from us.

I'm 59 and work in the NHS. I'm very disillusioned and tired. at 60 I will move to part time. I would 100% quit if I could but finances do not allow. Very tired, very sad about the sate of the NHS, and fed up with being abused and taken for granted but ignorant rude people

There are an awful lot of posters here in their 30s though saying they want to retire. That IS a tragic waste of their career.

I genuinely used to love my job. For the past 18 months or so, I’ve been struggling a LOT for motivation, due to menopause and related issues. But I’ve been clinging on to the hope that will pass. This thread slightly terrifies me! Is there anyone who has gone through this stage and come out the other side?

@Parky04 interested to hear what kind of work you do.

I've just been pushed out of my job at the age of 55, after many years of service. I can get by for a bit but will need to pick up some work at some point. Was previously in financial services.

Plenty of us have had satisfying careers, thank you. It's the requirement that we now work until we drop, making money for other people, or meeting exorbitant housing costs, whilst wage share has fallen over the last 30 years, that's the problem. People would like some time to slow down and enjoy life before they die or become infirm, after a lifetime of hard work.

Believe me when I tell you the 50-60 olds were once bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, fully on board, determined to make initiatives work.

Precisely. And what did their 50-60 year old co-workers do back then? Were they enthusiastic about the initiatives OP and her peers used to propose?

Mutual respect is needed.

Respect and appreciation for older people‘s knowledge and experience. But also respect and appreciation for younger people’s drive and energy.

The things you mention are outside of your control, other than at a general election!

Making money for other people? They're paying you too.

Work till you drop? Why is that happening?
Aren't you making this sound a tad dramatic?

Life expectancy of women is close to 85.
25 years of not earning is a long time.

People used to live for an average of 5 years after retiring at 65.

You can stop work any time you want to as long as you've enough savings or a private pension. But the state can't afford to provide for people for 30 years after they stop work. There aren't enough younger people working to make those ends meet.

The new life needs funds, energy, resilience.

I am a manager having to launch all these new initiatives. I am 50 so have been there, done that…I just make the right noises and get on with it. I need the money and the money is great so just taking it really….

@Sooverwork quiet quitting can getting you pushed out when it comes to the company making cuts.

Totally agree @PumpkinsAndCoconuts but the new (not the same as in my original comment) initiatives need to be in the right direction otherwise it’s pointless. Older workers don’t necessarily lack drive and energy, however they can be frustrated and bored to death!