RETIREMENT

The life expectancy of a human being has been increasing steadily over the last few decades. When I was young and studying at school the Retirement age was increased from 55 to 58. Over the last decade there has been enough said and written about increasing the retirement age to 65. By the year 2020 I feel the retirement age will be increased to 70. The life expectancy has increased over the last twenty years from 70 to 85. People are able to live longer thanks to the advancement in the Medical Sciences over the last couple of decades.

The last two decades have seen much more inventions and the technical advancement that we have seen is really mind boggling. The inventions of the last two decades which will much more than what we have seen as sum total in the last two centuries.

With the advent of Internet the source of information and intelligent is at finger tips. During my school days we used to get up early morning and read the lessons to know them by heart (mug up). The memory power and intelligence was constantly under test during those days. Nowadays the children do not need to have such enormity of memory or intelligence as everything is available at the press of a button through “Google search”.

I feel by the year 2020 children would start doing most part of their studies through internet and “eLearning” will catch up in the next ten years and become the norm of the day. The children are ready to start living their own life from an early age, say 18 or 20. Their working life would start around 18 or 20 and they would have to work till they reach about 70 or 75. The working life which used to be 35 years before will now increase to 55 years in the decades to come.

In the ever changing dynamic world there is also a burning need for all of us to update our learning and have the open mindedness to learn new things. When I was a student there were no calculators. When my children were at school they were using Computers. The present generation of school kids are using Laptops and iPADs. We have moved rapidly from Desktop to Laptop to Palmtop and with the convergence of technology we have one device on our palm which has Watch, Phone, Calculator, Compass, Organiser, Computer, Video, Audio, Camera, Radio and many more.

The demands from a human being are far higher and complex now compared to what it was couple of decades ago. Life will get more complex and in order to endure the adversities and complexities one would have to adapt very quickly and continuously learn.

Retirement is thus getting further away and eluding those who are right now in their 50s. The folks who are nearing 50 and have crossed 50 recently are the ones who have to watch out. There is a need for a real stretch and broadening of thinking as we go through this transitional phase.

With the shift in the Retirement age by further 10 years or more we need to prepare ourselves for a tough phase of working life. Having said that I must say the work-life balance is also equally important for us to stay motivated and fit.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
15th September 2011.