Will retirement day ever arrive?

patchwork_cat

As someone else has said I can't imagine doing the commute at 65. One thing that worries me is we will have nurses on geriatric wards nursing patients older than they are. Can you imagine a paramedic or a firefighter rescuing people in multi storeys at 67, they will either have to go on desk duties ( if they can) or go off sick and therfore any saving from pension will be negated.

I am another one that has seen retirement age change 3 times.

DUKE

Same here, I'm seriously going to start doing the lottery as I'm not having it!

Dunroamin

patchwork_cat wrote: »

As someone else has said I can't imagine doing the commute at 65. One thing that worries me is we will have nurses on geriatric wards nursing patients older than they are. Can you imagine a paramedic or a firefighter rescuing people in multi storeys at 67, they will either have to go on desk duties ( if they can) or go off sick and therfore any saving from pension will be negated.

I am another one that has seen retirement age change 3 times.

But people don't have to stay in the same job/career until they retire. Look at police officers who retire from the service comparatively early, most of them don't stop working, they just do something else instead.

Pollycat

HeatherintheHills wrote: »

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.

OK, but that's hardly through most of your working life which is what you stated in your first post.

Itismehonest

patchwork_cat wrote: »

As someone else has said I can't imagine doing the commute at 65. One thing that worries me is we will have nurses on geriatric wards nursing patients older than they are. Can you imagine a paramedic or a firefighter rescuing people in multi storeys at 67, they will either have to go on desk duties ( if they can) or go off sick and therfore any saving from pension will be negated.

I am another one that has seen retirement age change 3 times.

No, the idea isn't to keep in exactly the same position throughout.

Think more in terms of the old system in hospitals where the nurses were relatively young, the sisters older & matrons (who, by then, were seldom doing the heavy work) were older still.
Each person doing a job which reflected their experience & age.

HeatherintheHills

Pollycat wrote: »

OK, but that's hardly through most of your working life which is what you stated in your first post.

Mmm, yeah, it was! I'm 57 now. I had my first part time job at 15 and was working full time and studying evenings by the time I was 17. The rule changes came in when I was 40, so that is 23 years of full time work before that and 17 since. I don't have children so continued full time throughout.

All my qualifications were obtained while working full time. I studied during the evenings and weekends for a good few years.

But I admit that by the time I do retire, after 49 years of full time work, that ratio will have changed to 23/26.

HeatherintheHills

Dunroamin wrote: »

But people don't have to stay in the same job/career until they retire. Look at police officers who retire from the service comparatively early, most of them don't stop working, they just do something else instead.

But the police retire on a pension, so additional employment is an option, not a necessity.

When you HAVE to find an alternative job it is a whole different ball game.

Itsmehonest, just think about that hospital situation you describe, a lot of young nurses, a few older sisters and one matron. So what happened to the rest of the once young nurses?

Itismehonest

HeatherintheHills wrote: »

But the police retire on a pension, so additional employment is an option, not a necessity.

When you HAVE to find an alternative job it is a whole different ball game.

Itsmehonest, just think about that hospital situation you describe, a lot of young nurses, a few older sisters and one matron. So what happened to the rest of the once young nurses?

Yes, of course, but I was using it as a simplistic example of how the progression was made. There are only an infinite number of certain jobs in any profession but the experience gained through years of, in this case, nursing, could be an asset in other ways - teaching or tutoring the next generation of staff or working for the various suppliers (eg pharmaceutical, medical equipment etc).
They may take additional qualifications & move into a slightly (or even completely different) job.

People have always side-stepped out of one role into another. One of the best qualifications for any job is experience & that's something which older people have.

Bluemeanie_2

I'm just 29, and due to retire at 68! Sure it will increase by the time I ever finish work!
It's done me good in a way. I've always been a grafter and a saver, but now I am striving to put loads of things in place so I can have a comfortable retirement earlyish! All being well of course!

Svenena

Bluemeanie wrote: »

I'm just 29, and due to retire at 68! Sure it will increase by the time I ever finish work!
It's done me good in a way. I've always been a grafter and a saver, but now I am striving to put loads of things in place so I can have a comfortable retirement earlyish! All being well of course!

Ditto this - I'm also 29. I don't doubt that our state pension age will increase from 68 at some point over the next 40 years, but as I hope to retire in my fifties, I put some money aside every month into a retirement fund (separate from my savings for house deposit, and separate from my employers pension). I intend to do this for the rest of my life. The average life expectancy for someone of my age is over 80, so if working from 18 - 58 has to fund that, in simple terms that means I need to save/invest around a third of my lifetime salary for retirement. The money isn't going to magically appear, for anyone.

Things aren't so glum - if you think you won't be able to afford to retire when you want, there's always the option of changing jobs to something more enjoyable, or going part-time, or working from home, etc.

Or perhaps us 'young uns' are just overly optimistic :rotfl: