Curaçao’s Social Insurance Bank SVB says the retirement age will have to be increased again by 2030 (see related story) to safeguard the old age pension AOV fund. No new figure was mentioned, but it already went up from 60 to 65 not too many years ago.
The news therefore won’t go down very well, but there seems little choice. A fast-ageing population, due to medical advances that keep the elderly alive longer, more emigration than immigration and people getting fewer children, is taking its toll.
Unless premiums are made significantly higher, which practically nobody wants, the number of working and thus contributing persons will soon simply be insufficient to keep paying all surviving recipients in the future. That’s even more the case with pressure to raise the allowance because it cannot be considered enough for a decent existence.
The problem appears less acute in St. Maarten, but here too there was a fairly recent pension age hike from 62 to 65. And although the working share of the population is still relatively bigger, that will probably not remain the case forever.
SVB’s advice may be seen by some as premature, with seven years to go until the now set deadline. However, when it regards such far-reaching matters that impact people’s retirement, the sooner plans come out probably the better also so there is ample time to carefully prepare.
It requires early warning.
