APPROPRIATE RETIREMENT AGE

According to Wikipedia online retirement defined as the point where the person stops employment completely. When someone retires, he/she will get a retirement fund. Basically, people’s age at retirement is important because it is one of the determinants of both the length of one’s work life and the duration of retirement (Gendell : 2001). People all around the world retire at various ages. The retirement age varies from country to country but it is generally between 55 and 70 (Wikipedia Online: 2008). In my opinion, the appropriate retirement age can’t be declined exactly because when people want to retire there are some factors that make them decide to retire or compels them to retire.

The determined retirement age is different in every country based on the governmental rules. In Indonesia, people who work in governmental employee retire at the age of 60 as the Indonesian government declined. In America, people retire at the age of 65 based on the Normal Retirement Age (NRA). ‘In Singapore, the retirement age raised from the age of 60 to 65 while in Thailand and South Korea people still declined to retire at the age of 60. In Malaysia, people retire earlier which is at the age of 56’ (Azizan : 2007). People can retire earlier but they can’t retire more than what the government declined.

The different kind of jobs also affected the retirement age. Certain jobs have an earlier retirement age because it’s doesn’t enabled or too dangerous if people over the appropriate age do those jobs. For example, the programmers should be retire at the age of 40 before their brain loses too many working cells that could make them cannot think as brilliant as before so they cannot make the great software anymore. The other example is for the athletes, they can’t compete well anymore over the age of 30 because their endurance is decreasing. In the other hand, there’s a job that caused an earlier retirement age because people thought they have earned much money that makes them don’t have to work anymore. This condition happens to many billionaires all around the world like Robert T. Kiyosaki and Bill Gates who retires at early retirement age.

In conclusion, the appropriate retirement age can’t be decline exactly because there are some factors that affected at what age people should retire like governmental rules and different kind of jobs.


References:

- Azizan, Hariati [Online Article] Retrieved : May, 19 2008 from the World Wide Web : http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/2/focus/18761279&sec=focus
- O'Conner, John [Online Article] Retrieved : May, 23 2008 from the World Wide Web : http://weblogs.java.net/blog/joconner/archive/2005/07/programmers_ret.html
- Gendell, Murray [Online Article] Retrieved : May, 23 2008 from the World Wide Web : http://cache.search.yahoo-ht2.akadns.net/search/cache?ei=UTF-8&p=retirement+age&y=Search&rd=r1&meta=vc%3Did&fr=yfp-t-309&fp_ip=ID&u=www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2001/10/art2full.pdf&w=retirement+age&d=KdwCMJzfQzDe&icp=1&.intl=us
- Retirement [Online Article] Retrieved : May, 19 2008 from the World Wide Web : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement
- Retirement in Indonesia [Online Article] Retrieved : May, 23 2008 from the World Wide Web : http://www.expat.or.id/info/retirement.html

Retirement Age

According to online Wikipedia retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. The retirement age varies from country to country but it is generally between 55 and 70. In some countries this age is different for male and females. The difference of retirement age usually depends on the kind of job, physical conditions, or personal choice.

First, retirement age usually depends on the kind of job the person work in. Sometimes certain jobs, the most dangerous or fatiguing ones in particular, have an earlier retirement age. For example, military members of the US Armed Forces may elect to retire only after 20 years of active duty (Anon, 2008). Different from military members, other jobs like politicians, scientists, and lawyers still can have their job until their age reaching 70s. About the reason why a politician retires very lately, Sankar in his blog said that it is because experience comes of age (Sankar, 2006).

Second, retirement age is also influenced by physical conditions. An athlete, for example, usually retires at the age of 30 because his power and speed cannot support his activities anymore (Tinley, 2002). This situation also happens to actors and models. Most of them are not attractive anymore or lose their prestige when they are getting old. In engineering world, illness or accidents can end an engineer’s career.

The last reason is that some people prefer to retire early in order to fulfill their personal desire. Those people usually already have adequate pensions or personal savings. For example, a civil servant can prefer to retire when his age is already 55 because he thinks that he has good financial condition. After he has retired, he can do whatever he wants such as hobby, sports, or run a private enterprise (Anon, 2008).

According to the statements above, I can conclude that the difference of retirement age not only depends on physical conditions but also depends on the kind of job and personal choice.


References

Retirement. (2008, April). [Online article], Retrieved May, 29 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement

Sankar. Retirement Age for Politicians. April, 2006. Retrieved May, 29 2008 from http://vsankarv.wordpress.com/2006/04/04/retirement-age-for-politicians/

Tinley, Scott P. 2002. Athlete Retirement: A Qualitative Inquiry and Comparison. A Thesis of San Diego State University


Marsiana Anggieta-16207068-WR01

Retirement Age

Retirement can be described as “the point where a person stops employment completely” according to Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. Normal retirement age is estimated between 55 and 70. (www.wikipedia.org_retirement). But in reality, each profession has different determined age to retire. It depends on the kind of profession that the person does.

The ideal retirement age differs from one job to another. A reason that people are forced into retirement is mainly meeting the physical requirements of the job (Rincon 2007). Some jobs require high physical ability to be done well, while others need experience and intelligence. These factors will determine the productive age and also retirement age for each kind of job.

Each profession has its own productive age. “Productive age is a range of age when people can work for paid employment optimally” (Conrad 2004:289). As example, many sportsmen quit from their job after reach 35. After reach age 35, it is believed that the person no longer be in his productive age for the job. It is because sport is a kind of job that needs more physical and stamina ability than other kind of profession. Meanwhile, educational worker, musician, and artist, can work until the age of 60 to 70. These kinds of job, need more experience to be performed optimally. For example in Indonesia, retirement age of the employee of a national industrial corporation is forced to retire at the age of 50 to 55.

Retirement is natural. Each kind of job has its own limitation of age to be obey. If you start working you must realize that someday, after you reach your limit, you’ll have to stop.

References

Retirement. Wikipedia the Online Encyclopedia. [Online Article]. Retrieved May 24th 2008, from the World Wide Web: www.wikipedia.com_retirement

Rincon, Paul. 2007. Retirement age 'should reach 85'. BBC News Article. [Online Article]. Retrieved May 24th 2008, from the World Wide Web: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4726300.stm

Conrad, Rownan. (2004). Economic Encyclopedia 3rd ed. New Castle :Wadsworth Inc.

Roos Haikal R. 16107013

What Factors That Differ Retirement Age?

Retirement age is the age at which an individual normally retires, 60 to 70 for men and 55 to 70 for women. Men qualify for the state pension at 65 and women currently qualify at 60 (http://www.finance-glossary.com). Actually, until what age does people should be encouraged to remain in paid employment? It depends on many factors.

Retirement age is different in every country. In Indonesia, people who work in the government usually retire on the age 55 to 56. In America, people retire in the age of 65. In Malaysia the retirement age has just recently been raised from 55 years to 56 years. These happen because rules and laws in vary country are different too.

Usually retirement age depends on gender. Retirement age for men is different from women’s. Usually, men retire in the age of 60 to 70. Women retire in the age of 55 to 70. Women could increase their retirement benefits by 30 percent if they work as many years as men, expert says. Traditionally, women have retired earlier than men, but they tend to live longer than their male counterparts. Thus, most women are in need of a pension guarantee. But few actually have one. Data from a 2003 survey of older adults (average age 60) in Argentina showed a striking difference in pension coverage between men and women. While most men are covered by self-financed or independent pensions, over half of women are covered only through survivor’s benefits, due to the contribution of their husbands (http://www.iadb.org/news/articledetail).

Retirement age depends on what kind of the job too. Certain jobs have earlier retirement age because it’s fatiguing or dangerous. People who work in government usually retire at 55 to 70. In 2007, retirement age for teachers in France is thirty eight years after employment and age 50 for train engineers on the SNCF, the national railway. Many politicians, scientists, lawyers, television anchors, and professors still work well into their 70s because their job doesn’t need to do some risky activities. Usually they work in an office and sit behind the chair all day long. However, some actors, models, athletes, and musicians only work until their 30s (http://en.wikipedia.org). It is because the regeneration is fast. Many younger actors, models, or musicians have a better talent than the old one. Younger athletes have a better and stronger physics than the old athletes.

In conclusion, retirement age is something that can not be limited by just one factor. It depends on many factors, such as countries, gender, kind of jobs, and many more.

References:

Retirement. (2008, May 13) [Online article]. Retrieved May 25, 2008 from the World Wide Web:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement

Definition of Normal Retirement Age (NRA). Retrieved May 25, 2008 from the World Wide Web:

http://www.finance-glossary.com/terms/normal-retirement-age

Anonymous. (November 20, 2006) Leveling The Retirement Age For Men and Women. [Online article]. Retrieved May 25, 2008 from the World Wide Web:

http://www.iadb.org/news/articledetail

Fawzia Amalia - 16207070

The Appropriate Retirement Age

There is no international agreement about retirement age. It makes the retirement age varies from country to country. In many countries, the average of retirement age generally between 55 and 70. In my opinion, people should be encouraged in paid employment until they reach their limit of productivity, depends on their occupation.

There are several reasons why retirement age should be considered depends the occupation. Someone whose occupation needs much physical power should retire earlier than others whose occupation is only sitting in the office. A member of military forces should retire on 50, because people will reach their limit of body flexibility at 50 years old (Smith, Stew. http://www.military.com/military-fitness/health/staying-fit-at-any-age). Beside that, the military members also need much physical power when they are on duty. At the other side, occupation which uses brain more than muscle, like official, could retire at the age more than 50. Based on research, brain will continue adjusting itself even in old age in response to new learning and experiences (http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/nov07/brain1107.htm). So, there is no problem about brain using in old age.

Some people say that age will influence the attitude of someone. People above 50 years old are not capable in some “brainy occupation”, they must retire on 50. People whose age is above 50 should not govern or lead a company, because people who above 50 years old will think about their family very much then makes them try to get money as much as possible for the wealth of the family. This leads to corruption. A research has ever proved the correlation between age and corruption (http://www.springerlink.com/content/r3260k9m2537n314/). Beside that, determining a brave decision is also difficult for people above 50 years old.

Yet, some people also can retire on their young age. People with a very good financial that can support their entire life, can retire younger than 50 years old. A financial freedom makes someone is able to get money without working (Kiyosaki, Robert T. 2003:52).

In conclusion, the retirement age should be considered depends on the condition of someone, the situation, and the occupation. Every organization must be regenerated to keeps it running. The older must retire and gives chance to the younger one.

References:

Kiyosaki, Robert T. (2003). Rich Dad’s Retire Young Retire Rich. Jakarta : PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama.

Smith, Stew. (2008, May 25). Staying Fit At Any Age. [Online article]. Retrieved May 25, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.military.com/military-fitness/health/staying-fit-at-any-age

United States Department of Agriculture : Agricultural Research Service. News and Events page. (2007, November/December) [Online Article]. Retrieved May 25, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/nov07/brain1107.htm

Springer Link Journal Article. Age and Corruption. (2006, August) [Online Article]. Retrieved May 25, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.springerlink.com/content/r3260k9m2537n314/

Retirement at 65?

The standard of retirement age is something that is uncertain in this world, because of the various life expectancy among the countries and the different morale standards. But seeing the trend of increasing average life span throughout the nations and improvements on many kinds of facilities, the age 65 seems appropriate as a retirement age.

For most of the existing jobs, experience is one of the keys to succeed. And people of the age of fifties are often on their peak of their wit and wisdom due to the experience they gain throughout their mature age, which is the forties and thirties. By letting people to work in their fifties and early sixties, means giving them the chance to shine and excel in their career and thus improving their life qualities and allowing them to have a better life after retirement.

It is actually really sensible setting the retirement age on 65 years old, because the world’s average life span is increasing. This increase is the effect of better healthcare facilities, better food distribution and more effective food production, and better sanitation (Rincon, 2005). This increase of average lifespan means that there will be an increase of the number of older people because people just tend to live longer. This way the retirement age standard of 65 years old does not seem very old, and feels quite justifiable.

Furthermore, there are many facilities that make it easier for people in their fifties to go to work without compromising their health. Transportation vehicles are abundant on the streets, healthcare are affordable, and healthy living is loudly being campaigned everywhere. So people have less risks of getting sick due to illness or fatigue because of their job.

In conclusion, age 65 cannot be seen as too old for a standard of retirement age, because people still got plenty of years to live in retirement if their lifespan are referred to their country’s average. Many kinds of facilities also make working easier for older people such as those who are in their fifties. And also people are really in their best mental condition when they are on their fifties.

References:

Anonymous. (2008)The Retirement Age Act. [Online article]. Retrieved May 22, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.mom.gov.sg/publish/momportal/en/communities/workplace_standards/employment_standards/The_Retirement_Age_Act.html#wbr

Rincon, Paul. (2007) Retirement Age ‘Should Reach 85’. [Online article]. Retrieved May 22, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4726300.stm

Weller, Christian E. (2005) Raising the Retirement Age. [Online article]. Retrieved May 22, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/briefingpapers_raisingretirement_raisingretirement

Arkasha - 16107071

Retirement Age, When?

Some people who work will have limit of their ability, this usually happens if some one reach their determining age or accident, they cannot work well anymore because their physical condition. If someone in that condition, he should retire from his work. According to Wikipedia, Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. Retirement not only caused by age or illness, but also caused by wealth. In my opinion retirement should be determined by condition and decision the employee, it shouldn’t be determined by age,

The retirement age varies, some countries retirement age is different for male and females. It is generally between 55 and 70. In Indonesia, the average age is between 55 and 65. So we don’t know the retirement age surely

The retirement not only influenced by age, In the United State while most view 65 as normal retirement age, many retire before then, sometimes with contributory causes such as job-loss, disability or wealth (Wikipedia).their is politicians still enjoying their work, but their age into eighties. We can also see some people which age twenties stop working because of accident. Rizky Kanata, electrical engineering degree ITB, he can have early retirement because he has done system which can gives him money without working. He gets passive income from that system and makes his financial condition good enough to support his life.
Some people still have certain duty to fulfill, (Wikipedia) for example someone who has been retired, still work to continuing their live and his family’s duty. It caused by some people work, get their salary but they don’t have saving money from their work for their future because some factor such as, economic, their salary is too low, accident etc.
Many corporations are now explicitly recruiting retired workers for their experience, attitude and loyalty. New careers where the 'retired' return to work is an increasing phenomenon in Industrialized countries where inflation has reduced the value of available (Wikipedia). They become senior worker in some industries.
However, early retirement is also help government to reduce jobless because if some one retire, so his job empty and need some else to work in that position. So it will reduce the jobless (Wikipedia).
In conclusion, retirement is not only determined by age, but also some reason. People can still work if they want, and some one can retire from their work if they want too. If people don’t want to retire in later age must manage their condition

Reference:

Retirement. (2008, May 16) [Online article]. Retrieved May 23, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement

Retirement Age

The employers will someday reach their age limit in doing their jobs. This condition, like or dislike, will happen to all the employers from any kind of job level. They will reach the end of their career. According to online Wikipedia, this kind of situation, called retirement, is the point where a person stops employment completely. The retirement age varies in one and another country and there are also some differences of the retirement age for some kind of jobs. The average of retirement age nowadays is between 55 and 70 (Anon. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement). But, in my opinion, the retirement age should be determined by looking at the condition of the country and the employer’s condition.

The retirement age is, of course, different in one and another country. For example, in Indonesia, the average of retirement age is between 55 and 60 (Ma’moen. 2003:3). In the United States, the average of people will retire when they reach 65 years old. In India, the average of retirement age is between 58 and 60 years (Anon. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement). What makes the differences between one and another country, I think, is because the different condition of each country. Indonesia and also India, which are still the developing countries, have more population than the United States. The number of people in productive age is more than the people in the age upper 50. On the contrary, in the United States, the number of young and old generation is almost the same. So, I think this is why the retirement age in Indonesia and India is younger than in the United States.

The retirement age is also influenced by the employer’s condition. If they are still healthy, although they have reached upper 50, I think it does not matter if they still work in their company. But, when their physical condition is not good enough, I think is better for them to retire.

In conclusion, the appropriate age to retire depends on the country and the employer’s condition. In the countries which have the equal ratio of productive and non productive people, as long as the employers are still healthy and productive enough, I think it does not matter for them to work although they have reached upper 50. But in developing countries, such as Indonesia and India, the retirement age should be limited between 60 and 65. It is because we have to give the opportunities for young generation to work. It also means that the number of unemployment in developing countries will reduce in the future.


References:
Ma’moen, M. (2003). Menghadapi Masa Pensiun dengan Senyum. Bandung: Yayasan Kusumah

Retirement. (2008, May 13) [Online article]. Retrieved May 22, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement


Fida Farhana (16107063)

RETIREMENT AGE

According to thefreedictionary.com, retirement means withdrawal from your position or occupation. People usually retired because of their age, physical condition, health, and so on. In many countries, retirement age varies between 55-70. In Indonesia, the employees enter their retirement phase on age 55-56. But there are some employees that have to retire early because of their dissabilities to work.

The retirement age varies from country to country but it is generally between 55 and 70. In some countries this age is different for male and females. Sometimes certain jobs, the most dangerous or fatiguing ones in particular, have an earlier retirement age .
In the United States, while most view 65 as normal retirement age, many retire before then, sometimes with contributory causes such as job-loss, disability or wealth. However, the Old Age Survivors Insurance or OASI, better known as the Social Security system has age 62 as the earliest retirement age. Normal retirement age for Social Security has historically been age 65 to receive unreduced benefits, but it is gradually increasing to age 67. For those turning 65 in the year 2008 full benefits will be payable beginning at age 66.
The retirement age in India for public sector employees is enhanced from 58-60 years in July 2007. In Malaysia the retirement age has just recently been raised from 55 years to 56 years.
Many politicians, scientists, lawyers, television anchors, and professors still work well into their 70s, however some actors, models, athletes, and musicians only work until their 30s.
Military members of the US Armed Forces may elect to retire after 20 years of active duty. (http://www.wikipedia.org/)

The average retirement age is defined as the average age at which individuals within a certain group or demographic retire from employment. The average retirement age is not a stable number that remains the same over generations. Instead, it changes, varying according to trends in employment, retirement, and life expectancy. For example, in the United States, the average age at which individuals retired in 1910 was 74 years old. In 2002, however, the average retirement age was 62. (http://www.wisegeek.com/)

To answer questions about normal retirement age, the Japanese Prime Minister’s Office (1982) conducted national surveys of adults 60 years of age and older in four industrialized nations --- Japan, USA, England, and France. A much larger percentage of the men over 60 in Japan were in the labor force (57%) than in the USA (33%), England (13%), and France (8%).
When asked, “What do you think is the best age to retire?” a majority of the older men in England and France said 60 years of age. In sharp contrast, only 14% of the older men in Japan and the USA, in proportion of older men who favored saving while working was at least twice that advising reliance on social security. (Santrock 1997:559)

Sociologist Alex Inkeles and Chikako Usui (1989) believe that these cross-cultural data suggest that the marked differences in the rate of employment among those over 60 in Japan and the USA, compared to England and France, are mainly due to attitudes and values about work, and about reliance on oneself (and on relatives, in the case of Japan) rather than on the government and its social security system. (Santrock1997:560)

Beside the cultural factors, there are some other facors that cause retirement. It finds that retireesare in poorer health than workers of the same age and are more likely to have a condition that limits or prevents work. The younger a worker was when leaving a job, the more likely the departure was involuntary due to job loss or poor health. In addition, workers with pension coverage are more likely to retire than workers without pension coverage, while workers who would lose health insurance coverage upon retirement are less likely to retire.

In conclusion, I think retirement age can't be decided generally, there are some factors that effects an employee to retire. But it is better for older employees to enjoy the rest of their lives and giving chances for the younger employees who could do the job more optimally.

References

Santrock, John W. Life-Span Development 6th Edition. 1997. Texas: Brown & Benchmark Publishers.

Retirement. Retrieved May 22, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.wikipedia.org/

What is the average retirement age? Retrieved May 22, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-average-retirement-age.htm.

Definition of retirement. Retrieved May 22, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/retirement

Retirement on the right moment

Basically, Indonesian employee enter the retirement phase on age 56 . The system of retirement usually through the free function phase on 55, then they are completely retire on 56. There is some exception for civil employee in Indonesia, especially for teacher or professor, they could teach until 60 or 70 years old. However, lots of Indonesia employees decide to stop working on 56 years old (Suruji 2008). It means, those ex-employees should continue their life from benefit of the retirement salary. It’s better if they have some additional fund like investments or another works after retire. As the employees' welfare and better living-age expectation, many people get some psychological shock to get retire on age 56. Why should they jobless early if they are still productive enough to work.

According to Wikipedia Online article, “Early retirement can be at any age, but is generally before the age (or tenure) needed for eligibility for support and funds from government or employer-provided sources. Thus, early-retirees rely on their own savings and investments to be initially self-supporting, until they start receiving such external support.”

Employees become the focal point of when and how to retire and weigh factors such as work, community, self and family that may affect their choice to retire. More specifically, they might consider how they are viewed by their supervisors and perceive job growth opportunities; their relationship to family and any caregiving responsibilities they may have; what in the community may be keeping them there or their sense of belonging within the community; and how their past self and values relate to the possibilities of new friends and activities in their future self.(Dittman 2004:78).

According to those statements, we can get some conclusion that retirement can be better if it happens on the right moment. The right moment means not too young and not too old. Not too young can support someone to gain much salary and evolving part of career development, not too old can prevent the workers who incapable for work anymore.
Being retirement is not as bad as we think.Psychologist J. Fagan was retirement at age 50. At first he admits that he would missed contact with his professional colleagues. “I moved from being a big fish in a little pond to just fish alone”, He said. And then he tried to brites books, and now become a lecture in psychology classes. "I'm doing some of the things that I never had time to do," says Fagan, now in his fifth year of retirement. "It's a wonderful life in retirement."

Sources :

Retirement. The Online Wikipedia. Retrieved May 22, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement

Dittmann.(2004, November 10). Retirees are shifting interests, reinventing careers and changing the very definition of "retirement." Retrieved May 22, 2008. American psychological Association.78 p.

Suruji (2008, April 11).Hidup Memadai di Masa Pensiun. [Online Article] Retrieved May 22, 2008 from the World Wide Web : http://financialplanners.wordpress.com/2008/04/11/hello-world/

Astrid.16107093

The Perfect Time to Retiring

Retirement is generally understood to be the time when people stop working and start collecting a pension (Murray Gendell 2001). The point in time at which a worker decides to withdraw from the labor force is determined by a number of factors. Some factors are personal and others are regulatory. Personal factors contain the worker's health, family situation, and personal aspirations. While regulatory factors contain the condition and prerequisite of normal retirement age in public and private pension plans (Monthly Labor Review, October 2001).

Personally, I think there are several things to consider before you want to retirees. First you have to deem in what age you want to stop working. It’s important in order to plan your job; you must work harder if you want to retirees earlier. Some people said that you should retire at the age of 50, while in others people can work until they are 70 or even 80. The most common age in retiring is at age 62-65, the government policy in every countries not suggest you to retiring more than that age. (http://www.labour.g.ca).

Second you have to deem about your fund when you stop working. You must consider your savings in order to support your daily need to continue your life. You must calculate your income and your expense since you’re no longer working and your income just come only from social securities.

Last, the most important thing you have to consider before you want to retirees is you must make your own decision based on your own circumstances. All the personal factors and all the regulatory factors just guide you to determine the perfect retirement age. Some people like Johnson and Satran still working because they still want it, the jobs are not physically demanding and they are not ready for a steady diet of golf and fishing. "I'm better at work than I am at golf," said Johnson, who has been at Securian for 44 years and heads a group that has grown at an 18 percent annual growth rate over the last 10 years. Dr. Leon Satran, 72, said “retirement is not quite on my radar yet" Satran, who practices at Fairview's Children's Clinic on University Avenue in Minneapolis, has been a pediatrician since 1969.

In conclusion, I think when you can still working and you fell enjoy in it, nobody can’t ask you to retiring. But you must manage when the perfect time you must retire and prepare all the condition that will happen when you retire. Over that all, the best time to retiring only knows by you.



References:

Retirement. The Online Wikipedia. Retrieved May 15, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement

Social Security Online. Retrieved May 15, 2008 from the World Wide Web: www.socialsecurity.gov

Labour. Retrieved May 15, 2008 from the World Wide Web: www.labour.gc.ca

Hadzipetros, Peter (2005, February). Retirement may not mean retirement. Retrieved May 15, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/retirement/index.html

Phelps, David. (2007, September).Census: Retirement age doesn't mean 65. [Online Article]. Retrieved May 15, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.startribune.com

Gendell, Murray. (2001, October). Retirement age declines again in 1990s. [Online Article]. Retrieved May 15, 2008 from the World Wide Web:www.urban.org/center/ibp/Projects/upload/retirement-numbers-labora.pdf

PENSION, WHY NOT ?

As hard as a hard worker would work, there must be a time when they will take so much breath at the final. It may be a finish line for them at the rest of their life. This situation, frequently called retirement or pension, is a kind of a situation that some people would have waited for this time so long, but some of them just don’t even want to put their duty for infinity. I think the way someone worry about his or her retirement is influential to how they will face it next.

Pension, usually linked by age, often considered as the worst reality that everyone has to look out on it. On this modern era, occupation is a one of several necessary factors that can raise your social position, self-esteem, and obviously your fund income. So it won’t be that shocking if we heard that some pensions does take their retirement day too badly, instead, they should have enjoy their relaxed atmosphere. This situation also causes someone will be late in preparing their retirement day.(Jacinta, 2008)

Retirement day has to be well-prepared so it won’t be a problem for the pensions. In Indonesia, generally, someone would take their retirement day on 49 years old. If we compare with Singapore or India, they are far much earlier in preparing retirement, that is on 34 – 44 years old. Indonesian people seem afraid of ‘retirement day’ word, while maybe they have not known before that retirement precisely could reduce our maximum capacity of our brain(Tarie, 2008). Moreover, we will gain so much quality time with our family, because we have so many spare time in enjoying the benefit of our employment before.

Finally, we can conclude that retirement is a process that we should manage before we decide when will it be happened. we also should change our point of view on seeing the concrete of a retirement day.
If we still have enough power and spirit to work, why not? But we have to remember that there are some generations below us that someday, they supposed to change our position.
We have throw away the suggestion that says whether retirement is a boring thing because retirement day is the time when we will realized that what we have done is totally meaningful to our future.

References

Pensiun. Wikipedia Indonesia home page. Retrieved May 16, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pensiun

Siapkan Kebutuhan Masa Pensiun Sekarang. HARIAN UMUM SORE SINAR HARAPAN homepage. Retrieved May 16, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.sinarharapan.co.id/ekonomi/eureka/2005/0506/eur1.html

Perlunya Training Pensiunan. Retrieved May 16, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://pancaroba.com/2008/05/05/perlunya-training-pensiunan/

Retirement Age

According to Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org), retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. Retirement happens when someone reaches his retirement age, which is determined depends to the country, or disability to continue working because of several reason, such as illness, accident, and personal choice (because there are an adequate savings or pension funds).

Retirement age is different from country to country. The idea of fixed retirement age is being introduced in 19th and 20th century. Before that, there were no limit for workers to work, they usually do the job until death (Anon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement). The age is varies, but it is in range 55-70.
In Indonesia, there are three groups that classified employees (pegawai negeri sipil, in Indonesian) to his retirement age. Group I, retired at 65 for dean, researchers, and scientist (there is a term in Indonesian for this group, it is pangkat eselon I). Group II ( II), retired at 60 for lecturer, teacher, and sometimes scientist too. Last group, group III (it is for pangkat eselon III and IV), retired at 55 for common staff (Amirudin. www.kompas.com/kompas-cetak/opini). That rule still available in 2005, until a year after, Indonesian's president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono claimed that retirement age for group III is raised 5 years, which become 60. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that it's a pity to retire the employee in 55. He thought in 55-60, somebody in that age is in the peak of maturity, wisdom, and lots of experiences. Raising the retirement age means increasing the quality of life in Indonesia, where its people have hope to life. The president said he is going to increase "the number of life-hoping" from 66 to 70, so at age 60, somebody still in a good condition.
Besides, at 55, some people are still enjoying their job and do it nicely (Wiguna. http://excuico.multiply.com/journal/item/9). In other case, people at 55 whose child still in school or in college, need money for pay the school. So, it is quite wise to raising the retirement age of employee.

What happens in one country is diferrent from others. While in Indonesia retirement age is in range 60-65, In United States, it is fixed 65 for retirement age and 62 for its earliest retirement age. In France, retirement age for teachers is thirty eight years after employment and age 50 for train engineers in its national railways. In India, retirement age is enhanced from 58 to 60 for public sector employees. In Malaysia, the retirement age is recently been raised from 55 to 56 (Anon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement). Retirement also include it supports fund and it's varies from country to country. Using that fund (also called pension), people who has retired can support his family or for support his own life.
However, retirement age listed above is commonly for employees. Politicians, lawyers, some scientists, television anchors, and professors still work at their 70. It may be considered for their research, wisdom, and knowledge they have is still used and lot of advantages if they still working. While actors, athletes, musicians, and models retire at their 30s. It is because they work with their body and the body has a limit for active, being in a very good condition for do somekind like catwalk, backhand force, running, standing, and many more that is done by those who retire at 30s. The conclusion is, in my opinion, retirement age is depending by its job, what kind of job that somebody does. It is quite wise to let people still work as long as that people do something related to his job that useful for mankind.

References
Retirement. (2008, May 13) [Online article]. Retrieved May 14, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement

Amirudin. (2005, April 28). Usia Pensiun PNS. [Online article]. Retrieved May 14, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www2.kompas.com/kompas-cetak/0504/28/opini/1714614.htm

Wiguna, Oktamandjaya. (2006, November 24). Menaikkan Usia Produktif Hingga 60 Tahun. [Online article]. Retrieved May 14, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://exuico.multiply.com/journal/item/9


hawa firdausi. 16107072.

Retirement On Appropriate Age

In 18 years age of my life without working experience, it will be difficult to imagine what would be a 50, 60 or even 70 years old people who have to stop working. I only could learn something from my family. I still have my grandmothers from both sides. They are now on their 80iest, but still capable writing features for a Dutch magazine and the other still making beautiful cross stitch for tablecloths. Two of my aunties and one uncle in their late 50iest have retired from their jobs. From my observation, they are so energetic and keep looking for a spare-time job because they beliefs that they have some capabilities that would be needed.

According to Wikipedia, retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. The retirement age varies from country to country but it is generally between 55 and 70. In some countries this age is different for male and females. Sometimes certain jobs, the most dangerous or fatiguing ones in particular, have an earlier retirement age.

In Indonesia a civil servant have the right to retire if they reach the age of 50 with at least 20 years service experiences (http://www.setneg.go.id). The normal retirement age for a civil servant is 56 years. This could be extended to 58, 60 or even 65 years if the person occupies a certain post. For example, university professor will retire at 65 years. Private company employee’s retirement age is 55-56 years. But we will find that many politicians, scientists, lawyers, television anchors, and professors still work well into their 70s. Meanwhile some actors, models, athletes, and musicians only work until their 30s.

The retirement with a pension is considered a right of the worker in many societies, especially in the developing countries. In many western countries this right is mentioned in national constitutions. In Indonesia the civil servant will get their pension every month in a very small quantity, only about 30 percent of their last take home salaries (http://www.setneg.go.id). For most civil servants, the pension would not be enough to support their retirement life, not to mention the cost of health care in retirement they have to spend, because people tend to be ill more frequently in later life. For a better living, most people have to find another job in their retirement age.

Reaching retirement age would not stop a person to work, especially if they still in a good health and competence to deliver their service to the society. On the other hand, working-age population has increased every year while the working opportunities are limited. Unemployment issue will still be a problem to be solved by the government.

In this perspective as an ITB student, I think we should set up mindset to create job opportunities rather than waiting to be employed by the formal sector, because during our study at the institute we will be trained properly and hopefully should be able to apply our knowledge and skill for the society. So it will be important to always keep up with the progress of the society that needed our services. As we go along we will know when our service is not needed anymore and then we have to stop working but I think it does not always mean stop doing any other activities.

References:

Retirement. The Online Wikipedia. Retrieved May 10, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement

Indonesian Act Number 11 Year 1969 about Pension for Civil Servants and Pension Civil Servants Widow, article 9. Indonesian Office of State Secretary homepage. Retrieved May 10, 2008 from the Wide World Web: http://www.setneg.go.id

Presidential Decree Number 32 Year 1979 about Civil Servants Resignation, article 3. Indonesian Office of State Secretary homepage .Retrieved May 10, 2008 from the Wide World Web: http://www.setneg.go.id

Presidential Decree Number 32 Year 1979 about Civil Servants Resignation, article 4. Indonesian Office of State Secretary homepage .Retrieved May 10, 2008 from the Wide World Web: http://www.setneg.go.id

Siti Amalia Hasnida

16107090

Age of Retirement: an Insight of

Retirement is described as “the point where a person stops employment completely” in Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. Its definition is as vague as it is in reality, since it is so hard to define in what age people should stop working. Normal retirement age is estimated between 55 and 70 (www.wikipedia.org_retirement), but there are people who retire long before them, and there are people whose age far exceed them and still got paid. Because retirement age is closely related to being paid, this became a somewhat serious issue, and I think there are reasons why it is so difficult to decide in what age people should retire.

First of all, there are works that closely related to one’s productive age, which is also linked to the type of work. Productive age itself is a range of age when people can work to get paid productively (Conrad 2004:289). Work like officer, for example can only be done by people who are capable to do that. They must be sharp, active, intuitive, and communicate well with other people. And, those aspects will decrease through time. Since it could affect their performance in doing job—and ultimately affect their company profit—the company will have no choice other than to oblige them to retire.

There are also works that closely related with one’s expertise in that particular job. By “expertise”, I mean “experience”, and that is accumulated with time. In other words, there are works that force people to keep studying, experiencing, and doing it until they exceed normal retirement age. People also think that the older a man, the wiser they become. That’s why, for job like politician and judge, people tend to choose older men so they can do their work justly.

Then again, that way of thinking seems to be shifted nowadays. People don’t seem to believe those “supposed-to-be-old-and-wise” men again. People think that those people are already corrupted and bring misfortune to them. Now, people tend to choose younger men; youngsters are the agent of change, they think. West Java governor election reflect this perfectly: the one chosen to be governor are the youngest candidates.

Beside these factors, there are lot more factors. For example, one’s determination to retire and starts his/her own job or sudden accident that cause disability for work.

In conclusion, the age of retirement is difficult to be generalized. Too many factors affect it. But, one thing for sure, a person is encouraged to be in paid employment (in short, to get paid) as long as he/she doing his/her job optimally. Government and companies should (and possibly had) consider this statement to decide people’s retirement age.

References:

1. Retirement. Wikipedia the Online Encyclopedia.[Online Article]. Retrieved 8 May 2008 from the World Wide Web:www.wikipedia.com_retirement

2. Conrad, Rownan (Ed 3). (2004). Economic Encyclopedia. New Castle: Wadsworth Inc.

M. Ferdyansyah Sechan 16107056

The Perfect Time to Retire

According to Wikipedia, online dictionary, retirement is the point where the person stops employment completely. This usually happens upon reaching a determined age, when physical conditions don't allow the person to work anymore (by illness or accident), their kind of job or even for personal choice (usually in the presence of an adequate pension or personal savings). Because of all those reasons above, the retirement age of people is different one to another.

In my own opinion, the appropriate age to retire is about 60 to 65 years old. Especially, in the development country like Indonesia. Why? As a development country, Indonesia’s citizen is about 220 billion souls. Because of the tradition, a lot of them have a lot of children. So, most of them are big family, that also have a lot of needs to fulfill. So, in order to fulfill those needs the head of the family, have to work a lot until their children could find their income alone. Furthermore, workers salary in this country is still low, so it will take a long time to fulfill all those needs. That’s why I think time until you reach 60 or 65 years old is enough to fulfill that kind of needs. You are not too early to stop but also not working for the rest of your life.

Secondly, the education situation in this country is not that good. Not all of the young generation has a good education, even the academic or moral education. So, it’s not that easy to give the higher position to the younger. Furthermore, there is an opinion that the elder is the smarter. Because of this situation, I think it is good for someone who has the important position in some companies to work until they reach 60-65 years old. They can use their ability to develop the company where they are working and also could prepare the younger employee in those companies to replace them in the future.

But there still some reasons that makes or forces some people to take their retirement early. Firstly, physical condition. If their health condition is not make possible for them to work, of course automatically they have to retire. Some workers may want to continue working until they reach the normal retirement age, but others may not have that option. Sometimes a worker's health has already deteriorated to a point where working additional years is not possible. This is especially true for low-income and blue-collar workers, women, and African Americans (Weller,2000).

Secondly, kind of job. A different job also lead someone to a different retirement age. The country of the person also influence the retirement age of person. For example: In 2007, retirement age for teachers in France is thirty eight years after employment and age 50 for train engineers on the SNCF, the national railway.The retirement age in India for public sector employees is enhanced from 58-60 years in July 2007. In Malaysia the retirement age has just recently been raised from 55 years to 56 years. Many politicians, scientists, lawyers, television anchors, and professors still work well into their 70s,because they are trusted to have good experience in their life, however some actors, models, athletes, and musicians only work until their 30s. For example: Michael Jordan, world famous basketball player. He retired in 2003, in the age of 40 years old.

In spite of that exceptions above still I think that 60-65 years old is the perfect time to someone to spend the rest of their life to have a good time. To spend their time with their family, or to spend time to do everything they like and many more. So, from those reasons above, I certainly suggest that the right age for someone to retire is about 60-65 years old.

References

Michael Jordan [Online article], Retrieved May 5, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_jordan

Retirement (2008, April 18) [Online article], Retrieved April 19, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.wikipedia.org/Retirement.htm

Weller, Christian E. (2000) Raising the Retirement Age: The Wrong Direction for Social Security

Concerning the Retirement Age

According to online Wikipedia, retirement is a condition where a person is no longer fully employed by its employer. Indeed, the controversy of the relative retirement age is intriguing. To analyze this case, I will focus the scope of view in Indonesia and for governmental work only. In Indonesia, the standard retirement age for an ordinary government staff is at 56 years old (Anon. 2004). For me, the exact retirement age should be well-defined and in this case is 65 years old (which is elongated than the standard but it is fixed for all positions) because it is appropriate to the governmental system and productivity of the person.

First, the elongated and fixed retirement age is appropriate to the governmental system. The work in the government such as civil state employee, police, and soldier in higher level require an experience from the past. The older someone has dedicated on a certain job, the more experience he or she had in his or her field and the more professional the work could be handled. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the opening of the 26th Indonesian Doctor Association Congress stated that the age was the apex of the officer’s maturity, health, and wisdom (Wiguna 2006). Presumably until this age, the governmental staff will still have the physical competence and most importantly experience and knowledge of how the system goes, thus such performance is suited for governmental duties which requires great efficiency and precise planning. The extensive elongation of the retirement age is somehow a detrimenting matter because the physical condition of a person is decreasing and so reducing the efficiency. This is supported by the recent data on the Statistics Indonesia that shows the life expectancy of Indonesian people is about 65.5 years old (Anon. 2000). Although it is a relative number, we could presume that beyond the age of 65 years old, most people are starting to get diseased and then deceased.

Secondly, the elongated and fixed retirement age is increasing the productivity of work of the person. With increasing productivity of the staff, the more income of the government get. Logically, the more the time that someone spend to work on a job longer, the more contribution that person will give to the job and to the income of the state by paying taxes. But still the boundary of a productive age must be considered here due to the point on the previous paragraph. This elongated but fixed retirement age also make people spend their retirement age less thus reducing the government expenses to support them in their relaxed life in the retirement. In USA, for comparison, where many people are retiring at a very early age the elongation of retirement age is proposed to increase the Social Security revenues (Weller 2000). Not to mention it is also supporting the staff to be remain ever productive as they still have responsibilities to fund their family’s life, children’s education, health expenses, housing expenses, etc. Putting a stop too early would also mean hardening the burden of their life, while actually they can still have contribution to their government and family.

References

Life Expectancy. Statistics Indonesia home page. Retrieved May 3, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.datastatistik-indonesia.com/content/view/460/460/1/3/

Public Opinion. Kompas Cetak homepage. Retrieved May 3, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://64.203.71.11/kompas-cetak/0504/28/opini/1714614.htm

Retirement. The Online Wikipedia. Retrieved May 3, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement

Weller, Christian. (2000, September). Raising the Retirement Age. [Online Article]. Retrieved May 3, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.epi.org/content.cfm /briefingpapers_ raisingretirement_ raisingretirement

Wiguna, Oktamandjaya. (2006, November 24). President Recommend the Raise of Civil State Employees’ Retirement Age. TEMPO Interaktif home page. Retrieved May 3, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.tempointeraktif.com/hg/nasional/2006/11/24/brk, 20061124-88389,id.html

Demi Tristan Djajadi - 16107081

Appropriate Retirement Age

Retirement is a condition where a person stops employment completely after reaching a determined age, when physical conditions don't allow the person to work any more, or based on personal choice. The retirement age varies from country to country but it is generally between 55 and 70. In some countries this age is different for male and females. My opinion is that a person should retire once between age 62 and full retirement age, in connection with retirement benefits for employee (personal choice) and health state.

First, the advantage of retire at age 62 and full retirement age is has retirement benefits for life after. "In the United States, while most view 65 as normal retirement age, many retire before then, sometimes with condition causes such as job-loss, disability or wealth. However, the Old Age Survivors Insurance or OASI, better known as the Social Security system has age 62 as the earliest retirement age." (Social Security homepage. http://www.socialsecurity.gov/retire2/

agereduction.htm). A person can retire at any time between age 62 and full retirement age. However, if the person start benefits early, the benefits are reduced a fraction of a percent for each month before full retirement age. So, there are advantages and disadvantages to taking the benefit before full retirement age. The advantage is that the person collect benefits for a longer period of time. The disadvantage is the benefit is permanently reduced. Each person's situation is different, so based on data, the person who want to retire must make a proper plan to receive retirement benefits.

Although, there are several cases where a person may also semi-retire and keep some sort of retirement job or have an earlier retirement age. Some job, like politician, doctor, and lecturer have an exception for retirement age, that could be longer than normal. This exception is considered by the experience, knowledge, and skill that couldn't be replaced for quite a time by some newbie. For this kind of job, older the person, more trustworthy they become and more important roles they have. On the other hand, somecertain jobs, the most dangerous or fatiguing ones in particular, have an earlier retirement age. Considered by this kind of job, older the person, more dangerous the situation it has or even risk the person's life.

Second is, people at age 62 and older basically would have health state reduction, became no more fit to do usual activity or even unhealthy because of some disease. In this condition, the person is expected to retire from any kind of job they have before, because their physical condition is already dropped to do so. For these cases, a few of the aged who became too ill or infirm to work received support from a charitable institution, such as hospital and chapel.

For example the infirmary chapel of St. Leonard's. The hospital catered to a wide range of needs, including care of the sick, maintenance of the elderly, temporary shelter for pregnant women, education of 30 choristers, and spiritual support to the poor. In 1985, St. Leonard's Hospice was founded in York as a charitable organization providing in-house palliative care and off-site services for others with serious illnesses. (Florilegium Urbanum. http://www.trytel.com/~tristan/towns//florilegium/popret01)

The other example is, the hospital of St. Giles. The hospital continues today as a charitable institution, under another name by which it was less formally known in the Middle Ages: the Great Hospital. It still pursues one of its original aims in providing accommodation and care for the elderly; about 200 pensioners and their wives are residents nowadays. (Florilegium Urbanum. http://www.trytel.com/~tristan/towns//florilegium/popret03)

To conclude, the appropriate retirement age for retirement benefits is between age 62 and full retirement age. But for some special cases including skill of a person has when he or she got older, dangerous kind of job, and health condition, the retirement age is depended on the situation it in. Retirement age could be longer or even earlier than usual. So, the appopriate retirement age is different for each person, based on the situation, kind of job and decision they choose.

References
CULLUM, P. H.(1991). Cremetts and Corrodies: Care of the Poor and Sick at St. Leonard's Hospital, York, in the Middle Ages. Borthwick Papers, no.79 .
RAWCLIFFE, Carole.(1984). The hospitals of later medieval London. Medical History, vol.28 , 1-21.
Social Security homepage. [Online article] Retrieved May 2, 2008 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/retire2/agereduction.htm
Florilegium Urbanum. Retirement homepage. [Online article]. Retrieved May 2, 2008 from
the World Wide Web :
http://www.trytel.com/~tristan/towns//florilegium/popret01
Florilegium Urbanum. Retirement homepage. [Online article]. Retrieved May 2, 2008 from
the World Wide Web :
http://www.trytel.com/~tristan/towns//florilegium/popret03

Retirement Age Based on The Kind of Job

In my opinion, for usual employees may retire from their job when they reach in the usual retirement age which has range 60-65 years old. But there are several certain case in the kind of job that may be considered to define the retirement age.

First is the kind of job which needs someone who wise and well-experienced, such as politician, investor, judge, or senior professor. Their retirement age can be longer than usual, since the elder man is considered has more experience in his job. The elder man is also considered has wise character. These criteria are logically convenient for politician, judge, senior professor, or investor. The best example is Warren Buffet. He is the richest man of the world in forbes version since 11 February 2008. He reach the optimal prestigious career when he is 77 years old. It is, again, logically true because to reach the maximum success in career needs long process step by step. He still becomes Chairman & CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. who receives annual salary US$100,000. Moreover he is also regarded as one of the world’s greatest stock market investors. He is estimated has the net worth US$ 62 billion (2008). In his old age, he still can make wise decision to be a good investor in order to expand his assets from time to time. Gradually from the age 30 years old to 77 years old, he becomes a master and well-experienced in expanding his assets, until now, he is the richest man of the world! (http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Warren_Buffet_COR.html)

Second kind of job is the athlete which needs someone who has well-stamina such as football player, boxer, Formula-1 driver, etc. They have maximum success in their career when they reach twenties years old and get retire when reach thirties years old. For examples are Zinedine Zidane who retired from playing football in 34 years old, Michael Schumacher retired from driving for Ferrari in Formula-1 in 37 years old, and Mike Tyson retired from boxing in 38 years old.
To conclude, the retirement age is based on the kind of the job. It may longer than usual if the job requires the wise and well-experienced people. And it may shorter than usual if the job requires the people who has well-stamina.

References
Warren Buffet [Online article], Retrieved April 27, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffet
Zinedine Zidane [Online article], Retrieved April 27, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinedine_Zidane
Mike Tyson [Online article], Retrieved April 27, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Tyson
Michael Schumacher [Online article], Retrieved April 27, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.mschumacher.com/biography.html

Social Security: Retirement

According to Wikipedia, the idea of a fixed retirement age is being introduced during the 19th and 20th centuries. Before then, the absence of pension arrangements meant that most workers continued to work until death, or relied on personal savings or the support of family or friends. Nowadays, the retirement age varies from country to country, but it is generally between 55 and 70. In some countries, this age is different for male and females. Sometimes certain jobs, the most dangerous or fatiguing ones in particular, have an earlier retirement age.

In my opinion, people should be encouraged to remain in paid employment until they reach the age of 62. However, Christian E. Weller (2000) argued that there are some reasons why an individual choose to retire before the age required for unreduced Social Security retirements benefits. Some of these reasons include poor health, an individual’s wealth, or retirement savings that allow for early retirement (Crimmins et al. 1996, in Weller 2000).

The first reason is that everyone’s situation and life is unique. Sometimes a worker’s health has already deteriorated to a point where working additional years is not possible. This is especially true for low-income and blue-collar workers, women, and African Americans (Garrett 1995; Iams and McCoy 1991; SSA 1986, in Rose and Larimore 2001). In this point, the workers have no other choice to retire, even if they have not reached the age of 62. However, individuals who are in excellent health and who has a family history of longevity would generally benefit from delaying retirement, especially if they still enjoy their jobs (Rose and Larimore, 2001).

Second, we may also have to consider other important factors, for instance an individual’s wealth, sources of retirement incomes, and desire or need to continue employment after early retirement. Some people think that they do not have to work until the retirement age because they have adequate savings. Other people may be forced to retire before reaching the age of 62 due to employment downsizing or health condition. In this case, they may need to work longer to avoid retirement in poverty, but sometimes their health may prohibit them for doing so. Another consideration is the effect of early retirement on an individual’s current fringe benefits such as health insurance, dental insurance, long-term care insurance and life insurance.

References
Rose, Clarence C. and L. Keith Larimore (2001) Social Security Benefit Considerations in Early Retirement.

Weller, Christian E. (2000) Raising the Retirement Age: The Wrong Direction for Social Security.

Retirement (2008, April 18) [Online article], Retrieved April 19, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.wikipedia.org/Retirement.htm