Ah, Sunday evening… the best time of the week for some deep conversation? 
At what age do you plan to retire? And why?
Me… 62ish. Maybe as late as 65, but the goverment can take their miniscule state pension and shove it up their arse if they think i’ll be working till im 68, for an extra few quid a week. Work to live, not live to work IMO… and by that time I’ll hopefully be debt free and be wanting to take it easy and enjoy life for those final years 
55 hopefully. The missus is doing more driving now, shes done the last 4 weeks for me and being 15yrs younger, my little business looks like it’ll be going past my ‘retiring’ age…that is until the next scrap and she tells me to que te den por culo… 
Where I live the average life expectancy is 69. Current retirement age is 68, but I have 27 years to go before then so I expect it to rise. Unless I make preparations for myself, I won’t be retiring and that makes me a little envious of you guys who are.
I am 35 so 6 years behind Cavey above. As he said mine is 68 but expect it will be at least 75 by the time I get there.
As he says the best of luck to those of you who are old enough to retire as I doubt that many of my generation will be able to
A similar thread a few days ago, I have fourteen months left before everything runs out, DCPC, HGV, and both will not be renewed to stop me doing ‘a couple of days a week’.
It going to be my time!
I m going in June 2018 after ten years as a transit operator for Calgary transit fuel tankers before that aged 68. this long miserable winter has about killed me Wayne Robinson alberta Canada formerly coalville Leicester.
I stayed until I was 70. I could have gone at 65 but decided that I wanted to build up my state pension a bit, so kept going. I was lucky to have a good employer so I did tend to do what I guess were the easier runs. I was quite happy to park up somewhere and snooze for two or three hours in the afternoon waiting for a 5pm collection; most of the other drivers hated that run so we were all happy.
Staying on meant that I could draw my other pension, collect my pay without having NI deducted, and add 10% a year to my state pension.
Mine should have been 67 but I ended up with a few problems at 55. My life is all about done 
Look after yourself 
Captain Caveman 76:
Where I live the average life expectancy is 69. Current retirement age is 68, but I have 27 years to go before then so I expect it to rise. Unless I make preparations for myself, I won’t be retiring and that makes me a little envious of you guys who are.
And I’m considering moving to Hull next year! Is it really that bad?
Anyway, back on topic, I’m 39 now, single, no children, no mortgage, so hopefully before I’m 60. But that doesn’t mean lorry driving til I’m 60.
My retirement age is 67 but i have paid into private and company pensions for years and these start paying out between 60 and 65, the one at 60 should pay me about £4000 per year going up to about £20000 from them all at 65. If instead of putting the retirement age up they brought it down to 60 so i could have my £8500 pension plus my private one i could manage, but the goverment seems to think it’s better to pay benefits to the young which are a lot more than paying my pension and make the old ones work instead of the other way round.
Don’t know really. I could have retired at 52 ( as long as I was not extravagant), I’ll be 54 this year. I reckon it’ll be a few more years yet - should be a few more years of life left in the business though sooner or later, some idiot with a business degree, possibly in chain logistics theory 
, will come along and fail to understand that what we move is nothing like moving general cargo. And I’d feel guilty at leaving staff just because I was fed up.
For anyone who wants to finish work early, it is possible. Fair enough part of my option to finish early is to have money left over from the business after the sale of the assets - no buildings, just trucks - and whatever is left on the books after paying everyone. That isn’t that much after paying redundancy and the tax man taking a hefty chunk, but it’s better than nothing. So, you could start your own business and/or you could be frugal. I started my pension at 25 and have increased contributions to it regularly, mostly by not doing stuff that a lot of other people have done, only really had one flash car in my life, live in an average house in far from the best part of town and my last real holiday was in '91. All of life is a trade off and whilst that wouldn’t suit everyone, it’s my way. There’s a lot of people that choose to FIRE ( Financial Independece, Retire Early).
If anyone wants links to blogs on FIRE, happy to put some up.
70 probably, as it won’t be allowed at 65, and I’d have just renewed with a medical my licence for another five years that same year.
Is it still “every year” once you reach 70 though?
I’m 58 and I’m semi-retired in that I only work six months a year, in fact I did a shift on Saturday and that will be the last time I drive a truck until September. As for full retirement, officially it’s 66 but I’ll probably have to do the odd shift here and there to make my money up as I will only have the state pension.
I’ve always said 60 would be my target to at the very least go part time, mortgage has 5 yrs left (I’m 52) and sounds morbid but it’s s fact of life Mrs BB and myself still have all our parents inheritance to come so we’ll be in a very comfortable position when the inevitable happens, we also have a ski apartment in Bulgaria which ain’t worth much and may be difficult to sell but at least it’s all paid for.
I’ve always been a bit canny though and have had pensions in every job I’ve worked in since 18 yrs of age .
I never really though about when I would retire, unfortunately life has a way of sending you down alleys you didn’t think of. Happily going along until unforeseen personal circumstances means you give up employment entirely, I found myself in a position where I went from £600ish a week to £600ish a month, fortunately I had two property’s on the go, now both mortgage free & one in the process of being sold. Having not worked for coming up to 18 months I have no intention of working again, if ever I feel the need to get back in a truck I just read a few stories on here and presto! That’s cured.
My advice would be to get yourself in a position where you don’t have to work as soon as possible, I used to pay way over on my mortgages & finished them 8 & 9 years early saving a fortune. Don’t expect to get anything off the govt, my £600 is an army pension which means that, despite working all my life I’m not entitled to a penny in jsa or any other benefits & don’t get my govt pension for a few years yet. Make a plan to pay a pension to finish as early as you can, if you love your job you don’t have to leave, but it’s nice to know you can.
It’s surprising what you can do without when you can’t get it.
I remember hearing a Dr say the best indicator for a long retirement was a good pension.
OK, correlation is not causation, etc but it’s worth bearing in mind.
A healthy pension can help, but not guarantee, a good retirement.
I’m due State Pension in a few years, but have been toying with the idea of part-time/job-share. Maybe one truck to share with another driver in two weeks on/ two off??
I’ve a private pension simmering too, but
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Ssshhhh. Dont tell. I quite like my job!
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No organisation came along offering a pension scheme when i was in my early years in this industry, however a few years down the line and the government stepped in with a complete load of bull, saying if you paid into their scheme, it would give a final salary…this scheme was called S.E.R.P.S. state earnings related pension scheme…I jumped on the band wagon…but once the government worked on its intentions…decided it couldnt afford a final salary scheme and cancelled it.but kept the scheme going for a few years after that…but it does give me an extra £50 a week on my pension. Lucky for me i do get an additional pension,and with the government one takes my income up to £1100 a month…half of what i was putting in the bank…its not enough i can tell ya…my mortgage is paid, my home abroad is paid…but there are still luxuries i like…TV, Internet, Phone, mobile…etc…gas and electric and council tax & tv licence all have to be paid regardless, plus house and appliance insurances, my wife has her 2 pensions…and still works albeit part time, and i am working too…otherwise the car will have to go, and we would have to cut down…i do get a bus pass though 
So all of those contemplating retirement…thats fine, if you can afford it…i could manage…but i like my luxuries, i like travelling across europe in my car to my other home, and spending 2 months there…but not on my pensions…i still have payments to make on my cards…so i will continue to work as long as they keep licencing me, and employers want to employ me…i have been turned down by some, but they dont give a reason, because they will get into trouble for breaking the age exemption laws…but there ya go…my licence is with dvla right now so i am looking at another 3 years before finally hanging up the keys as they say.
I found that after my 60th birthday, jobs were easier to get. Employers see a more mature, responsible and reliable person who will likely stay on in the job.
Santa:
I found that after my 60th birthday, jobs were easier to get. Employers see a more mature, responsible and reliable person who will likely stay on in the job.
I took on someone that was 70 last year, though on the vans not on a truck. Age isn’t always a barrier 
Ill be 65 in a few weeks, but with a bit of mortgage and a bit of loan to clear up, retirement wont be an option . Hopefully inside the next year, I should be say goodbye to the world of work.