State of the Market

[oliverson]

If I were in your position I'd either be working part time or retire completely and cope with whatever income & assets I had. Bad things can happen at any stage of life but, as we get older, they're more likely. God forbid anything should happen to either of you, but wouldn't you rather you'd shared some time at leisure together if it did, instead of chasing cash?

Good advice. Thanks.

[Bluenose]

Don't most people downsize when they get older and the kids (we don't have any) have fled the next?

Sell everything and go partially remote, EU hopping using the nomad visas.

[sreed]

Don't most people downsize when they get older and the kids (we don't have any) have fled the next?

You'd think so, but at least anecdotally, not from what I see in the NW town that I live in. Lots of older couples continuing to live in their family homes long after the kids have left. On the estate we're on (a mix of houses ranging from 2 bed terraced to 6 bed detached) generally speaking the smaller houses are occupied by working age couples, young families and the bigger detached properties are mostly lived in by older couples from their 60s-80s.

Just to be clear, I'm not complaining, it's entirely a matter of personal choice whether one wants to live in a 2 bed flat or a 6 bed house irrespective of how much space one "needs".

It's probably also dependent on location. In the outer east London suburb that we used to live in pre-covid, people would typically downsize (in value not actual size) post work by selling and buying something bigger further out or outside London.

[hungry_hog]

I. Don't most people downsize when they get older and the kids (we don't have any) have fled the next?

Not as simple as that. My Mum is living on her own in a 3 bed, more chance of the Queen moving to a bedsit in Jaywick then her moving out.

• Some people have friends and family ties in an area....with the silly cost of property not worth selling a 700k house to buy a 500k flat down the road
• Some people have emotional ties to their home
• Some people can't actually afford to move, moving needs liquid cash even if your house is £££. Stamp duty is a joke.

[eek]

In other news - someone who knows the recruitment market is saying that Contract work is doing way better than permanent recruitment

Not as simple as that. My Mum is living on her own in a 3 bed, more chance of the Queen moving to a bedsit in Jaywick then her moving out.

• Some people have friends and family ties in an area....with the silly cost of property not worth selling a 700k house to buy a 500k flat down the road
• Some people have emotional ties to their home
• Some people can't actually afford to move, moving needs liquid cash even if your house is £££. Stamp duty is a joke.

Never understood the last bit, you sell for £900,000 and buy at £500,000 the difference will more than pay the stamp duty costs and you pay it post completion.

[The_Equalizer]

The USA has more Millenials than Boomers, which will save them in around a decade or two. Europe only had a population bulge around the Boomers, and shrinking after that. Oh dear.

Rather interested in this one. Does this mean that they'll be jobs should you wish to keep working? There's also this current trend of large numbers 'on the sick'. I'm technically happen to keep going (at present) so in a way I this 'lack of workers' suits.

[sreed]

Rather interested in this one. Does this mean that they'll be jobs should you wish to keep working? There's also this current trend of large numbers 'on the sick'. I'm technically happen to keep going (at present) so in a way I this 'lack of workers' suits.

Yeah, I do think people will be able to find work if they want to, through and beyond retirement. Unless the current massive levels of non-EU immigration are allowed to continue for the next decade which might change the job market in ways we can’t imagine yet.

The high economic inactivity levels are a conundrum and a relatively recent feature in the UK. Over the past decade we went from being the G7 country with the lowest levels of inactivity to one where the workforce has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, and that’s in spite of the massive levels of working-age non-EU immigration the government has encouraged and facilitated since the pandemic/Brexit.

The first-level reasons for illness related inactivity are many but taking a step back they mostly circle back to a creaking and decrepit health service that simply can’t diagnose, manage or treat illnesses in a timely manner.

Predictably, the arguments around this issue are politicised, extremely short-term and limited to the sound-bites so I don’t see anyone giving a tulip about it or doing anything to address it properly, let alone make the NHS fit for purpose.

[ladymuck]

I need to find a different sort of bimbling about to what I currently do. I get pitched as a BA as that's the closest similar role but that nowadays seems to be more of a technical systems analyst role, whereas I lost my technical creds about a decade ago.

I remember, back in school in the careers class prior to selecting your GCSEs, they did naff questionnaires to help you figure out where your interests lay. I wish there was something like that for adults undergoing a mid life career crisis to work out what skills they can redeploy elsewhere.

[eek]

I need to find a different sort of bimbling about to what I currently do. I get pitched as a BA as that's the closest similar role but that nowadays seems to be more of a technical systems analyst role, whereas I lost my technical creds about a decade ago.

I remember, back in school in the careers class prior to selecting your GCSEs, they did naff questionnaires to help you figure out where your interests lay. I wish there was something like that for adults undergoing a mid life career crisis to work out what skills they can redeploy elsewhere.

What parts do you enjoy doing? Given the choice I would be looking at change management but for reasons I've never understood there is zero money in helping companies ensure the changes they make stick and the project is a success...

[edison]

What parts do you enjoy doing? Given the choice I would be looking at change management but for reasons I've never understood there is zero money in helping companies ensure the changes they make stick and the project is a success...

There are some online career questionnaires and I see them mentioned occasionally in another forum I'm on but can't remember the names. I'll see if I can find them.

I think there are opportunities for change management roles but not as many as there should be.

I'm a generalist and have done bits of being a BA. PM, Programme Manager and IT Business Partner amongst other roles which cross over into change management. I've recently noticed a fair few perm jobs up to £80k or more as well as as contracts around £450-600/day asking for Prosci change management certification. Might be worth investigating.