Singapore has one of the fastest aging populations in the world, with over 65-year-olds estimated by 2030 to represent 23% of the population, the second highest percentage in Asia lagging behind only Japan. If current demographic trends hold, the island state's median age will rise from 36 presently to 41 by 2030.Silver tsunami - referred to the Baby-Boomer generation, those 76,000,000 persons who would begin celebrating their 60th birthdays in 2006.
Baby-Boomers are unlike their parents and grandparents in the following ways:
* Achieving higher levels of education with different quality of life expectations.
* Hold worldviews vastly different.
* Not experienced the same struggles and suffering of the Second World War and Great Depression as their parents and grandparents did.
* Living Longer and have greater physical health.
* Able to take better care of themselves, physcially and financially, less in poverty.
* With high disposal income.
Singapore government has long enforced individual savings through the mandatory Central Provident Fund (CPF). More recently the government has also announced plans to pass a so-called Re-exmployment Act, which will take effect in 2012 and extend the standard retirement age from 62 to 65.
With the growing number of senior citizens and cash-strapped children who are unwilling or unable to shoulder the burden, what are some of the solutions to our ageing population ?
Is ageing population, a looming time bomb for Asia or can be repackaged as a business opportunity ?
The inaugural annual CEO-level conference, Ageing Asia Investment Forum (AAIF) the first conference in Asia, held in Singapore on 5 & 6 April at Pan Pacific Hotel. They included business and government leaders from the Netherlands, USA, China, India, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Malalysia.
It focused on key growth industries - Property, Nursing, Healthcare, Wellness, Finance and Investment. By 2050, the number of people in Asia above 60 years of age is expected to be
1.2 billion, four times higher than Europe and the United States, combined. In Asia-Pacific, baby boomer consumers control an estimated wealth of us$11.3 trillion, 35% of the total.
That prospect has led to rapid job creation in the health and social service sectors. Property developers are also cashing in by building multimillion-dollar integrated retirement villages and private residences catering to the needs of the elderly.
What are your visions on your retirement plans ? Share your comments with us.
Photo extracted from Straits Times article 6/4/2010 -Riding on silver tsunami.
