The state pension age is already set to rise to 67 from 2026, and there’s talk of increasing it to 68 by 2044, or possibly sooner.

But even 70 may be too early to retire, according to a bleak new report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The IMF’s message is blunt: if we want to keep the country solvent, the retirement age may need to be postponed into our seventies.

Reeves is already struggling. Last year’s autumn Budget left her with £9.9billion of fiscal headroom, which quickly vanished as the economy stalled and borrowing costs soared.

She clawed some back in her Spring Statement, but that too has gone, thanks to Donald Trump’s tariff war.

I’d have more sympathy if Reeves hadn’t made so many mistakes. Or spent quite so much time blaming the Tories for things no chancellor can control.

We’re facing a demographic crunch with an ageing population, plunging birth rates and ballooning national debt.

That’s the cold reality, whoever’s in charge. Unfortunately, Reeves is making a bad situation worse, much worse.

The IMF perkily claims that “70 is the new 50” –

We won’t feel quite so jaunty when we’re dragging ourselves to work for longer and longer to keep the economy ticking over.

The IMF argues we’re healthier and sharper than past generations, with today’s 70-year-olds said to match the mental and physical condition of 55-year-olds from 2000.

Maybe so, but it’s cold comfort for anyone who’s spent four decades in manual labour. Construction workers and carers won’t be feeling fresh at 70 (and may not be hired anyway).

There’s also the obvious inequality. Those most able to work into later life will be wealthier, healthier professionals, who are also the most able to retire early.

Lower earners, by contrast, often have no choice but to keep going.

And Reeves isn’t helping.

By continuing the Tory freeze on income tax thresholds, she’s dragging more pensioners into the tax net by stealth. By 2027, millions could be paying income tax on their state pension.

They won’t have much incentive to keep on working, if HMRC snatches an ever-growing chunk of their earnings.

Also, working longer doesn’t increase your pension. Once you’ve paid in for 35 years, that’s it, no matter how much longer you slog on.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, a growing number of young people aren’t joining the workforce at all.

Almost a million 16- to 24-year-olds aren’t in education, employment or training. Many going straight from school onto sickness benefits, often blaming their “mental health”.

That’s not to dismiss genuine illness but the numbers are rising fast while the tax base is shrinking.

And we’re asking older people to work into their fifth decade to support growing numbers who never work at all.

Reeves doesn’t have the answer. Nor did the Tories.

So the message is clear: keep calm, and carry on working until you drop. Then pick yourself up, and get back to work.