WITH better healthcare and people marrying late, the mandatory retirement age of 56 for the civil service and 60 for the private sector is no longer applicable.

Pensions paid to government retirees and savings in the Employees Provident Fund are inadequate for the majority of retirees to live on with dignity without depending on handouts from their children.

With rising inflation, there are some retirees who still have to work to feed their families.

Some retirees also work because they are bored at home, and not because they are financially insecure.

As the saying goes, an idle brain is the devil’s workshop.

People who are used to working from 9am to 5pm will fall into depression if they have nothing to do at home when they retire.

Worse, many die prematurely if they think that they are of no use any more to society.

HAMDAN IBRAHIM, Kuala Lumpur

Source: NST – April 30, 2008