Let me put the record straight. I am not in favour of having to work till 65, but I do understand that our retirement age may unfortunately have to go up. However, I expect fairness to reign.

Although some economists describe the Pension Reform as a “time bomb”, I note that the issue of Pensions is probably going to pass by unnoticed, whereas on the issue of public holidays falling on weekends, there were protest marches in the streets of Valletta!

The increase in retirement age by probably four years is much more of a preoccupation than just losing a couple of days leave. However, the fact that according to the White Paper on Pensions, many mature people (who usually make the most noise) in their late 40s or early and mid-50s, are exempt or hardly affected by the proposed reform explains it all!

If we really believe that an adequate and sustainable Pension system is truly an urgent national problem that has to be addressed today before tomorrow, why should it span such a number of years in order to be fully implemented? I explained on other occasions that this reform could still be introduced gradually from the age of 55. Therefore, those who are 55 and under, would unfortunately have to retire at 65; at 56 retire at 64, and so on, until you arrive at 59 and 60, who would of course remain unaffected (i.e. retire at 61).

In my humble opinion, this proposal should still work well. However, suggesting that one should retire at say 62, just because he / she is over 50, is absurd. Why discriminate against youths?

Charles Micallef

FGURA