Retirement Planning – Are you planning to retire or retire to work?

March 5, 2007

Extend period to help seniors taking up jobs

I REFER to the letter, 'Why no extra 30 mins of concessional fare' by Ms Noelle Tang of SMRT.

We senior citizens thank SMRT and appreciate its consideration in curbing peak-hour travel patterns out of concern for senior citizens' safety.

Unemployed senior citizen are also mindful not to compete with the able-bodied during peak hours.

However, with the Government's recent encouragement to employers to hire more senior citizens, may I suggest that the concession period also apply from 5.30am to 4.30pm and after 7pm?

March 5, 2007

Govt panel to focus on work for the elderly

Having income will help solve many problems of ageing, says Lim Boon Heng

By Sue-Ann Chia

THE man in charge of tackling the issue of Singapore's ageing population said last night that his top priority was getting more elderly people to work in their golden years.

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I read these articles forum pages with interest and wonder? Why do the elderly or retired need in Singapore need to work? Shouldn’t they use their time on better things than to make ends meet? Wasn’t the Central Provident Fund (CPF) the solution to retirement for these people? What has gone terribly wrong? Did inflation rise so fast that the existing rate of returns from CPF can’t match up? Were they so poorly paid that they were living on a hand to mouth existence?

I think the problem lies in that not many Singaporeans are serious in planning for retirement! Not many knew how, not many bothered! The results are clearly seen! Elders seeking for jobs in their twilight years and not enjoying the retirement life style they would have wanted.

What is the solution? Singaporeans should focus on retirement planning in their earlier years, with regular prudent savings using insurance and investment instruments that would provide a disciplined savings for use in latter years. Annuities provide for life long income, along with disability benefit if the insured is unable to do 2 out of 6 activity of daily living. Is that enough? Well this depends on the person’s lifestyle; the ideal situation is that a person should also have passive income to provide a continuous stream way in to the twilight years. This is to cater for rising health cost, basic essentials and a nice holiday once awhile!

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