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With the wheels in motion to get more seniors into the workforce, the Minister-in-Charge of ageing issues, Mr Lim Boon Heng, is thinking of taking things a step further: To get Singaporeans to work beyond age 70.
And such efforts to hold back retirement could see Singaporeans start making withdrawals from their Central Provident Fund (CPF) Minimum Sum at the later age of 65, instead of 62.
The Minimum Sum scheme, which requires those 55 years old and older to leave a certain sum in their account, aims to ensure that Singaporeans have enough money to see them through old age. It will be raised from $94,600 to $99,600 next month.
"The existing law says it is tied to the prevailing retirement age. So, if the retirement age is raised, then the draw-down (age) from this Minimum Sum will follow as well," said Mr Lim, noting that governments in Japan and Europe have increased the draw-down age for their national pension schemes.
The retirement age in Singapore is 62. Said Mr Lim: "I think it is quite reasonable to raise it to 65 if the objective is to raise the employment rate of this group of people. But I think we should do so cautiously."
Before any change is made to the withdrawal limit requirements, jobs must be available and employers willing to hire seniors.
"We should make employment happen. We should not leave people in the situation where they can't get a job, and yet the Minimum Sum draw-down age is raised," Mr Lim said yesterday at a media conference about his study trip to Japan to learn about its care system for the elderly.
His conclusion after the six-day study trip, which included visits to private and government-run nursing homes, earlier this month: That Singapore is on the "right track" by targeting four focus areas, including employment and active ageing.
And while Japan has often been upheld as a role model, there is one expensive lesson that Singapore must avoid.
Japan implemented the Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI) in 2000 to insure all Japanese aged 65 and above. Users are classified according to the severity of their care needs, which include food delivery and nursing home care.
Users co-pay 10 per cent, while cost-financing is evenly split between premiums — which average $53 a month — and government subsidy.
The problem: Claims and expenses have doubled since its inception, even though the LTCI-insured population only grew by 23 per cent.
For instance, there was a surge in insurance claims by those with lesser disabilities who could look after themselves without the LTCI. Then, there are the "luxurious norms" of residential facilities.
This is "not the system we should follow", said Mr Lim. The reforms Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan has been putting in place for Singapore's 3M system — Medisave, MediShield and MediFund — and ElderShield, a severe disability insurance scheme, are "on the right track".
The 10-member committee on ageing, which Mr Lim chairs, was set up to coordinate a response to the needs of a greying Singapore, projected to have one in five aged 65 or older by 2030. - TODAY/sh
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