UK retirement age.

[piratelassie]

Over the next few years the UNITED Kingdon government is to raise the retirement age to 70. [God help the construction worker by the way]. This just shows the state of the UNITED Kinkdom today. Surly its now time to try independance from the union. Other small european countries manage by themselves and most i believe have a lower retirement age than 65. So lets govern ourselves, after all most grown ups do.

[Blarney]

My God, you're not seriously suggesting that Alex Salmond could run the country??:eek:

[ducati]

Interesting you say try independence. Do you have a plan B?

[Leanne]

But by having true independence it would also include financial independence - this could only be a bad thing :(

[ducati]

Currently there is no way the Scottish economy could survive on its own. We have a ridiculously unbalanced economy in favour of the public sector, Business is leaving Scotland in droves and no new business is coming in to replace it. How can we possibly pay for councils that employ 10 times more people than the biggest private employers in their area?

[piratelassie]

But by having true independence it would also include financial independence - this could only be a bad thing :(
Why would this be a bad thing?

[piratelassie]

My God, you're not seriously suggesting that Alex Salmond could run the country??:eek:
Hes doing a pretty good job at the moment

[Gronnuck]

Don’t be fooled by Alex Salmon’s rhetoric. The only reason SNP won as many seats as they did at the last Scottish election and formed a minority government was because at that time many people just wanted rid of Labour.
Scotland could never be financially independent. As Ducati says we have proportionally more public sector jobs than England and most of them would move south if we became independent.
Scotland doesn’t have the manufacturing industries it once had so we’re not producing anything worth selling, except perhaps computer games!

To your original point. The default retirement age was set in the 1920’s when male life expectance was the early seventies so someone could expect to spend about seven years in retirement. Today life expectance is the mid eighties so someone could expect to spend twenty years in retirement. That retirement has to be paid for. Demographics are such that we have fewer workers contributing to support an increasing number of pensioners and this cannot go on. Only recently we arrived at the point for the first time in our history we have more people aged over 60 than we have children under 16. We have to allow older people to work on should they wish to do so. That may mean people have to make their own provisions for a pension should they wish to retire earlier. For people in heavy manual work there may be an issue but as with most employment there is no guarantee of a job for life. People will have to adapt and/or retrain; lots of people are already doing so.

[Angela]

I like the idea that people who want to work on beyond 65 should be allowed to, but even then I wonder if this will be at the expense of younger people finding work. There aren't nearly enough jobs for everyone as it is.:(

Having to work until you're 70 to collect your state pension......? I've always thought it was strange that women could receive a state pension at 60, but men not until 65, since statistically women live longer than men. So I'm in agreement with it being 65 for everyone.

But 70... again I question where the extra jobs will come from. Also, people in their 60s are often very active in voluntary work and/or caring for their very elderly relatives or for their grandchildren. This isn't the contribution to the economy by working and paying taxes that governments are so keen to focus on, but with cuts in public services, it will be an increasingly important social contribution. If everyone is working up to 70, most of these folk in their 60s will be too busy and too tired to be doing voluntary work as well.

It's unfair to speed up the process of change in retirement age so that people now in their fifties are unprepared for it. Not everyone is fit and well enough at 60 or 65 to want or to be able to carry on working. Life expectancy varies greatly depending on where you live and what your social background is -not everyone lives to be over 80, and of those who do, many people are in poor health in their latter years.

People who currently work on beyond pensionable age mostly do so because they enjoy their work, not because they need the money. It's a very different story if you're forced to work to put food on the table. Men retiring at 65 now could already have been working for 50 years to receive a state pension!

[Invisible]

70! That's 48 years away for me and I've already been working full time for 6 years. No doubt by that time retirement age will be higher. Time to start pension methinks

[EDDIE]

Over the next few years the UNITED Kingdon government is to raise the retirement age to 70. [God help the construction worker by the way]. This just shows the state of the UNITED Kinkdom today. Surly its now time to try independance from the union. Other small european countries manage by themselves and most i believe have a lower retirement age than 65. So lets govern ourselves, after all most grown ups do.

Its not so much as the uk is in a mess people are living longer now when the retirement age was set at 65 average person was living between 65 to 70 these days 65 is not old now most people are getting to 75 and upwards and the system cant cope with that thats why there raising it

[glaikit]

It's okay if you're fit and healthy enough to work post 65 and are in a job where it's viable to do so. As long as there is a safety net built in for people who are unable to do so.
Good point about how this affects the young people starting out in the job market. Don't know if there's been any research done on that.

[Bobinovich]

My advice for younger folk just now would be to train in something marketable which could allow you to become self-employed in the future, and also to start a personal pension. The training could be something on the side of your existing job, but the most important aspect IMO would be that it's something you enjoy or are already interested in. There's no point doing a job JUST for the money, if you can do it for the ENJOYMENT and the money can just be a happy bonus!

Having been S/E for 16 years, and even at the tender age of 41, I've already contemplated what I want to do as I near pension age, and so far, as long as my health permits, I'd like to continue working - albeit in a reduced capacity to allow me time to pursue hobbies, and travel a bit.

With all the major expenses hopefully out of the way by then (mortgage, loans, etc.) and a personal pension behind me, supplemented by a little income from my continuing business, I'm hoping that retirement will be much like today just with a greater emphasis on free time.

I know it's not for everyone, but I can seriously recommend it.

[TopCat]

Hes doing a pretty good job at the moment
Take your coloured specks off.[evil]

[series2A]

Nothing stopping you taking a private pension and stating what age you want to retire, or is there?

[Sara Jevo]

How would Scotland be any better off?

We'd be saddled with 10 per cent of the national debt or whatever.

And Scotland has an even bigger imbalance between the public and private sectors than the rest of the UK.

Doesn't the revenue from the private sector pay the pensions of the public sector and the state pension?

[EDDIE]

It's okay if you're fit and healthy enough to work post 65 and are in a job where it's viable to do so. As long as there is a safety net built in for people who are unable to do so.
Good point about how this affects the young people starting out in the job market. Don't know if there's been any research done on that.

Well if you start a pension at a young age that makes a big difference to you and will give you the chance to retire at an age you want to but the troubles is most young people dont think like that and if you try telling them there not interseted but who is at young age.

But there will always be a safety net for people that cant afford to plan for there retirement
I think its a case of you either go all out in pensions or dont bother i dont think there is an inbetween were u can have a private pension and get entitled to benifits?

[J C Denton]

Other small european countries manage by themselves and most i believe have a lower retirement age than 65.

The only major European country with a retirement age lower than 65 is France. They're raising their retirement age from 60 to 62 as they can no longer afford to pay for people to retire at 60.

[ducati]

My plan was to live fast and die young..............oops :eek:

[webmannie]

My advice for younger folk just now would be to train in something marketable which could allow you to become self-employed in the future, and also to start a personal pension. The training could be something on the side of your existing job, but the most important aspect IMO would be that it's something you enjoy or are already interested in. There's no point doing a job JUST for the money, if you can do it for the ENJOYMENT and the money can just be a happy bonus!

Having been S/E for 16 years, and even at the tender age of 41, I've already contemplated what I want to do as I near pension age, and so far, as long as my health permits, I'd like to continue working - albeit in a reduced capacity to allow me time to pursue hobbies, and travel a bit.

With all the major expenses hopefully out of the way by then (mortgage, loans, etc.) and a personal pension behind me, supplemented by a little income from my continuing business, I'm hoping that retirement will be much like today just with a greater emphasis on free time.

I know it's not for everyone, but I can seriously recommend it.

I was once quoted in the 'works' magazine that money isn't everything, and i stand by that. It isn't, really enjoying and a total belief in what you do matters!

I fully endorse what you have descibed bobinivich, however not everybody is comfortable with self-employed.

I would ask all to really think about what they want to achieve and to 'GO FOR IT' AND don't be afraid to ask business people fthat has been there and done it or advice! We don't bite!!

I and many other well known business people would mentor if asked. PM if you want further details

[Aaldtimer]

Well, to quote someone else..."If I'd known I was gonna live this long, I'd taken better care of myself!":(

[horseman]

Much chuckles in there,I was in a physical job,but I liked it an it wAs local, good money, an lots of friendly workmates,I went 2 years over the limit, an even then did'ent want to leave it, but did cos' mrs wanted to travel--an as we all know- her indoors always has the last word, an as she said- what are you going to do--wait for bad health to come along an strike you down--that was the clincher.So now we are quite content,an I wish all of you the same.

[Angela]

My advice for younger folk just now would be to train in something marketable which could allow you to become self-employed in the future, and also to start a personal pension. The training could be something on the side of your existing job, but the most important aspect IMO would be that it's something you enjoy or are already interested in. There's no point doing a job JUST for the money, if you can do it for the ENJOYMENT and the money can just be a happy bonus!

Having been S/E for 16 years, and even at the tender age of 41, I've already contemplated what I want to do as I near pension age, and so far, as long as my health permits, I'd like to continue working - albeit in a reduced capacity to allow me time to pursue hobbies, and travel a bit.

With all the major expenses hopefully out of the way by then (mortgage, loans, etc.) and a personal pension behind me, supplemented by a little income from my continuing business, I'm hoping that retirement will be much like today just with a greater emphasis on free time.

I know it's not for everyone, but I can seriously recommend it.

I agree with you completely Bob, and that was our plan too. Our work was in many ways our life -we worked long hours and were never all that well off, but we really enjoyed what we did and hoped that we'd carry on working more or less for ever if we were fit and well. With the balance shifting more towards free time as we got older.

Sadly our business went bust when my OH was 50 and I was 44. As a partnership, not a limited company, we lost everything. :(

At that time bankruptcy meant losing all the money you'd put into your personal pension, even though you wouldn't have been able to claim that pension for many years. I believe that the rules have now changed, so that money paid into a pension is frozen and you can still collect it when you reach retirement age.

So it was back to square one for us -a rented flat, working for other people and with only the state pension to look forward to. My OH didn't even make it to retirement age -he died when he was just 58. Bankruptcy was the most dreadful experience and certainly took its toll on our health.

So I will be pretty much dependent on my state pension when I reach sixty one and a half. Though if I was fit and well (which I'm not unfortunately) I would have liked to start up a new business again! ;)

All the best, Bob. Hope your business continues to flourish for a long time to come. :)

[annie bowyer]

The retirement age question packs a double whammy which isn t being discussed, which is that the later you retire the shorter your life expectancy becomes ie if you retire at 65 you can expect 15 or 20 years of active life, but if you retire at 70 your active life expectancy is reduced-some figures say you can expect as little as 2-5yrs- that ll save on pensions certainly, but doesn t seem very fair.....

[Puzzled]

The retirement age question packs a double whammy which isn t being discussed, which is that the later you retire the shorter your life expectancy becomes ie if you retire at 65 you can expect 15 or 20 years of active life, but if you retire at 70 your active life expectancy is reduced-some figures say you can expect as little as 2-5yrs- that ll save on pensions certainly, but doesn t seem very fair.....


That's life/retirement - no such thing as a free one any more!