Modified on: December 2023

The 30 year retirement – why you should consider working longer

Could working longer be the answer to retirement?

Whilst many people plan to retire at 60, or retire at 65, others are happy to work for longer.

This may seem a surprising suggestion. Surely most people are eagerly looking forward to early retirement, not thinking about working longer. Who would vote for more time at work when it could be spent on the golf course, in the garden or on the beach?

When the State Pension was introduced in 1909, it was only paid to those aged 70 or above, and as you might imagine there wasn’t many people living beyond 70 in 1909!

The moving State Pension

The UK Government is in the process of raising the state pension age to 66 (from the current 65), with an expected completion deadline of October 2020. These rises in the state pension age roughly correlate with the rise in life expectancy. People live on average at least another fifteen years beyond their ‘three score years and ten’.

Back in 1948, a 65-year-old would expect to take their pension for about 13.5 years, equating to 23% of their adult life. This has risen steadily. Figures in 2017 showed that a 65-year-old would expect to live for another 22.8 years, or 33.6% of their adult life.

The rise of the centenarian

A significant number of people even live to 100 these days. So much so that the Queen has had to expand her centenarian letter writing team to cope with the number of people requiring a 100th birthday message from the Palace.

According to the Office of National Statistics, the number of centenarians in the UK has increased by 85% over the last 15 years. This trend is set to continue so that by 2080 it is anticipated there will be over 21,000.

In recognition of the fact that people are living longer and spending a larger proportion of their adult life in retirement, a government review will consider increasing the state pension age to 68 between 2037 and 2039.

A long (and expensive) retirement 

Currently, if someone retires at 65 and lives to 100 it makes for a long retirement. Not only is it expensive for the state to maintain, but it’s also expensive for the retiree too! The state pension was not designed to support a long period of limbo and neither were your private pension savings.

Against such a backdrop, it makes sense for some individuals, if they are fit, healthy and capable, to consider working beyond their pension age. There is no longer any default retirement age at 65, so it is perfectly possible to do this.

The silver workforce who are working longer into retirement

The older generation also has a great deal to contribute to an employer in terms of experience and commitment. It’s a well-known fact that going to work each day gives people a reason to get up in the morning, keeping their mind and body young. There are many unfortunate cases where someone has worked all their life, looking forward to their retirement, only to fall seriously ill or die the moment they stop work.

The number of 70-year-olds in full or part-time employment has been steadily increasing year on year for the past decade, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. This hit a peak of 497,946 in the first quarter of 2019, an increase of 135% since 2009.

So rather than just worry about whether you will have enough for your retirement, maybe it makes sense to keep working a little bit longer.


If you want to know more when you can afford to hang your boots up, or when you’re going to receive your State Pension, just drop me a line.

All the best,

James Mackay, Independent Financial Adviser in Bristol

P.s – if you’re thinking about retirement, I’m currently offering a free retirement review. This provides access to me for one hour at no cost. I’ll try to answer all of your retirement questions and provide some practical tips on things you can do.

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Financial Advisor Bristol and Pension Advisor Clifton

Frazer James Financial Advisers is an Independent Financial Advisor based in Clifton, Bristol.

About us: Frazer James Financial Advisers is a financial advisor, based in Clifton, Bristol. As an independent financial adviser, we’re able to provide independent and unbiased financial advice. We provide independent financial advice, pension advice, investment advice, inheritance tax planning and insurance advice.

If you would like to speak to a Financial Advisor, we offer an Initial Financial Consultation without cost or commitment. Meetings are held either at our offices, by video or by telephone. Our telephone number is 0117 990 2602.

Frazer James Financial Advisers is located at Square Works, 17 – 18 Berkeley Square, Bristol, BS8 1HB.

This article provides information about investing, but not personal advice. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please request advice.

Remember that investments can go up and down in value, you may get back less than you put in.

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