How on earth do people work into their 60's and beyond.

[BG2015]

DP and I were talking earlier (he's now asleep at 7.15pm) and saying how do people work into their 60's and 70's.

My DP is 59, he works in demolition which can be quite an active job. He's out of the house at 6am as they travel all over the country and he often isn't back until 6pm.

I'm a teacher recently dropped to 4 days after ongoing health issues after having breast cancer in 2021. Im 55, 56 in February.

We're both knackered. Neither of us sleep very well at all. We eat healthily and used to go to the gym 2/3 times a week but now only manage walking as our form of exercise.

I'm desperate to change jobs, planing to retire at 58 and get a part time job in an office. I think once I retire DP will reduce his hours and slowly retire.

But how do people have the energy to keep working. A teaching assistant at my school has just retired at 71 and I really don't know how she's kept going.

Yep.

Pretty insensitive of you. Either you can't see she doesn't want to be at home because of the void left by losing her partner or you are directly pointing out you think she is too old to work each time you say it. Stop.

It's mindset. Forget chronological age. There are people who are slippers and couch aged 40 or running marathons in their 60 s and 70 s. People who stop learning when they leave school and others who are curious and interested in the world and continue learning for life. Mindset, attitude, mindset.

You are just leaving teaching, changing jobs.

@Middlechild3but also receiving a teachers pension every month!

DH is 63, he plans to work til 67.
He's self employed and does skilled manual.work, he leaves the house between 7.30 and 8am and comes home at 6.30pm. He often moots doing a 4 day week but he's always busy and never turns work away....so it hasn't happened!

I am a very senior professional in my mid 50s in a busy role which involves some travel. I love my job and intend to continue working for at least another 5 years.

However, I make sure that I prioritise my health - eating properly, daily walks and gym sessions etc. I get down time at weekends and all chores are shared with my OH. DC all have flown the nest which helps. I also outsource some of the cleaning and gardening.

With me, it is advance planning. I finally got a job in my 40s that I felt I could do to retirement. Started off as a job share, went full time, promotion, new leadership and still feel the same. I can also go back to PT/job share in future as the template was already created. Obviously there are no guarantees and things could change or it might not exist in a few years' time, none of have a crystal ball. Also this job has a much better employer pension contribution, so my pension will now be quite decent.

I'm also trying to write a book and this is a medium to long term additional income plan to take me into retirement- or just a nice hobby if it doesn't work out that way. We will have paid off the mortgage when I'm 55 and DH is 59, and likely both DDs will be financially independent or nearly so we can downscale if health requires it. Being four years younger I could also carry on working longer than DH- I've been the main earner for some time anyway. The plan is for early 60s for me, about twelve years away.

One of my colleagues is 75 and still enjoys work. But then his mother is 97- perhaps he has a point about not retiring yet.

I understand op, both teaching and demolition work are physically exhausting jobs. Can your dh swap to something less physically demanding?

I'm mid 50s, but have friends in their early 60s who really have had enough of work but can't afford to retire. My dad managed to get his pension at 62 so that he could retire. He was worn out with beaurocracy.

I do also have a colleague in their late 70s, but they are not v good at their job...!

Apologies, I did clock that AFTER I posted but couldn't delete my post. I stand corrected sorry.

My DH is a Coach driver, he’s 63 this year and really struggling. He does 5 days one week, 6 the following. He’s up at 5 am most mornings and home for 6pm. We are in bed by 8 -8.30 as he’s just so knackered. He has some other Heath issues but is reluctant to drop his hours as we still have 3-4 years left on the mortgage. I’m overpaying it as much as possible and getting him to just completely retire in 2 years as he can’t go on. Neither of his parents got to retirement age and while he is healthier than they both were at his age, he does have the same heart problems as they had and they both died very unexpectedly of heart attacks in their late 50s/early 60s. There is no way he will be fit to drive coaches full of kids when he is a 70. His accident rate has increased every year and while they are a very minor few bump/ mirror damages etc it’s still very unsettling and concerning.

I think the issue is that teaching is really full on all day & demolition work is physically exhausting. I do an admin role alongside teaching & the days where I have mostly admin I feel far less exhausted. I can go to the loo, have a chat, grab a snack when I want. So I would imagine that if you can get online tutoring you will find that much easier. Your DH could look into less physical work as I can’t see how anyone can do that beyond 60.

I really hope labour don’t scrap state pension. I won’t get a huge pension from teaching due to being PT & am relying on getting hold of both to have a half decent retirement.

Could he not reduce his days to maybe 4/week? That sounds like hard work.

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I’ve asked him to but the problem is the work place politics. is a family run firm and if he drops his hours, even with their attendant, he gets a reduced rate for below 35 hpw and he no longer gets the “easier” more comfortable jobs. If he takes a day off due to emergency sickness then they will punish him by withholding shifts for an extra 2-4 days depending on how pissed off the transport manager is. If you upset them then you get the crappier jobs, zero /reduced hours in school holidays etc. so I’m scraping every penny to get the mortgage reduced down so he absolutely CAN drop his hours or even retire and we can live on a tight budget. Mortgage is only £250 a month with £9k left on it so almost there. Hoping 2 years .

@Middlechild3 have you checked what you will get from your teachers pension before you make any big decisions. Or I'm guessing you are quite senior? It's just that 28yrs isn't that long. I've taught 43 and my pension is just about reasonable.

I think that working into your 60's and beyond depends on the job, your boss, work colleagues and most importantly your physical and mental health. In a lot of cases people are staying in jobs due to financial reasons but if they came into money they leave work. I have friends who worked hard for years but behind the scenes they were planning to leave work before retirement age.

At the moment I have a friend living abroad in her early 50's. She is doing voluntary work and is getting benefits. She recently found out that she can get into paid employment and not lose all her current income or extra benefits for a few years.
Doing this for a few years will give her extra income, boost her savings and pension. She has a few things on this year. She has decided to look for a PT job early in the new year because it will benefit her long term.

I know people as well that have let lifestyle creep up as they earned more and now they are stuck in jobs due to a big mortgage, credit card debit or an expensive car loans. They can look as if they are doing well but it's all debit.

Meanwhile other people earning the same did not take on a large mortgage, drove older cars, put as much as possible into pensions and staying in the UK for holidays when the kids were small. Now they have better savings and pension pots. I know one couple that did this and they are planning to retire at 60.

They can’t just scrap state pension so many are counting on it …I’ve paid in for decades they can’t just stop it without huge consequences/backlash.

It’s very difficult nowadays to keep working once you hit your mid/late 50s and onwards.

If they were to try to change anything they’d have to give a long lead in time…

That sounds miserable. Surely they want coach drivers who aren’t completely burned out. Would he earn enough doing Ocado deliveries?

I’m just worried that the 67 I’m aiming for will suddenly go up to 70. I think some people will be working until they drop!

You're not paying in though. You're funding the pensions of todays elderly. It just takes a few tweaks to channel the younger generations tax elsewhere rather than into our pensions.

There's a little line under my forecast saying it could go up to 68. Now there's rumblings about putting it up to 70. I can absolutely see them putting it up so more people have to work until they drop or fund it privately.

That’s what is concerning me. I am lucky I will get £9k/year at 60 so can drop my hours. But I will still need to work & if it does go up to 70 I will struggle. I am already knackered in my early 50s.

they just hope people will up their private pensions and be less reliant on the state pension, otoh many people, myself included, work pension doesnt kick in until i am 67

This is exactly why I left Nursing at the age of 50 !

Wow I'm 56 I worked full 70 hours a week but going to change to study teaching but how do you find time to exercise housework grandchildren study ???