Part time work in retirement

Yes Gummie they do in our area anyway. I had a p/t job for a local authority in my early 60’s.
We have friends who are working p/t in a DIY shop, garden centre, school and delivering cars.

Yes, employers do take on 60+ people in our area too.
However, I don’t think they want employees who are just looking for ‘pin-money’.
Regardless of age they will want hard-working committed staff for their part-time roles, just as they do for the full time ones.

I began claiming my work pension and went part-time about 7 years ago when in my late fifties. Then my circumstances changed and although I kept my job and what a life line that turned out to be, I decided to finish work altogether when my state pension kicked in.

I now wish I had kept my job a little longer. May its the cost of living but I'm by no means as comfortable as I thought I would be, but have too much to claim pension credit.

Like you, I know few people who did carry on after 66 and even retitred earlier but it does no good thinking everyone else is living it up while you're still slogging.

I may still apply for a 'pin money' job as you call it, but don't think it will be worth it so for now I'll just struggle along.

Hi I didn’t say they wouldn’t get a hard working employee. I’ve never been a shiver.

My husband had totally had enough over covid and took early retirement.
We will have less money but we do have more life.

If you want to work part time can you stay where you are but with reduced hours?

I am 69 and have found part time work in a local shop. My commute is 4 minutes walk into town. I work a couple of days a week. It’s a well known high quality outdoor clothing and hiking/travelling kit shop. I am a keen hiker and have backpacked all over the world. I enjoy sharing my experiences and helping people get kitted out for travelling etc. An added advantage is a great staff discount and “uniform “ allowance. It’s fun and keeps me feeling part of the community and useful.

If you live anywhere near a tourist area, they might welcome you with open arms, for seasonal work.

I left my full time job at 57, which meant I had over 8 years to go before my state pension kicks in next year. My (small) occupational pension started at 60.

I do a few hours of consultancy work for half the year, which boosts my income a bit, but more importantly makes me feel that I’m still relevant and that I contribute to society. The plan was to do it until my state pension, but I may well decide to carry on beyond that if my employer still wants me. I’m lucky in that there are no fixed hours and I can do most of it from home though. I don’t know if I’d want to be setting the alarm and commuting in bad weather- I had enough of that before I left my old job.

My local garden centre seems to be staffed entirely by students and the retired, so I don’t think you’ll have problems finding work if yours is the same. It’s flexibility they need though, so you may not get regular hours. Bookshops are less accommodating I think. Waterstones used to want a degree in a relevant subject, or for staff to be students in the area they were covering, so it’s more difficult to get in unless you are lucky with which department has a vacancy. A private local store might be different, of course, but they are thinner on the ground. I always thought I’d like to work in a wool shop as I love knitting, but I now think that doing it all day might kill my pleasure in it, so it might be worth considering that, too.

Thanks everyone some useful information in your posts.

We are now in mid 70s and have been doing gardening for people who can’t manage it themselves! There are loads and we’ve had to turn people away as we don’t want it to take over our life! We only do one or two days a week, have met lots of lovely (and grateful!) people and like to think it keeps us fit active also.

Retire and enjoy your retirement and step down and let one of the younger ones have a job. My friend still works full time at the age of 70. Why? Give the young ones a chance of work. I retired at the age of 62 after working since I was 15 and enjoy my life. Yes, there are little part time jobs at garden centres etc but what are you afraid of? I love retirement.

I would have thought that most employers would be happy as my boss once said to me 'older people are more reliable'

I’m 70 and work 2days as a TA in a school with all of school holidays. I enjoy it. Full time retirement would be boring for me so that is why I work. People have different needs to feel happy retirement.

Hi
M and S ,Waitrose and John Lewis seem to be really good 🙂

Purplepixie

Retire and enjoy your retirement and step down and let one of the younger ones have a job. My friend still works full time at the age of 70. Why? Give the young ones a chance of work. I retired at the age of 62 after working since I was 15 and enjoy my life. Yes, there are little part time jobs at garden centres etc but what are you afraid of? I love retirement.

Not everyone can manage without working to supplement their income, it does not mean you are afraid of anything, we just need to eat and have a roof over our head. OP says clearly she is not as comfortable as she thought she would be, this happens to a lot of people.

I’ve never had trouble getting a job since I was made redundant at 62 I’ve moved around jobs to make it work for me. I’m now an invigilator at a local
school and do mystery shops, and odd little jobs . Go for it find a little job that’s suits you x

win

Purplepixie

Retire and enjoy your retirement and step down and let one of the younger ones have a job. My friend still works full time at the age of 70. Why? Give the young ones a chance of work. I retired at the age of 62 after working since I was 15 and enjoy my life. Yes, there are little part time jobs at garden centres etc but what are you afraid of? I love retirement.

Not everyone can manage without working to supplement their income, it does not mean you are afraid of anything, we just need to eat and have a roof over our head. OP says clearly she is not as comfortable as she thought she would be, this happens to a lot of people.

Sorry I now see that it was not the OP that quoted that, but it does not change anything really.

If you can manage happily on your pension, instead of looking for a part time job, have you thought of volunteering? There is so much variety these days and you can pick and choose the type you want to do. When I left full time employment I voluteered in a local museum and in our Guildhall. I absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, I am no longer fit enough to volunteer on a regular basis so it's just to give talks at the Guildhall when required.

Interesting reading this as I’m now 64/still working in education and still have 23 months left till pension! I’m counting the months down now but realistically need to do the numbers and see if I still need to work a few hours. But if the numbers fit imaway retired!

DH and I (69 and 67) both have part time jobs. The money is jolly useful. I'm lucky to have a professional qualification so at the moment I'm doing a 3 days a week contract, for the next five months, on pretty good pay. Next holiday covered!

Good luck Gummie. I’m sure you’ll find a part-time job to suit you, and it will subsidise your pension. It will give you a new lease of life, especially in a garden centre, amongst beautiful plants. Not everyone wants to embrace retirement from full-time work. 😊

I worked in a garden centre for ten years before retirement. It was enjoyable but hard work. If you can get a job in a small family run establishment that would be better because the bigger chains are very competitive, it is retail at the end of the day and they were fixated on profits rather that letting staff chat to the customers which were, of course, mainly elderly and liked to come in regularly for advice for which the students didn’t have knowledge.
The bigger chains are a bit like a supermarket, they want all the staff to be till trained so they can fill in for breaks or cover at weekends etc.
Having said all that, we did have a good discount and were able to take home plants which were written off as dead but could be brought back to life with a little TLC.
But if we discounted the orchids which had finished flowering for example, the supervisors wanted them to be written off and binned because they didn’t look good on the shelf.
But beware, not all customers are friendly though, and there was a lot of theft especially at Christmas, lights etc.
I remember a customer having a go at me once because one begonia tuber came up the ‘wrong’ colour for her display!
Good luck with your search.

I’m 74 and do exam invigilation. The main period is during the summer term, with mocks in winter. You won’t earn a fortune but it’s quite rewarding.

Why not negotiate a part-time contract in your current role? This is what I did, and gradually tapered down to retirement. It meant I continued to work at the same salary level, pro rata, and also continued to contribute to my pension scheme. It helped that I enjoyed the job I was doing!