Do you aspire to be in work in your 60s and even 70s?

I agree with those who took exception to the phrase "shape up".
I was using it from the viewpoint of our rulers who want to reduce the amount of money being paid out by the state.

Speaking for myself, I hope to keep working (part-time) as long as possible and I feel a bit insecure about the idea of living only on pensions without any earned income.

The hardest working woman I know is in her late eighties. She is also one of the happiest people I know. She was widowed when her four children were small, and turned her hand to all sorts of jobs - sometimes several at once, then started a business when she was sixty, working into her seventies.

She does various types of voluntary work, including driving "old people" (some twenty years younger than she is).

She has always been involved in many community organisations, eventually becoming Chairman of the District Council.

She does go on cruises but only because she has a lodger whose rent pays for the cruises. She will willingly help anyone, not just her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and I have never ever heard her complain about being busy!

Hilda I cannot understand why no one picked up on your post. That must be so hard, especially in the winter months. Yes, of course you would welcome a chance to retrain. X

No! I retired at 61, after working full time, and commuting, for well over 30 years. I'd hate to be working now, much as I loved my job.

I too am busy volunteering, and doing local and international work. Certainly not a "mythical beast" and, like many of you, know very few who live that way. (Mind you, we're just back from 5 weeks in Australia and Singapore, so there's an advantage to being retired!)

Well I am so glad I "Shaped up " and went back to work at 50 ......... paid my "stamps " and superannuation contributions ......... now , at 78 I have no intention of working . My job was rather physical and the thought of trundling into work on my Zimmer makes no sense . .......... By the way I get only a half pension and NO benefits I hope Far has "shaped up " , some of my younger colleagues opted out of superan and state pension and are now living in penury , the private pensions schemes all fell below expectations

I understand that pension are 'state benefits' but don't a portion of our national insurance pay towards it.? How can people 'shape up' if their earnings hardly cover their living expenses? I realise that people live longer so the burden on the state has increased. There must be another way we the people and the government can work together to improve things. Expecting people to die at their ( so to speak) workbench isn't the answer.

I think grandparents being entitled to Shared Parental Leave is a good idea. It doesn't mean any increase in time off having to be given by employers as it is Shared (the clue's in the title).

The main point of the suggestion is Lifetime (another clue) Loans. This is probably aimed at getting everyone beavering away all through their lifetimes and not shirking on the dole, and having to be paid benefits.

Remember that state pensions are benefits. I expect there's an intention to reduce and, maybe, eventually remove state pensions so people will have to shape up by making other provision for themselves.

A lot of comments have been about the great value of retired people to volunteering. Not everyone can afford to choose to retire and do volunteering instead. In future that's likely to be even more the case.

I was mostly a stay at home Mum but have never had the time to play either play golf or bridge. I have however been on 3 river cruises since the children left home. I have also been kept very busy volunteering!

I know quite a few retired women (some of whom never worked after having children) who complain a lot about how busy they are but I don't think I could be happy just playing golf and bridge.

I read a lot in the newspapers and hear a lot about them on the radio - and now on Gransnet, but I must confess I have never ever met one of these mythical beasts, women whose retirement days are filled with golf and bridge, and surely we should add cruises. Every woman over retirement age that I know, including some who never worked, are kept very busy by their work in the voluntary sector, looking after grandchildren and generally making themselves useful members of the community.

It bothers me that retired people are being demonised so much at the moment, on one side we are told we should sell our houses and move into 'suitable' flats and bungalows, now we are being castigated for not working on relentlessly after we reach official retirement age.

People's health deteriorates as they get older, we lose our stamina and sometimes our mental edge. I have already commented that while DH continues to work part time, he can no longer cope with overseas travel, and also long full day meetings, without needing several days to recuperate.

After 40 years or more of full time work, older people should be able to retire and take life easy without being condemned for it.

Who would want to take out a student loan at 60+? I do go to college 1 day a week to continue my couture dressmaking, which I pay for , but no way would I want to go back into employment or full time study. I am lucky in that I can do bits of work from home when I want to. For the first time in my life I am not bringing up children and / or working full time and I can do things I want to do.

I know quite a few retired women (some of whom never worked after having children) who complain a lot about how busy they are but I don't think I could be happy just playing golf and bridge.

I was brought up by parents who worked hard, particularly my mother, and would find it quite difficult not to be doing something useful - although I know that could be voluntary work

How patronising is that?

I did return to work full-time from my 40s until ill-health forced early retirement on me. Anyway, DD was only 3 when I was 40 - not grown up.
I don't see anything wrong with having more enjoyment in life after the age of 65!
I don't play either golf or bridge but always seem to be busy

As I am a freelancer, working from home for myself for the last 20+ years in a job that is interesting, enjoyable, very rewarding and well paid I intend to keep working for as long and as much as I am able, for as long as I enjoy it.
I realise that I am very lucky in this respect, as not many people can say that they love their job, but why would I want to give up something that never seems like work to me, but more of a hobby. I can honestly say that I get up every morning and look forward to my work.
Long may it last!

I don't think training at any age is ever wasted but I do think that it should only be publicly funded if it is going to help people into employment. I believe there has been an increase in the number of retired people taking university courses with grants they will never have to repay and I don't think this is fair.

I would not want to go back to work but we are in a position not to need to because we provided for our old age. Not everyone is willing or able to do so. We feel that we have earned our retirement and deserve to do what we want when we want to. We still give back to society but not in paid employment.

I retrained in my forties when my children had grown up and I felt then that life was too short to spend all your years in the wrong job. I now do something I enjoy and so at 70 I still work and hope to do so for a few more years.

I've been self-employed and working from home since my late fifties and that makes it easier for me to slow down as I get older. As long as you don't let people down, you can take time off to spend time with grandchildren, go on holiday or do more or less what you want - although that does mean a lower income (but better than nothing).

I was brought up by parents who worked hard, particularly my mother, and would find it quite difficult not to be doing something useful - although I know that could be voluntary work.

I know quite a few retired women (some of whom never worked after having children) who complain a lot about how busy they are but I don't think I could be happy just playing golf and bridge.

I'd like the choice, not to be forced to work until I'm 65 and 8months because the bl...y goalposts have been moved twice in typist few years.

I work nearly full time, care for two very frail elderly parents (about 24 hours a week) and volunteer at a local charity.

I would dearly love to help out with grandchild care but it's not an option so absolutely no choice available.

No.

It's all been said in the posts above. Concentrate the resources on the young and let us enjoy our retirement (or work if we want or need to).

The voluntary sector would indeed collapse without the retirees - in fact some areas may well do because of the reluctance of younger, newly retired people to take over from those in their 70s and 80s.
Younger people would not be able to work if older people did not make way for them and were not available for valuable chiled-care.

If I had a choice I would choose to retire tomorrow or as soon as possible after that. Fat chance of that though.

Yes Nelliemoser My DH and I run an Engineering company. Whilst it maybe relatively easy to get temps in certain roles it is extremely difficult (I dare say impossible in this area) to take on a highly qualified Engineer to fill in for a few weeks/months here and there. But as usual the government think everyone works at a desk from 9-5 don't they?

I do work but its unpaid for a charity and it still does contribute to the economy. I wouldn't mind getting access to some on going supported training though. I paid for my own further and advanced education while I was in work but I wouldn't be able to do that now,

Has there ever been a survey of those of us who were "allowed" to and could afford to retire at 60 or 65.
I would be interested to know what sort of %tage would still choose not to work after that age, (assuming they were not forced to by financial pressures.)

Gillybob I think you have said you have a small business. I could understand just how difficult such extra leave arrangements could be for small companies.

Actually I have no idea at all about how grandparent leave to look after grandchildren is supposed to work.
Anyone ?

I don't see the need for it. My DH is still teaching part time at 77 and is using the skills he has developed over the years. I am 69 and am an oral examiner. We have ongoing training for which the Exam Board pays .I would not want to do anything totally new and with the present arrangement we still have time for volunteering and supporting the extended family .I hope to go on working for several more years if my health allows.

Good post ga! Who will do the voluntary work that makes our society a richer place, if not retirees. Why retrain older people rather than young people - voluntary organisations will train volunteers for free. Although I think the retirement age will have to rise with maybe older workers becoming part timers maybe in job shares. It is unsustainable to expect to have 30 years worth of pension from 40/45 years of work.

The point has been well made that if people who are of 'retirement' age continue in paid employment there would be a dearth of such people in the voluntary sector and therefore communities would suffer. I know very few people who are retired who DON'T volunteer in one way or another; my daughter in law's mother has had her hours at work reduced prior to retiring and on the two days she isn't in paid employment she runs the local food bank. All eight of the local charity shops rely on older volunteers; Home Start, the local library, mother and toddler groups, and much family childcare are also resourced by people of retirement age. In retraining people to continue in paid employment past the retirement age I think there would be an exchange of one 'problem' for another. Also, many of us do what we can as volunteers in spite of the tiredness and health problems that often accompany getting older and without the stress of having to be at an employers beck and call.
There may be a small number of people for whom the aspiration to continue working after the current retirement age is present, but funding retraining past 65 years of age seems like a non-starter to me.

I am still working in a part time capacity, although not in the job I did before "retiring". I would love the opportunity to retire completely. Due to Unforseen circumstances (DH's financial failures), we still have a mortgage to pay and would be unable to live here if I didn't work. I am 64 on Friday and am heartily sick of getting up at 03:00 to go and clean offices and toilets in Waitrose!

I WOULD like to retrain because the work I did between leaving school and finishing about seven years ago isn't what I want to go back to, even if anyone would employ me. Which no one wanted to do seven years ago, I should add, despite a degree and experience and many, many applications. So yes, I'd like to become useful but in something different and something that actually suits me and lets me carry on working into much older age...

DH retired at 60, returned to work part time at 62, was effectively working full time again by the time he was 63, before returning to part time work at 67. At 72 he and a friend have just won several international contracts for engineering services and will continue to work part time for at least the next two years.

He is now finding some international work tiring, three trips to Denmark in 10 days, was a bit wearing, but he loves it.

But not all of us can do this. I was made redundant in to early retirement in my mid-50s and rapidly found out that I was unemployable. My solution was to work in the voluntary sector. I worked for a major charity as a Home Visitor for 10 years and after a break I am about to start doing this work again. I consider the voluntary work I have done and am now doing contributes as much to the well being of the country and its economic well being as nthe more remunerative work DH does.