To think that constantly increasing retirement age will just cause an increase in health related benefit claims?

[PyongyangKipperbang]

I am early 50's and have worked in hospitality for years, a very active job.

I am feeling it now, I really am. Back, general fitness and plantar fasciitis. Longer to recover from physical exhaustion. On it goes.

Surely people in physical occupations like mine, nursing, trade, retail etc are going to need to stop far sooner than people in desk based occupations? When we physically cannot keep going (my retirement age is 67 currently) what do we do?! Our health issues are often caused (or at least, exacerbated) by our careers, and our skills are not those that would transfer into office based jobs. Even if they were, there simply are not enough jobs for us all on top of the people our age already doing them.

So what is the alternative? I cannot see any other way than to claim benefits until state pensions kick in. And dont forget that a lot of people in manual jobs dont have private pensions as these have always been traditionally lower paid jobs. Those of us born in the 60's/70's were sold the state pension dream, we didnt need to worry about private pensions. It only became clear that actually we did when it was too late for those of us on lower salaries to make enough provision for old age.

It's humiliating for a 65-year-old to be bullied by Job Centre plus staff because they have run out of money and need UC to survive until 67.

Not the can't be bothered mob, but it's cognitive decline too, in my field you have to be razor sharp, focused, reactive and able to work at significant pace, when we don't people die. I had an older colleague once have to ask me how to unlock his new I phone, he was past retirement age and mentally couldn't cope with the demands of the job either, he was missing risk and forgetting detail left right and centre which is crucial in my field (criminal justice)

Not according to this - https://trustedcarepro.co.uk/insights/average-age-of-person-in-need

I don't know why people in their 60s can't just take a reduced state pension, based on life expectancy. So say life expectancy at 67 is 15 years, and you take your pension at 65. You get 15/17 ths. I suppose that the GOVT hopes people will carry on working, but if they claim working age benefits instead, the govt is losing more than if it paid a reduced pension.

Yes. I never realised how well my Mum was, her and my GM were still doing some type of work at 79, until I went to work in a care home, most residents were younger than my Mum. If we take into account, care at home/supported living, then it's largely that demographic. My auntie is still doing well, in her 90s. Genetics plays a huge part. Health changes depending on where you live. The 68+ men around me, needing care are ex miners, that takes it out of your body. Before safe lifting policies, people's backs/knees, would be done in. So people eho are now 55+.
I do think using public transport vs having a car, being able to heat your home adequately makes a difference. Everyone I know who is getting Covid repeatedly, are finding they now need antibiotics because a cough turns into a chest infection. I can't imagine that lung wise, they won't have issues as they age (whuch is also the opinion of lung specialists).

Exactly.

Also we have young people who can't find job so insisting that older people work longer just means less job vacancies and more youth unemployment so again more benefits being paid.

What usually happens already with trades is the older staff move to sales and estimating jobs.

When I had carpeta fitted recently an older guy (early 60s).came to do the measuring and discuss types of underlay and carpet weaves and two younger guys did the actual fitting.

Obviously that is harder if you are a one man band.

Another route for older tradies is to move in to teaching their trade at colleges.

More than that, going into work as soon as you can sets up a work ethic and gives young people experience of working life. If they’re stuck there not being able to find a job because they’re full of people in their 60s desperately waiting until they can retire, then it’s disheartening - as well as bloody stupid!

Your retirement age is whatever you want it to be. I retired at 64, and wish I’d done it earlier.
All the government is doing is pushing back the date when you get the State Pension. It’s just an encouragement to fund your own retirement.

Plus dodgy endowment mortgages that didn't live up to the hype and were worse than traditional plans when the stock markets crashed.

It is not that simple though.

Many people don't have enough private pension provision because of low wages, breaks in employment to look after kids and relatives, illness, unemployment, disability and so on.

Plus with the high cost of living/housing/bills people don't have spare money at the end of the month to add to a private pension scheme.

We have a state pension for a reason...

The average healthy life expectancy in the UK is 60.9y for women, 60.7y for men. (ONS). A large majority of people working past that age will be in poor general health.

Anyone fortunate enough to be able to retire before state pension age should give it serious thought. Inevitably a significant number of people working into their 60s and 70s will need health and disability support.

I think the sad truth is that politicians want to push the age of retirement up because they know full well a large number of people will die before they are allowed to claim a state pension...

Surely not

I think that instead of increasing the state pension age, thought should be given to reducing tax breaks on private pensions. A lot of better off people can reduce their tax liability by putting surplus money away. But poorer people don’t have surplus money.

I’m all for incentives for people at the lower end of the scale who need to be saving.

The same thing that happened when they were 60 and it was raised to 65 or 65 and it was raised to 67. They claim the appropriate social security benefits.

If the State pension age is raised, the period for claiming other State benefits is extended as well.

There is a lesson here. Prioritise saving for retirement ahead of holidays, expensive cars and designer labels.

That said, I know there are those that genuinely can't afford it, but I do have a hard time believing that a generally well person, from the age of 18 right up to their mid 60s never had an opportunity to save anything at all.

Remember, don't confuse state pension age with retirement dates. They don't have to be the same. Also, don't assume standard retirement dates quoted on private or occupational dates are set in stone. You might be able to access monies flexible or take pension benefits earlier in return for a lower income.

Finally, you may have the ability to phase your retirement, cut down on hours, take a portion of your non state pensions to bridge the gap. Don't assume its all or nothing.

There is a lesson here. Prioritise saving for retirement ahead of holidays, expensive cars and designer labels.

These things are out of reach for a lot of people, especially single people paying rent and struggling to save for a deposit while paying off student loans.

The system favours the rich, every time.

It favours people who earn a decent wage, I'll give you that. Everything is easier for the rich. That's just life.

Yes those things will be out of reach for some. But whether it is fair or not, assuming your NI record is up to date, if you're not already there, you'll get state pension at 67/68 and it isn't enough to live a fulfilling life on. I don't think the tax payer should fund anymore, it is already unaffordable really, so the rest is up to you.

We pay income tax on it when drawing it though so it is taxed.

A % is tax free.

Living longer does not mean living fitter. Ok, there are some spritely 90 year olds but working most of your life takes its toll.

Im in health care and have been echoing @PyongyangKipperbangwords for years. Most nurses are female and the menopause as well as childbearing, being on their feet all day and the general toil of a demanding job leaves many of them wrecked. There’s also failing eyesight/hearing, loss of concentration/memory and loss of confidence in the mix. In the UK we are essentially paying older nurses to be off sick and back filling the posts by raiding African and other poorer nations’ nurses.

I really empathise with those that need to keep working long after they’d ideally give up.

I heard a conversation on the radio about this recently, how it is an unfair way of reducing pension costs, there will be some people who will have lived 30 years in retirement (the well elderly, often from higher socioeconomic groups) and some who will pay national insurance for a long working life and barely live long enough to retire or draw a penny of pension. Life expectancy is an average and there are a lot of factors which may reduce it for some groups/individuals.

An alternative/fairer solution was suggested but I can’t remember what it was

Yes, but tax relief on contributions allows greater compounding growth. Then you can use your 25% tax free cash allowance and take advantage of a lower tax band. So pensions are an incredibly efficient way to save for retirement.

NI payments stop when you get to retirement age. Which makes sense.