According to Geraldine...........

Worked since leaving college in 1970. Went to part time at 60 {such a good idea} then finished at 62. Had enough of the classroom. I did enough and loved the job most of the time.

In retirement have a lot of time with GC- they have lived with us for nearly 4 years. When and why would I work? I do not know how teachers are going to work with little children until 67 {without throttling the little dears.} I am sure it must be the same for nurses. Enough is enough thank you........ back to the virtual party.

Yes. All very 'ordinary' people Rosey. And doing such worthwhile jobs.

There've been a lot of articles, tweets, etc re the Pope resigning, but this one plumbs the depths! IMO

Just tell that to Phoenix and smoluski (and others I may not know about) who are trying their socks off to get jobs and are facing a hidden agenda of age discrimination

Bollocks...

...and Rory gonnaballs would agree...if he could!

Actually, gracesmum, that's a very important point. For many people in their 50s and 60s who want to work, the opportunity isn't offering. And people in that age group are often pushed out because they are more expensive to employ.

I'm glad you agree with me - I felt I was being a voice in the wilderness. Although I am retired now I "got in" by the skin of my teeth so to speak.
We are stuck between a rock and a hard place - one group say we all have to work longer, blah blah blah and the others say we are over the hill at 40! Can't win!
Also glad to bump this thread up as it seemed to have disappeared while its lookey likey is up there near the top!

I have sat next to a female manager and talked her round to the idea that a woman of 58 is a perfectly good person to hire, if she happens to be the best candidate. She was looking for reasons not to. e.g maybe she wont stay long.
Even though she is neither a bad person, nor would she think herself prejudiced. Unconscious discrimination is rife.

But in the article you seem to be talking about people over the age of sixtyfive, not fifty. You say, "All the research on healthy longer lives shows that the more engaged and involved we feel, the better we age, physically and mentally"

No. Ageing doesn't really work like that. Just wishful thinking. Doesn't make any difference how "involved" you feel. When your body starts to age it does just that. And there's nothing you can do to stop it.

It's just not realistic to think that people of Alex Ferguson's, or any of the other's age, could hold down jobs in the real world. I suppose if the job was completely cerebral, sitting in front of a keyboard all day, then yes, possibly. But how many jobs are really like that?

But I know it's just an article to pad out a newspaper. So never mind.

People vary so much in what they are physically or mentally capable of at all ages jo8 Hard to generalise.

Yes. Exactly.

I guess I am talking about the majority.

I totally agree with jings. My body started to tell me to ease-up when I hit 65-ish. It now tells me to tick-over, find time to relax, enjoy a wee spin on the exercise bike and cope with a multitude of niggles [some of which make me want to weep]...then my mind takes over, and I come on to GN for understanding and support from people who know what they're talking about...

What does Alex Ferguson do anyway ? I could sit on a touchline and shout abuse at football players - easy! There will always be people who are able to work at a punishing pace at an advanced age (The Queen??) They are fortunate in their genes and to love what they do (I assume she does) But try to find or stay in paid employment and that is a different matter. I saw that lovely Pakistani man who worked at Kings Cross station on a TV prog earlier in the week. He wept at retiring - I'll bet he was obliged to retire. Mental ageing may well be held at bay by staying mentally and professionally active, but even then - look at people like Harold Wilson, Margaret Thatcher or Ronald Reagan who had no control over their own forms of dementia. We all age - but not always in the same way and not always in a steady decline -if you are like me, I ticked along feeling too young to retire for 2 years beyond retirement age and then over a period of about 3 months realised that actually I was not coping as well as I had done before. Or you find an illness, even flu, knocks you back and you don't "bounce back" like you would have done 10 years earlier.
Or, you find yourself going on and on and on at length....................

Well, that's it exactly gracesmum. Those rich people have someone to do all the menial stuff for them. Just couldn't see the point in mentioning them in the same article as the majority of ordinary older people.

I'm sure many in GN were like me - didn't have one career after another - had them altogether in a roundabout sort of way - paid work, voluntary work & raising a family - different paid work at different times according to stage of life. Now I'm training to be a Vol for a Restorative Justice Panel & it's really difficult having to sit there being told things you've been trained in & trained others in for the last 40 years. The unwritten rule is thou must not know more than the trainer & anything you already know has to be packaged in a very prescriptive way.

gadabout
Someone was telling me earlier about someone they met on holiday in NZ. A woman in her 80s who was travelling in a little camper van. Every year she goes to a remote headland and counts the penguins (science is interested).
Nice story. Anyway need to get off my butt and make tea for my poor MIL who has enough medical conditions for a whole team of retired football coaches.

My paid job was as a receptionist. When my husband retired through ill health on a reasonable pension, we were lucky in that I could afford also not to work. By retiring we opened up two positions on the job market for younger people. Most of the high profile career bods need to have a whole support team behind them so in a way they create jobs
.
If I opted to have a second career, bearing in mind my ability level, i would be taking work from someone who needed it more. And who else would do my present unpaid job as part time occasional child minder, dog sitter, carer for an elderly mother (this has been full time, seven days a week since before Christmas as she is seriously ill), and charity volunteer.

Just think how many organisations rely on a large unpaid voluntary work force. Mostly grey haired. Well, grey haired if left to nature.

To be faair, Geraldine did say it needn't be paid work.

You're right - I've now read to the bottom of the article and it does include volunteering. Although I would never consider my multiple dabbling a second career.

May I put my oar in here?
I'm 68. Disabled, in pain most of the time!
I enjoy my work, not just for the money, but for the interest. It also makes me feel I am fulfilling a role in society.
If I wasn't paid, I'd probably still do it on a voluntary basis.
If I'm honest, the money does come in useful for DGD's ISA and cruises.

Better late than never!

graces thank you for the point you made earlier, it is appreciated.

For those who may not know, I need to work in order to pay my mortgage etc, retiring is not an option.

That's great. The important bit is that you do it because you want to. I found my job was getting in the way of all the other stuff I wanted or needed to do.

Sorry Phoenix crossed posts. I know I'm very fortunate that I can afford to have a choice.