UKC

This is a question for those working in the Outdoors, can you see yourself doing what you're doing now right through to retirement age? Do you have a plan, an alternative? I love what I do but realistically not sure if I'll be able carry on into my late sixties, fingers crossed up to 60 but not beyond that no way....

There's a lot of folk working in the outdoors, I'm just curious as to what we will all end up doing as the retirement goalpost seems to get more distant...

I need a plan, has anyone else got one?

In reply to Sl@te Head:


Statistically people get weaker as they age but within the statistics there is considerable variation and while some might become less and less mobile from an even earlier age, others will remain extremely fit and active for much longer than the average. So the real question here might will be this:- do you view yourself as an individual or do you feel yourself bound by some iron rule to conform to whatever norm others impose on you?

In reply to Sl@te Head:

not really, having thought I was set up by having my mortgage paid off and debt free I was looking foreword to early retirement.
A recent divorce after 20 odd years of marriage has now left me mortgaged up till im 65.
I work as a telecoms engineer climbing poles in all weather and humping extension ladders across fields on long rural routes.
ive always avoided the option of working indoors but am wondering now as I get into my 50s how wise a choice that was.
having recently been diagnosed with the early stages of arthritis im now wondering how long I can stick it out.
I suppose there's always stacking shelves in b+q if you can get a job doing that. :>))

In reply to Sl@te Head:

We can go at 60, another 8 years for me. I still have a company final salary pension, so we "should" be OKish.

I'm feeling it now, so can't imagine what I'll be like in another 15 years.

In reply to Andy Morley:

I'm definitely an individual

Back problems in my mid 40's are a worry. I'm ok now but not sure if I'll be mobile enough for the work I'm employed to do when Im 67...

In reply to Sl@te Head:

Not looking forward to the impending Winter, but I never do. Starting to feel the cold now.

In reply to Sl@te Head:

Contracting somewhere hot and sunny and tax free. Retiring somewhere hot and sunny and cheap. Get out now while you still can.

67, f*ck that. Of course for many occupations, they know you'll never reach that, which means they never have to pay you a full pension, private or government service.

I'd be quite happy to work till I drop, but for my own entertainment and not the tax man's leisure.


D

In reply to Sl@te Head:

Languages.

I am 34 and still loving instructing and working in the outdoors. However, I always joked that my knees would be gubbed by 35. Thankfully this is not looking too likely (although I don't want to speak too soon), but I am realistic that an injury could put me out of the game. With this in mind I went back to uni a couple of years ago to do a masters in translation (undergrad was in French and Russian). Now filling in the gaps in outdoor work with translating and interpreting to start getting a name for myself so that if it comes to it then I can move into this field more readily.

However, forget 67! My generation will work til we die. State pension will be impossible to live on, if it even still exists, and without employers contributions there is no point in saving in a private pension. My savings will never amount to enough to stop working. Good job I like my work!!

In reply to Sl@te Head:

Outdoors from an industrial point of view as I've worked in the rope access industry for 27 years now, only another 20 left to do!

As long as I keep my fitness and have no major injuries I intend to keep going to retirement. As long as you enjoy what you are doing that's the main thing, being active at work I think in the long run also keeps you fit enough to enjoy what you want to do in play.

In reply to buzby:


I'm so shit at diy that I wouldn't last long at B & Q!

I've been a teacher for nearly 20 years, so any job that doesn't give me long holidays would be impossible to adjust to. Moving from the outdoors into the classroom doesn’t appeal either....

In reply to Sl@te Head:

My entire plan revolves round my business being worth enough to sell when the time comes to call it a day.
80% of my work involves manual work outside regardless of the weather and involves lots of kneeling to get to machines in small cabinets.

I'm 44 now and from the bottom up it goes like this.
Both feet constantly hurt
Left ankle
Right knee (walked with a stick for 2 years I'm my 30's
Right hip
Lower back
Right shoulder

Tramadol is definitely my friend.
67? I doubt it on the mechanical side and more than the odd day in the office drives me nuts so not sure what the future will bring.

In reply to Sl@te Head:
Don't worry, there will be workhouses established to "look after" you guys. Three square meals a day, 5 hours a night in a dry dorm bed and friendly Serco staff to ensure you always have something to do. Sustainable social care for an ageing population, that doesn't shift the costs of your profligate lifestyle onto the next generation.

In reply to Sl@te Head:

Do a cash flow budget until you are say 102.

Find out what you spend your money on in a year.

Predict future state pension and other pensions savings etc. Take a stab at inflation, your guess is as good as any.

For planning, 3 stages to retirement, active, passive and doddery. Different income requirements for each, you decide.

Once you have done all that, plug in doing a couple of days work a week until you are 70, it makes a massive difference.

In reply to Sl@te Head:

I've mostly worked outdoors, shipyards, chemical plants ....
The knees, the knees!!!

Keep them strong, I wish, and we should be OK till our 70s at least.

In reply to Sl@te Head:

There was a recent thread on here about all the oldies - it was quite humbling to find how many were still operating at quite a high technical level and shrugging their shoulders at various manageable physical ailments that they'd picked up. I think the message is that you're not done until you are done. Personally I'm 67 and still working - fixing domestic appliances and occasionally tiling bathrooms and kitchens. I spend quite a bit of time on my knees which are not as strong as they were - cant do high step ups anymore means less climbing so more scrambling, munro and corbett bagging, and long distance walks. You just have to adjust to your abilities as you get older.