Working into 70s and 80s

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DM works 20 hours a week aged 77. I'm curious how long she might go on working. I would love her to just retire and enjoy life, before she gets into any ill health.

My mum and dad basically sat on the sofa from their late fifties. Working is good for lots of reasons.

My granny worked four days a week as a bookkeeper from 9-3 until she was 80. She loved her job. When she had a hip replacement at 78 and couldn't manage the bus any more the company paid for a taxi each day. When she retired the plant nursery over the road from her house asked if she'd do their books so she did that for a couple of years for a day a week. She was needle sharp and I think work helped with that.

Thanks for the perspectives. These make a lot of sense. She doesn't think she can afford to stop. She has basic state pension and under 70k cash savings. She says she will work until she dies but I don't think she loves what she does as she moans and expresses regret a lot, in between research projects that grab her attention for a few months. I think it's probably a good job for her as its evenings so she doesn't sit around getting depressed.

State pension on its own is not a lot of money so I don’t blame her for wanting more income than that. Is she paying rent? Or maintaining a home she owns? It’s an expensive business. Is she managing to save at the moment?

Our chairman is 77 - he networks at least 3 times a week , regularly is at gigs and football ( most weeks) and has a £12 million a year turnover business. I think for some people at that level work is their raison d’etre and also their social life. But even at the opposite end of the spectrum I’ve known many take on a supermarket job mid 60s and keep it for years

Yes she owns a 1 bed flat. There's a small amount of maintenance. The lease is also extremely low so something needs to be looked at with that but hopefully the costs of lease extensions will come down. She manages to save quite a bit as her outgoing are low. I just worry about her having an accident as she drives for work at nights (care worker) but I am having anxiety about a lot of things at the moment, so should probably stop thinking about it.