This early pension thing was all very well for pilots with major airlines, making high salaries and then being able to retire on earnings-related, index-linked salaries. For most of us, who either work for minor airlines, or fly helicopters, we don't have that luxury. Many companies which had 'final salary' pension schemes are now scrapping them (Bristow Helicopters, since becoming just another division of their American masters, OLOG, comes to mind) and many of us who have only ever been able to pay into private pension schemes are finding that their value has decreased considerably over the last couple of years, which will cause considerable hardship if we have to retire at 60 (especially if we're unfortunate enough to have endowment mortgages which will no longer be sufficient to pay off the balance of our mortgages at that age). Thank goodness there are still opportunities for working beyond 60. I have several friends of over 60 who are still flying commercially and as long as they are still able to pass a Class 1 medical and their professional competence checks I can't see why not. Flip Flop Flyer's remarks are totally irrelevant as the rules of the game have changed several times over the lives of many professional pilots who are now getting close to retirement.