LAYING THE RIGHT FOUNDATION FOR A HAPPY AND SECURE RETIREMENT

CEO of EPF, Tan Sri Azlan Zainol giving the keynote address at the conference. (Pic: The Star)

I would like to share some of the messages I took home from the 2011 Conference on Private Pension and Healthcare which concluded yesterday.

From Tan Sri Azlan's speech:

• 7% of the population (almost 2m) is aged 60 and above.
• 73% of EPF contributors had less than RM50,000 saved.
• Only 17% had over RM100,000 at the point of their retirement.
• 70% will use up all their money in three years.
• Only 15,000 contributors have more than Rm1m in their EPF accounts.
• Longer life span means Malaysians today need to save enough for at least 20 years of retirement.
• Demand for healthcare and medical expenses for the aged is expected to rise significantly. The federal government's health expenditure is expected to reach RM13.2 billion.
• To help EPF members, the number of critical illness eligible for EPF withdrawals has been raised from 36 to 55.

Salient points from other speakers:

Faced with such challenges, it's never too early to start preparing for one's retirement.

With lower mortality rate and lower birth rate, the end result is a shrinking younger population looking after a rapidly growing older population. It's not difficult to imagine a ratio of 1:1 in the foreseeable future.

Some advice to take note of.

Women, especially single women with no children, take note. You are the most vulnerable and at risk if you don't start saving for your retirement NOW. Curb your expenses on lifestyle shopping.

Issues that need to be addressed, and quickly.

The following slides are taken from Dr Rahimah Mohd Arifin's presentation on "Health System Transformation". Dr Rahimah is with the Ministry of Health and is currently involved in planning for the Transformation of the Malaysian Healthcare System.



My personal take on any plans and initiatives from the government is that they always look good on paper, but take forever to move to the implementation stage. As one speaker put it, "20 years have passed, but nothing much has changed." If you have questions about 1Care, click here for some answers.

Panel speaker Emeritus Prof Datuk Dr Khairuddin Yusof kept driving home the message that ultimately our health is OUR responsibility. His advice (and I've got his permission to quote him) is DON'T see a doctor if there's nothing seriously wrong with you. The right diet and daily exercise are the keys to good health and longevity. He's 72, and in person, doesn't look anywhere near his age. Proof that his advice should be taken seriously.

Access to affordable healthcare is the fundamental right of every citizen. That is the huge challenge facing the government. Introducing 1Malaysia clinics and 1Care System is a step in the right direction, but so much more needs to be done. We have to be responsible for our health too. We cannot expect the government to deliver all the time, for the simple reason that it CAN'T!

What about the financial aspect of the equation? How can Malaysians be encouraged to save? How can investment products and insurance packages be made more affordable so that Malaysians have more opportunities to grow their money for retirement?

There's so much groundwork to be covered - family support, caregiving, trained medical staff, nursing homes, retirement housing, insurance, tax relief incentives, the list is endless. It would be a tremendous boost if parliament passed the Minimum Wage Act and raised the retirement age in the private sector to 60. MTUC has been championing the latter for 12 years!

Conferences such as this one organized by Smart Investor and Abacus for Money help to draw attention to the issues and challenges facing the country as the population ages. The urgency of the situation should be impressed upon all Malaysians. Everyone ages and everyone retires at some point of time. There are no exceptions. The price to pay for ignorance or indifference to these issues is to retire in poor health and even poorer living circumstances.

SINGAPORE GOVT TO IMPROVE HEALTHCARE FOR THE PEOPLE

A video excerpt from Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally speech on 9 August.

The following is a transcript of the above speech. The graphics are sourced from the Ministry of Health's website. They sum up the main points made by the PM regarding healthcare for Singaporeans.

"The next five years - there is going to be rapid change. Our aging population is going to throw up new challenges and there will be other groups which will have specific needs which we have got to tackle. We will keep on improving our social safety net, enhancing it, keep the present approach but improve the schemes and I would like to talk about two things which we will be doing tonight. 

One is to do with medical care and particularly with outpatient treatment, especially for older people. Many Singaporeans worry about medical expenses, especially if you are older or you have an elderly member in your family. The 3M framework, Medisave and so on, works well for inpatient care but for outpatient treatment, I think we can do better. One group of these elderly is those who need long term care. They may be bed-ridden or they may have Alzheimer’s and I talked in the Chinese speech just now of some of the things we are doing to help this group. We will give more support, expand services, make the services more affordable.

Another group is patients who have chronic ailments, maybe high cholesterol, maybe high blood pressure, maybe diabetes and amongst the people who are in their 70s maybe half will have one chronic ailment or another. When you have something like this, you will know that you need regular checkups and you need long term medication. It is not that you take the pill 10 days and the problem is cured. You have these pills, take it for the rest of your life, every three or six months see the doctor, the doctor will examine you, adjust the dosage, six months later see again. 

Try and keep well for as long as you can. But the pills can be expensive, particularly over a long period of time and the low income patients tell me they may skip an appointment because they fear they cannot afford the pills. Or they may say “the doctor says I eat this every day but I take it every other day instead to save money”, which is not the way it is supposed to be done because if you do that, your condition will worsen and more trouble will come later on, serious complications. 

I think that we should make outpatient care more affordable and accessible for this group: the elderly and the not so elderly. We have a scheme to help elderly chronic patients like this. It is called the Primary Care Partnership Scheme (PCPS), which helps the low income elderly and disabled. What it means is: you have a card, you are registered, you can see your GP instead of going to the polyclinic but you get a subsidy like you are going to the polyclinic. It is more convenient, you have more choices and you probably get faster service. 

We will change this scheme which is now quite restrictive and where you have to be 65 years old before you are considered for this scheme. We will change it so that you can start at the age of 40. Because when you have high blood pressure or cholesterol or diabetes, by the age of 40 it is beginning to show up particularly if you have not looked after yourself. When you have conditions like this, the earlier you start treating, the better I think the results will be and you have to cooperate and we will improve the scheme to help you to be able to have consistent treatment over a long period of time. 

We will also revise the income criteria to include more households so that a broader range of households can come in under the scheme and can get consistent good long term care. We will also make the medication more affordable to lower income households. We will expand the drug list so that it covers more drugs and we will increase subsidies for the more expensive drugs with safeguards so that those with chronic ailments or cancer where chemotherapy can be very expensive, well you will get more help. 

I think these are major moves. We will implement them carefully and as we gain experience with them, we can consider how to fine-tune and how we can take further steps forward. We have to be very careful because you do not want to end up like the Americans where the government health schemes have eaten up a huge amount of the budget and financially and fiscally it is a big problem for them. But we can do better, we will do better and MOH is working on it and they will announce the details later on. So this is one area where we can improve our social safety nets."

WHO'S LOOKING INTO THE NEEDS OF THE ELDERLY IN MALAYSIA??

Consider these statistics:

By 2050,
~ The number of persons in the world aged 60 years or older is expected to almost triple.
~ In developed countries, there will be two elderly persons for every child.
~ In developing countries, the proportion of the older population is expected to rise to about 20%.
~ The number of 'oldest-old' people, those who are 80 years old or over, will increase from 86 million in 2005 to 402million. Most of them will live in the developing world.
(Source: UN Population Division)

The UN categorizes any nation with 10% of its population aged 60 and above as an ageing nation. Going by this definition, Malaysia will reach ageing nation status by 2035 when a projected 15% of the population will be aged 60 and above. That's less than 25 years away. How is the country preparing to cope with the increase in this demographic group? Do we have the necessary systems and structures in place to meet the needs and demands of an ageing society?

Lifelong learning programme of activities for senior citizens.

A look at our neighbouring country Singapore tells us that we are, as usual, lagging far behind. The island nation has a Minister in charge of Ageing Issues in the Prime Minister's Department. There's the Council for Third Age that promotes healthy and active ageing. It organizes the annual 50plus Expo and Active Ageing Carnival. There are dedicated NGOs that are looking after the concerns of the elderly, like the Tsao Foundation and the Centre for Seniors.

Clementi Community Centre, Singapore

The Ministry of Health's website shows a comprehensive list of hospitals, as well as residential and community healthcare services available to the elderly.  The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports offers financial assistance to those unable to support themselves, including the aged. The Ministry of Manpower has a special portal just to address the issue of re-employment of older employees.

There are policies in place to help the elderly like the Maintenance of Parents Act. The >60 Design Centre is Singapore's National Design Centre for Ageing. It was set up in 2008 to generate products and services to improve the lifestyle of older adults. The Housing and Development Board is committed to providing suitable and affordable housing for Singaporeans aged 55 and above. Every community centre in the republic has a programme of activities for senior citizens. The facilities at these centres are well maintained.

Former Singapore PMs Goh Chock Tong (left) and Lee Kuan Yew.

There is no lack of excellent role models of successful ageing in the country, and this includes former PMs Lee Kuan Yew, 87, and Goh Chock Tong, 69. LKY is well-known for his tips on how to live a long and healthy life.

The point of highlighting Singapore's initiatives in meeting the needs of the elderly is to provide a blueprint for our government to get started on preparing for Malaysia's ageing population. What has it done so far? Almost nothing that comes close to the Singapore government's all-out efforts.

Community Centre in Petaling Jaya in the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur

From what I've seen, the majority of our community centres are run-down with barely any decent facilities to speak of. The senior citizens' associations offer little more than line dance, karaoke and taichi classes. The National Council of Senior Citizens' Association (NACSCOM) has a website that has not been updated since 2008 as far as membership is concerned. There's hardly any content worth reading on the site.

An old folks home in KL - counting the days.

The same applies to most of the government websites. The Ministry of Health's official website is an embarrassment, while that of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government is a joke. Why do government websites require visitors to sign in? Elderly concerns come under the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. The page devoted to 'senior citizens' on their website can do with more informative content.

As for role models, I don't recall any of our former PMs taking the lead in implementing policies to raise the quality of life for senior citizens. During his 32-year tenure as PM, Dr Mahathir, 86, could have easily been the perfect inspiration of successful ageing, but he preferred to devote his energies to other areas of more importance than old people who are considered unproductive and contribute little to the economy.

There are people who will come to the defence of  Malaysia. They say it's not fair to compare Singapore, a tiny nation of 5 million people with Malaysia which has a population of 28 million. Ok then, let's compare Singapore and the Greater Klang Valley, or only the greying population of the two countries. Whichever yardstick we choose, Malaysia still comes up short.

Senior citizens queuing up to register for the special discount card for travel on RapidKL buses.

There's so much that needs to be done to prepare the country before it reaches ageing status. The clock is ticking away. In the meantime, the elderly continues to be neglected. There's no sustainable policy, plan or programme to cater to the physical, financial and emotional needs of the aged. Whenever the Budget is announced, there's is only token allocation for the elderly. We have token visits to old folks homes, token donations, token ceremonies and token assistance. Mostly for publicity purposes, to give a token impression of the work being done for the warga emas of this country.

What can we do to make the government take notice of us? Take to the streets in a peaceful demonstration?

SENIORS HAVE IT GOOD IN SINGAPORE

The other day a reader emailed me with a question. He wanted to know why many of the articles on Seniorsaloud made references to Singapore. A fair question. After all, I am a Malaysian, so shouldn't I be writing more about what's going on here in my own country?

The answer is simple. There's so much more happening on the active ageing scene in Singapore than in Malaysia. By 2030, one in five Singaporeans will be aged 65 or above. The government is going full steam implementing best practices to cater to the needs of an ageing population in the areas of healthcare, housing, employment, financial security, social integration and lifelong learning.

It's all about helping Singaporeans age actively and successfully. Take a look at these numbers:

• $100 million to promote wellness and active ageing among seniors, as well as to enhance eldercare services.
• $1billion for the Community Silver Trust fund to help charities caring for the elderly.
• $9 million of the Golden Opportunities Fund has already been disbursed to organisations to carry out community projects that benefit seniors.
• $10 million Senior's Mobility Fund to provide wheelchairs and mobility devices for needy seniors.

Minister of Health, Khaw Boon Wan, has this to say in his blog about the Mobility Fund, "The money is there, the political will is strong, we just need to connect up with the needy seniors. If you come across worthy recipients of this Senior’s Mobility Fund, please contact the neighbourhood VWOs, or your MPs. We will then do the rest."

Singaporean seniors should count themselves fortunate to have a government who does its best to look out for them. It's not all promises and little action.

Singapore is leading the way in caring for its ageing population. There's much Malaysia can learn from her southern neighbour, but the question is, will it?

ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF RETIREES

The public's view of retired middle-income professionals is they have unlimited financial resources to live on for the rest of their golden years. After working a good 30-40 years of our lives, retirees like us should have millions in EPF savings, right? Absolutely not! But that's how investment brokers and mutual fund agents look at us. And that's why we are a popular target for their products.

Healthcare and medical expenses eat up a huge chunk of our retirement funds. Inflation is another $-gobbler. We don't qualify for government aid. So where do we turn to when we need some financial assistance?

Our adult children? They have so many financial commitments of their own, we can consider ourselves lucky they don't borrow money from us! We have to count every penny and think four times before we part with our hard-earned savings.

Source: New Straits Times

Adibah Amin is a case in point. A well-known journalist and former NST editor, she suffered a stroke three years ago and has been running up hefty bills for her medical treatment. Fortunately for her 1Malaysia Development came to her aid with a donation of RM50,000. We wish her a speedy recovery. She is one great lady and much admired.

But what about the less fortunate retirees whom society (and perhaps their own children) has forgotten? I have met many who are in this predicament. Over time, I have seen how some of them have sunk into despair and depression. Their constant lament: "Want to die, also cannot die". They see no hope, no point in living.

It is heartening to know that finally the private sector is sitting up and taking note. Several events are coming up over the next couple of months that seek to address the needs of retirees. For more information on these events, check out the announcements posted on Seniorsaloud.

ASIA AT EPICENTRE OF AGEING CRISIS

"Asia is the epicentre of the ageing crisis." This was the comment made at a recently concluded conference on retirement planning held in Singapore. The numbers are alarming.

• By 2050, the world's over-65 population is expected to treble to one in six people.


• Asia's over-60 population will quadruple to 1.2b. That's the equivalent of China's population today.


• At present, four out of the world's 10 fastest ageing populations are in Asia: Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong.


• In Singapore, the elderly will account for nearly 20% of the population in 2030. That's only two decades away!

A huge demographic crisis is brewing as birth rates and death rates keep falling. What this means is that an ever-shrinking pool of young people will have to shoulder the burden of looking after a rapidly expanding greying population.

Without any form of retirement planning or medical insurance coverage, the elderly will have to depend ultimately on the government to take care of them. The government already has its hands full grappling with the challenge of meeting pension obligations as the number of retiring workers multiple each year.

How is the government going to finance healthcare for the elderly? Increase taxes? Raise the retirement age? Introduce compulsory maintenance of elderly parents?

On our part, we should keep working as long as possible, especially if we don't have sufficient retirement savings and no health insurance. Those of us who think we have enough funds set aside may need to do some recalculation. With the escalating cost of living expenses, many of us simply can't afford to retire.

Our adult children already have their hands full taking care of their young family. The least we can do to help them is to be financially independent ourselves, and keep sickness at bay.