Can you, or will you be able to, retire and stop working?

@FreddieUK I hope I haven't misunderstood this comment but my feeling is if you work 40-45(max) years you should be able to expect retirement. We in the UK (don't know how other countries work) have a state pension and the expectation -so like a non verbal agreement- was we would receive a state pension at 60/65 and until the point the retirement date was extended everybody was paying into a system believing this. For it to have changed is criminal.

@GeniUs Yes thas true! State Pension age is 66 then retire at 68. People choose to work / semi retire for different reasons ranging from low on cash to family problems (toxic spouse relationship which is sad). Sum do it purely outta "enjoyment" which, in my eyes, is kinda waste.

This guy aged 98(?) Is STILLLL working for a comp called Pharma. He retired literally for a day at 60 and realised it ain't for him 🤣 WASTE!

@GeniUs To clarify, because this is an important point but many Britons people seem not to know it.... but should.

No-one in the UK pays "into" their own State Pension.

It does not operate like a private pension, nor like the Additional Voluntary Contributions to an employer's Defined Contributions scheme. Both of those are save only our own money for only ourselves.

Instead we all pay into the nation's health and welfare services from our Income Tax and National Insurance while employed.

Despite the cuddly name The NI is not an "insurance" plan at all, but an additional income-tax on wages, established originally to fund the NHS. The funds are also bolstered by other taxes generally, such as VAT and those on businesses.

So while we are working we help pay the pensions of those already retired. Once we retire and draw the State Pension, that is paid by those now in paid employment.

Plus of course, from the taxes we all pay on VAT, motoring, etc., and the Income Tax on pensions above a quite modest threshold, even when retired! So there is a bit of money-circulating involved; but the important point remains -

- we have not paid into our State Pensions "all our working lives"!
.

(Aneurin Bevan's model for the NHS was the mutual-assurance health-costs schemes in the industrial areas of South Wales, for which he was one of the Members of Parliament. These schemes helped cover doctors' fees in the years when medical treatment was commercial, and expensive for manual workers on poor pay.)

@ArishMell At least a part of NI is supposed to pay for your pension hence why you need a minimum 30 years contributions to get a full pension.

Edit: Yes I'm willing to allow you to split hairs so we can get this right.

@GeniUs You do, but it's still not an individual pensions savings-scheme.

@ArishMell No but you should still be able to expect it when by oral agreement you were told you would get it.

@GeniUs An oral agreement is not a contract and carries no legal weight, but we should expect to be told the basic conditions as well, not be led to expect a full pension anyway.

The Government agencies and any decent financial advisor will warn us of that, but there are still common misconceptions and misunderstandings around it. That might stem from financial services generally, both State and commercial, being notoriously far more complicated than necessary.

For example, although nothing to do with pensions, one past employer issued everyone with a block of shares with an option to buy more; and issued a glossy booklet "explaining" the scheme. It was so un-explanatory, apparently written by accountants who assume everyone is an accountant, I failed to finish even Page One!

I have a mix of State, employer and one private, pensions; and am perfectly happy to leave their administration to the DWP, scheme administrators and HMRC! Though I do lose a chunk in tax on the surpluse above the threshold, so much of any rise is creamed off before I receive anything.

@ArishMell Like you this isn't really my fight (as I've stated I'm already retired) I can't have my state pension for 3 years after the date I expected but I really feel for the people who have had another 7 years added to their working lives; time being something it is difficult to buy. On the upside I can get a free bus pass this year.

@GeniUs I agree- if you were expecting to retire at a certain age and planned for that, it must be very disheartening to be told you have to contonue working further.

Some of course, would prefer to stay working. I was retired a year early by a mixture of work and medical reasons but had hoped to stay till 65 then perhaps have the option of a year or so longer even part-time, helping to bolster my work pension.

The one thing that really did surprise me was going to collect my bi-monthly repeat prescription one day, only to be told I didn't need pay for it as I had turned 60, even though still in full-time work. Very nice for me I thought, but I am not sure that is a wise policy. The money goes to the NHS, not the pharmacies, so ought be collected up to retirement and might help stave off the stealthy hiving of NHS services to contractors (dentistry, optician and ear-wax removal services).

And yes, I do have a bus-pass but also recognise that cumulatively the senior-citizens passes and the fares caps are having the unintended consequence of making many routes uneconomical. A major company like The First Group (shares around £100 each) could probably absorb more of the loss than it does but small, independent operators are having to end services, especially in rural areas.

@GeniUs By 'unrealistic expectation of retirement' I don't mean one shouldn't expect to retire. I was thinking about what people expect from their retirement which is sometime unrealistic.

@FreddieUK Oh, yes, I see that. I had probably had such expectations too!

@ArishMell I agree about prescriptions but I'm not turning down something free from the gov and I have worked for it especially after I was once waiting for my prescription and I saw somebody else younger than 60 collecting their prescription; 3 loaves of coeliac bread.

@GeniUs Well, it's not really "free", but I take your point!