By Ewen Boey – December 4th, 2010
It seems most Singaporeans can kiss their dreams of an
early retirement goodbye.
According to results of a question we posed on Yahoo!
Answers, “Would you work until the age of 65?“, the
majority of close to 200 respondents said they were
willing to work past the age of 65 due to two main reasons — the
high cost of living in Singapore and the need to remain mentally
active.
The issue of retirement was recently in the spotlight again
after the Public Service Division announced that civil
servants approaching the retirement age of 62 will be given
the option of delaying their retirement to work until 65
years of age.
Yahoo! Answer user Mathmajor Pi,
however, lamented about not having the luxury
of an early retirement.
“I have no choice, I have to work longer. There is no way I
could even live on social security and the job market is so bad, my
children will need money even after I die,” he said.
ExtremeRight asked, “Could you afford to stop working
at 62? If you do not have a choice, you have to work. Even if
you need to sweep the corridors to put food on the table.”
Other users felt that regardless of whether one can afford
to stop working, it was good to remain physically and mentally
active during one’s golden years. Retirement and inactivity,
many believed, would quickly lead to death.
BCbuco989 shares his view, “I plan to work till I drop,
doing something that I love. You have to have something to live
for! When you retire, many times you die if you don’t keep
busy.”
Another user chyuan expressed an willingness to
continue working to keep himself busy.
“Personally, I would prefer to work if I can, as it keeps the
mind and body working. Hopefully by that age, I will be working not
for money but to fill my spare time.”
However he also questioned the feasibility of finding a job
at 65, as most employers would prefer to hire younger and more
able-bodied workers.
“As most employers will rather employ a younger worker,
most will not be employed. Thus, it is likely that most will have
to work but have to remain jobless, as they could not find jobs,”
he added.
However, a small minority of respondents said they who
would prefer to retire as early as possible.
Yahoo! Answers user kopi said, “I will not work till
65. I retired from public service when I was 60 years
old, although I was given an option to work till 62 and with 10%
cut on my current salary. Life is unpredictable, so better enjoy
your golden years to come if you can.”
Yo Yo agreed and said, “I would choose to be
semi-retired at the age of 50 if I can, enjoy life while I am still
fit, as I have been working and leading a stressful life for so
many years.”
User JC also questioned the need for Singapore to raise
the retirement age.
“It’s utterly weird that a developed society raise the
retirement age, usually it should go the other way round. If I
can support myself financially of course I wanted to retire
when I was 35. There’s so much more to learn and to enjoy in
life than work. No, I would rather go back to study at 65 rather
than work.”
Source:
http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/12/04/work-until-65-or-later-yes-why-not/
