Will retirement day ever arrive?

Pthree

Have you read / seen The Hunter Games?

Maybe they will start doing something similar for old people to keep the numbers down :eek:

P3

pimento

I honestly can't imagine doing my daily commute at 65 years old but I doubt I'll be able to retire before then.

somethingcorporate

I don't understand how the pension got pulled from under you, care to explain?

Pensions tend to be protected so they may have been watered down in future any previous contributions and entitlements should remain.

Pollycat

HeatherintheHills wrote: »

I'm a woman and am in the age group that keeps getting their retirement date changed. Through most of my working life my retirement age was 60, which would have been in a couple of years from now. Then it changed to 65, then it changed again to 66 and I'm now seriously wondering if I will get to retire at 66 or will it change again in the years before I get there? It has twice so why not again?

If you are talking about your state pension, I think you're wrong there.

I'm 60 next year (also a woman) and I've known that my State Pension wouldn't be paid at age 60 for many years - that was changed at least 20 years ago I reckon.

So, for the last 20 years I've known that my state pension was due to be paid in April 2017 (aged 63 years and 6 months - not age 60) but the damn Goverment (unfairly imho) changed this recently to 64 years and 9 months at very short notice.

It's that which I think is unfair.

Dunroamin

Pollycat wrote: »

If you are talking about your state pension, I think you're wrong there.

I'm 60 next year (also a woman) and I've known that my State Pension wouldn't be paid at age 60 for many years - that was changed at least 20 years ago I reckon.

So, for the last 20 years I've known that my state pension was due to be paid in April 2017 (aged 63 years and 6 months - not age 60) but the damn Goverment (unfairly imho) changed this recently to 64 years and 9 months at very short notice.

It's that which I think is unfair.

I think that the announcement was made a little bit less than 20 years ago (18/19?) but generally I agree with you, as I was affected as well. On the other hand, you only need 30 years' NICs now which balances out to a certain extent.

Dunroamin

Margaret52129 wrote: »

I think this is why they're doing it - so they don't need to pay out any pensions

Seriously though, I've worked full time most of my life (had a few years off to take care of my babies) and I was due to retire this year, but now have to wait till 2014! It really sucks when it's just within reach only to have it snatched away from you.

But, as a couple of us have been saying, these changes were announced nearly 20 years ago so it's hardly being "snatched away " at the last minute!

HeatherintheHills

Margaret52129 wrote: »

I think this is why they're doing it - so they don't need to pay out any pensions

Seriously though, I've worked full time most of my life (had a few years off to take care of my babies) and I was due to retire this year, but now have to wait till 2014! It really sucks when it's just within reach only to have it snatched away from you.

Exactly! That is the bit that really gets me.

Pollycat, the first increase for us was introduced in 1995, by which time we were over 40. The recent changes really are a disgrace and have undone many people's plans.

Somethingcorporate, the employer run final salary pension schemes I was in was scrapped. The personal pensions schemes which replaced them are subject to market forces, despite protection. When I started contributing even the worst case scenarios described were not as bad as the current forecasts I get. Back then, a good pension scheme was a major consideration when accepting a job offer and many people accepted slightly lower salaries on the promise of a good final salary pension scheme. That turned out to be a bad move.

Re house ownership, when I first tried to get onto the property ladder it was really hard to get a mortgage, they were very restricted as the Building Societies would only lend a certain amount each month. And if you didn't have a 10% deposit saved with the bank that you wanted the mortgage from, you were stuffed. Shopping around for mortgages just wasn't a consideration for ordinary people back in the 70s.

Historically, the days of being able to get a mortgage easily (80's and 90's) look like being a glitch in the normal pattern of home buying finance.

Hell I'm glum. Off to find chocolate.

puddy

i agree, when i started work, retirement age was 60 for women, then that changed as others have said, now in the last few years mine is already up to 68. i cant afford to retire early, not many can.

HeatherintheHills

pink68 wrote: »

To be fair it's not an enforced retirement date. It's really just a pension date. Can you not afford to retire before the state pension kicks in? even if it's only a year or two.

i am 43 and hate to think what the pension date will be by the time i get there. I know its a long way off but i'm trying to work out how to afford to retire earlier already!

What really scares me is that mine and my OH parents all died early so we may not see retirement at all!

As the job I did had very high stress levels I'd planned to retire at 55 and set up my pension planning on that basis. I "retired" (euphemism for burnt out) in my mid 50s from that profession but I've had to find alternative work I can do until I'm in my 70s and beyond.

I also face health problems that curtail my life expectancy, which is why I'm not holding out much hope of having a few years where I can put my feet up for a bit.

I think that is why I feel so robbed. I know it isn't rational but logic doesn't stop me feeling this way.

Itismehonest

We can all retire whenever we want providing, of course, we can fund that retirement.
Like the OP my retirement day gets moved further back but then I've known for many years that I wouldn't have made enough contributions to claim a pension of my own so the extra years make little difference.

However, it's pointless letting it get you down or becoming bitter years in advance. There are many people who spend years looking forward to retirement but never live that long. There are others who get to retirement & seem to die from a lack of purpose.

Life is far too short to wish away.