Peter, you work for yourself. You can retire when you like. "Full" retirement here (USA) has gone from 65 to 67, although you can still get reduced retirement at 62. If you work past the full retirement age (67) you get a small increase for each year you work beyond retirement age. I worked till age 72, so I got a little bump for the extra 7 years I worked beyond retirement age. Constant moving goal posts here. I wanted to be a policeman when I left school. These,the fire services and teachers&civil servants certainly get a great deal. Fireman and policeman get a whale of a deal here also. They work their 20 years to qualify for retirement, then they retire, and start drawing their retirement pay. At the same time they rehire as another public employee (police, fireman, investigater, etc.), and start getting regular pay, as well as, retirement pay.