General Chat

You are lucky to be able to do that, Tawny.

Good luck when you get going.

My dad took a non executive directorship for 10 years a couple of years after he retired. He’s now fully retired and enjoying the time with his grandchildren that he never had with his children.

I’m putting my CV together at the moment. Thankfully due to my length of service my work will give me the equivalent of six months wages and we live entirely off Mr Owl’s salary if needed.

Tawny, both of my brothers retired at 50 so quite unlike my oldest sister and me - but they had much more stressful jobs than we did.

One took to retirement like a duck to water and spends most of his time golfing - but he did do voluntary work one day a week for several years and he did receive money in an advisory capacity from another source for a few years.

The other spent two years sorting out his rambling old house and garden, sold it, bought a smaller new home and returned to part-time work lecturing in his field before finally finishing st 60. He now spends much time at his allotment - and advises us about planting which is something we sorely need as we are novices.

I would still give you the same advice that I gave my granddaughter a couple of weeks ago when she was made redundant: if you need to keep your head above water and are responsible for household expenses, take what you can get as this is not the time to be choosey. Any change need not be permanent.

My retirement age is 68 so only another 32 years to go. Having worked for the company that have just made me redundant for just over 15 years I also have a small company pension which I will add to again once I get another job. Mr Owl’s job is on shaky ground at the moment too but he at least has his HGV license and the contacts to get a job tomorrow if needed. Mr Owl’s age for retirement is also 68 as he was born in 1982 and I was born in 1984.

My dad retired at 47 having planned his money so he could live comfortably till he was 100 years old. He claimed his company pension at 55. He was lucky though as that letter he wrote back at university in the 70s asking Arthur Montford the sports pundit to be rector of Glasgow university got him his first job with the Bank of England.

Old age is a scary prospect though and I hope for my generation they don’t put it up again. At 68 my grandfather was an old man but at 68 Mr Owl’s granny was still a middle aged woman who liked going on exotic holidays and having her grandsons to stay whenever they could. There is no telling how your health will have a baring on your retirement plans.

I got my pension at 60 and retired two years later so then started to get my work pension too even though it was geared for men and women to retire at 65 - the retirement age there - so you received slightly less if you retired before the age of 65.

A short while later I did a very quick job for the firm my daughter worked for at the time in order to help them out and got paid for doing so.

It meant that my gross income was higher for a very short time which means I paid more tax for that period, of course.

I then did voluntary work for ten years which, of course, carried no extra tax burden.

Now, I can be as lazy or as busy as I choose to be. :-D

Okay, my sister may not lose pension - but she loses income!
Also, I took a year off my siblings :-(
They're 71, 70 and 68!
Sister got her state pension at 62.

Joy
Quite agree with you

I took early retirement at age 54.

Some of my colleagues reckoned that was the best day's work I ever did.

I crossed-off their names from my Christmas Card list. That'll teach them to be mindful of their utterances. :-D

I think you may be right, Elizabeth, as the Chancellor has to claw back all of the money he's spent this year. I can see a rise in direct tax as well as VAT too - but not this year.

I have to work until 67, and it's possible the age might be raised again.

Snap, GrannyFranny - my last sentence.

Maggie, if your sis is 67 now, the same age as I am, she wouldn't get her state pension until age 63, or even later if her birthday is after 5th April.

You don't lose pension if you work, you are just liable for tax, if your total income is more than £12,500.

I worked full-time for two years after government pension age and I still got the pension I was entitled to throughout that time.

The only deduction was tax - not even NI because I was over state retirement age.

You can retire here, if you have a private pension - but not everyone has one!
I brought up 2 children alone, and earned enough to live on, not enough to pay into a pension as well.
There's also the small point, that, if you don't own your own house, any private pension will go towards rent.
My eldest brother is 70 and is still working - but he owns his own business.
The other brother owns his own house, and took his (private) pension at 60, then did voluntary work, driving a bus, taking elderly people to the shops. Three years ago, they decided to pay him - so he lost pension money. Now 69, he's had to give it up, because of his health. He didn't need to work after retirement.
My sister (67) retired at 60, got state pension then, owns her house and has a private pension, but now does voluntary work, and works part time (paid) to deal with the admin involved with the voluntary work. She didn't need to work after retirement.
However, she loses quite a bit of her pension because of her work.

Council pensions - once considered good in this country are now being cut.
Up until recently, the pension was based on your last year's pay - now it's the average. Sister worked for the Council - her private pension has been reduced because of this change.
So you work, pay as much as you can into your pension, expecting to get 'X' amount, and it's changed - even if you've retired!
How are you meant to budget, when the goalposts keep changing?

Not sure about Canada, but in the UK, unemployment is rising expodentially, and if you want any Government help - you won't get any if you have savings over £16,000, no matter how long you've paid into the system!

Life expectancy in the UK is now falling.

I'm sorry if it comes over as griping, but when a population is sh*t upon from 'those on high', they're not happy bunnies! :-D

There is NO retirement age in most jobs here in Canada.

People are EXPECTED to work until at least 65, although they can retire earlier and many want to continue until much later. OH had to retire at 65, which was just before the law was changed, but carried on in largely unpaid positions until last year when he was 81. One of his colleagues same age is still working at the university doing research and teaching graduate students. On the other hand, other colleagues have retired earlier, sometimes in their late 50s.

I, for example, chose to retire at 60, and took my CPP then at a reduced amount compared to what I would have got at 65, but had to wait until 65 for OAS to kick in.

You can retire earlier if you wish, but there is no government help until 60 for CPP and 65 for OAS ............. you have to have insurance, retirement funds and savings to do that. If you wish, you can defer taking both CPP and OAS until age 70 when you get an increase of up to 30% in the amount paid.

Many people are actually retiring from one job, but then contracting out or taking part- or full-time jobs either as an extension of what they did before or elsewhere ............ Walmart for example loves employing people over 65 as Greeters, and they can wok until they died if they want.

As andysmum posted, many employers are finding older people to be more reliable, and are employing them as receptionists, office staff, shop assistants etc etc. Thousands of people are now working well past the age of 65 because they WANT to.

However, we do not have as good social help from the government. We get Old Age Security (OAS) and Canada Pension Plan (CPP), both of which we and employers have to pay into, but it amounts to just below the poverty line. Some occupations, especially those with unions, have private company retirement plans that workers pay into, in addition to the government plans.

As one might expect, federal employees (ie, civil servants) have one of the cushiest private pension plans of all, and many take retirement at 50 or 55.

Basically, we are expected to try to have our own savings to help out after retirement. There are some programs to help those unable to do that.

Life expectancy now is rising .......... when you ask for advice on how much you should try to save for the retirement years, it is to have enough if you live until 90 or 95.


IMHO, it's not always best to depend on government support from cradle to grave! Then you can do what you want.


But this is not an uncommon topic from many people I know in England, and I'm afraid it just comes over as griping.

I was in the transition group so retired just before 63. I agree with Kathleen that maybe people in the 'pre-retirement' age group could train up young or unemployed people before they get to retire. But also people over a certain age who are not working should be given the option of not jobseeking, which can be difficult these days. Especially for women, who as always are stuck in between caring for elderly family members, or looking after grandchildren.

The concept of Universal Wage does sound tempting, where everyone gets a fixed amount to live on. If you work, you pay it back (and more) in tax. If you don't work, it's your choice.

I am so grateful that I was able to retire at 60 and my OH was able to take early retirement at 56. When you have worked so many years you should be able to retire and enjoy what is left of your life. Awful making people work until they are too old to go places and enjoy it. I really feel sorry for those having to work the extra years.

She works for P and O and they are in conflict with the unions on their treatment of employees because of lockdown

All staff are on thorns every week if they will still have a job !

Shirley, if she has a work pension, she may be able to access it now because of her cancer situation.

It may be a good idea for her to check the current situation with her union.

My daughter is 62 and a cancer survivor.

She has been left with peripheral nerve damage in her hands and feet and often gets infections because her immune system has been compromised from the cancer and from the chemo

She does work but struggles from time to time

She is working from home now and has been since lockdown

She was hoping to have retired at 60 but then it was raised and now raised again so at this point she has to work for another 5 years

She does wonder is she can manage another 5 years :-(