How common is it in your country for people over the age of 70 to still be working? Is it by choice or necessity? Are there any jobs where working late in life is common?

10 comments

1. Until not so many years ago, it was very common, at 60, to already be retired, now things have changed, and (also due to the fact that life expectancy has increased a lot), the retirement age is close to 70.

2. From my experience doctors and University professors tend to be over 70. Priests usually retire at that age, unless it’s higher ranking position like bishop. Same with politicians.

   Taxi drivers seems kinda weird to me. Not a big fan of people 70+ driving tbh. Taxi drivers are usually under 50.

3. Romania: Not common, the only ones that work after 65 are making a lot money, either judges/politicians/university proffesors or specialized people like the ones operating lathes, fixing watches and things like that.

4. People with positions that have some kind of power are the ones that often keep working. Politicians doctors, university professors, business owners… That kind of people. Always by choice, they can’t let go. Italian, but I think that’s pretty universal.

   The other category that sometimes keep working are indipendent tradesmen, but they usually do it off the books. For them it’s a mix between want to and have to (because they dodged taxes so much in their career that their pension is very low).

5. Official retirement age is 67; if someone continues to work after reaching that age, it’s because of choice, because they really like their job, they want to feel needed, or would go crazy sitting at home all day. But it’s rather rare.

6. In Germany retirement age is gradually increasing and planned from 65 to be 67 in a while. Depending on circumstances you can leave earlier, which many do. This means all permanent contracts end then. Some people choose to work longer that doesn’t have anything to do with their original job – like they help out in their children’s companies for example. Self-employed people also often work post retirement age, my father until his health had declined too badly, he was in his mid 80s by then. My parents both did it just to have something to do – the children had long moved out, they both had neglected friendships for work and family so they just wanted to have a reason to get up everyday. I saw many old self-employed businesses in my rural area, usually they close their store shortly before they die, my mother even died at work. Their shops then usually die with them.

   There are also quite a bunch of politicians in their 70s as well – but I heard that if you are in politics for long it becomes like a drug. However not every politician is allowed to do so – for example in my area the head of the district authority may serve beyond retirement age if elected before reaching that age, but can’t be reelected (or elected at all for the first time) past retirement age.

7. I’d say, fairly common. I know a few people that keep working over the age of 70, and many times it’s both by necessity and choice, if that makes any sense. If they didn’t need to, they’d probably keep working, because it’s one of the few things they know. Also, I’m from a relatively poor area of the country, especially so when these people were younger, so it’s common to see them still working, if they are able to.

   Edit: What some other people have said about certain professions (uni professors, politicians, priests) are also true for Portugal.

8. Not common at all, yet. And I say yet because there is a move toward postponing retirement age (currently at 67). That said, it is possible for some people to retire earlier than that and for others to retire later, it just depends on your field of work, how many years you’ve worked total (if you haven’t worked for X number of years, then you won’t get a full pension), if you actually enjoy your job, etc.

   I, for one, as much as I like teaching (I teach high school), will not work one more day than I absolutely have to.

9. It depends on the person as well as the job they do. A plumber will probably not be working, while a painter (who paints painting, not a house painter) or writer will probably keep doing what they were doing.

   Another thing you see is that a lot of retired people don’t do paid work, but are volunteering. My local amateur football club for example has a group of around 20 retirees who do a lot of things for the club, from manning the bar to actually painting the lines on the field.

10. I am a lawyer myself and I do know some lawyers who still take on cases after they’ve reached the age of 67, although in super commercial practices it is not unheard of that they make partners retire rather early from their position (much earlier than 67).

    If you work as an independent lawyer it’s also a job that doesn’t really die down if you don’t let it. If you get clients from word of mouth and you’re a smaller business’ go-to counsel the questions don’t really stop coming.

    I’ve also seen it in academia, where people just keep on churning out journal articles, giving lectures and taking consultancy jobs.