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[h=1]Longest Retirements Fuel Pressure for Singapore Remodel[/h]
(19 Apr) – Singaporean Richard Mui joined the ranks of the world’s longest-living retirees when his career ended in 2010. Three years on, the 54-year-old can no longer afford to pay his father’s medical bills, and worries about putting his two children through university.
Almost half a century after independence, Singaporeans now live the most number of years after leaving the workforce, according to the Global Sunset Index of 68 countries compiled by Bloomberg. In the world’s sixth-most expensive city, 41 percent of more than 1,000 residents surveyed by HSBC Holdings Plc (5) said they haven’t saved for retirement, with nearly half of them blaming living costs for hampering efforts.
“The standard of living has improved, but the cost of living, we’re feeling the pinch,” said Mui, who’s made S$4,000 ($3,240) in the past six months as a part-time taxi driver, compared with S$12,000 a month at digital-storage device company SM Summit Holdings Ltd. before a corporate takeover put him out of a job. “The Singapore government is one of the richest in the world but yet the people don’t feel they are rich.”
Mui’s experience encapsulates the economic success that forged Southeast Asia’s only developed nation, as well as the challenges emerging after decades of policies emphasizing self- reliance over state-funded welfare. An aging population and voter demands for more government aid for the poor and elderly have put pressure on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to boost social spending even as growth slows.
The ruling People’s Action Party will probably keep urging Singaporeans to take care of themselves, as any other method could impose excessive demands on the government’s coffers, said Eugene Tan, an assistant law professor at Singapore Management University and a non-elected member of Parliament.
[h=2]Bigger Burden[/h]“Given that Singaporeans are living longer after retirement, and given that we now have smaller families, the question is whether that traditional model would be as robust,” he said. “This could point toward an evolving social compact where the state will now have to take on a bigger burden than it has been accustomed to.”
Lee warned in his August National Day Rally address that Singapore will need to raise taxes in the next two decades as the government boosts social spending to support an aging population. :oIo: He pledged to ensure sufficient affordable housing for citizens and add nursing homes for the elderly, while proposing measures to boost the country’s birth rate.
“We’re going to have to spend more on health care, substantially more,” Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said in a February interview. “A very key objective is to provide a greater sense of security in retirement for the middle-income group when they retire.”
[h=2]Larger Share[/h]Still, while the government will take on a larger share of medical costs after a review of the health-care financing system, it will continue to make individuals pay a portion, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Grace Fu was cited as saying by the Straits Times this week. :oIo:
Singaporean men live an average 20.8 years after retirement while their female counterparts have 25.6 years, according to the Bloomberg Sunset Index. The measure, which places Singapore ahead of France and South Korea, estimates the age at which residents leave the workforce and subtracts this from their life expectancy. A 2012 Bloomberg study on the healthiest nations awarded the highest grade to Singapore out of 145 countries.
While the nation’s gross domestic product per capita climbed to $50,123 in 2011 from $516 in 1965, funding retirement is a challenge as lifespans increase and living costs soar, fueling public discontent that led to record opposition gains in the 2011 general election.
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More in: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-...ents-fuel-pressure-for-singapore-remodel.html
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Almost half a century after independence, Singaporeans now live the most number of years after leaving the workforce, according to the Global Sunset Index of 68 countries compiled by Bloomberg. In the world’s sixth-most expensive city, 41 percent of more than 1,000 residents surveyed by HSBC Holdings Plc (5) said they haven’t saved for retirement, with nearly half of them blaming living costs for hampering efforts.
“The standard of living has improved, but the cost of living, we’re feeling the pinch,” said Mui, who’s made S$4,000 ($3,240) in the past six months as a part-time taxi driver, compared with S$12,000 a month at digital-storage device company SM Summit Holdings Ltd. before a corporate takeover put him out of a job. “The Singapore government is one of the richest in the world but yet the people don’t feel they are rich.”
Mui’s experience encapsulates the economic success that forged Southeast Asia’s only developed nation, as well as the challenges emerging after decades of policies emphasizing self- reliance over state-funded welfare. An aging population and voter demands for more government aid for the poor and elderly have put pressure on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to boost social spending even as growth slows.
The ruling People’s Action Party will probably keep urging Singaporeans to take care of themselves, as any other method could impose excessive demands on the government’s coffers, said Eugene Tan, an assistant law professor at Singapore Management University and a non-elected member of Parliament.
[h=2]Bigger Burden[/h]“Given that Singaporeans are living longer after retirement, and given that we now have smaller families, the question is whether that traditional model would be as robust,” he said. “This could point toward an evolving social compact where the state will now have to take on a bigger burden than it has been accustomed to.”
Lee warned in his August National Day Rally address that Singapore will need to raise taxes in the next two decades as the government boosts social spending to support an aging population. :oIo: He pledged to ensure sufficient affordable housing for citizens and add nursing homes for the elderly, while proposing measures to boost the country’s birth rate.
“We’re going to have to spend more on health care, substantially more,” Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said in a February interview. “A very key objective is to provide a greater sense of security in retirement for the middle-income group when they retire.”
[h=2]Larger Share[/h]Still, while the government will take on a larger share of medical costs after a review of the health-care financing system, it will continue to make individuals pay a portion, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Grace Fu was cited as saying by the Straits Times this week. :oIo:
Singaporean men live an average 20.8 years after retirement while their female counterparts have 25.6 years, according to the Bloomberg Sunset Index. The measure, which places Singapore ahead of France and South Korea, estimates the age at which residents leave the workforce and subtracts this from their life expectancy. A 2012 Bloomberg study on the healthiest nations awarded the highest grade to Singapore out of 145 countries.
While the nation’s gross domestic product per capita climbed to $50,123 in 2011 from $516 in 1965, funding retirement is a challenge as lifespans increase and living costs soar, fueling public discontent that led to record opposition gains in the 2011 general election.
.
More in: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-...ents-fuel-pressure-for-singapore-remodel.html
.
