What is the retirement age?

Management guru Peter Drucker was a prolific writer until he died at age 96. Reporter Helen Thomas, who turns 90 this year, served as a White House correspondent for 49 years until she retired last year. Actor-director Clint Eastwood starred in and directed “Gran Torino” in 2008 at age 78. In the U.S., there seems to be no retirement age and senior citizens lead active lives.

Park Sang-chul, director of Seoul National University Institute on Aging, said at the Aging Crisis Symposium at the National Medical Center Tuesday, “Aging is not an irreversible and inevitable change but a reversible and active one.” Saying someone in their 60s or 70s is old is no longer true. Statistics Korea says the average life expectancy of a Korean man in 2009 was 77 years and that of a Korean woman 83.8, up 18.6 years up from 1970. Since the average life expectancy includes the infant mortality rate, a 40-year old can expect to live to 90.

In the late 19th century, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck started a global trend by adopting 65 as the retirement age. Park Jae-gap, director of the National Medical Center, says 65 back then is equal to 90 today. While people have grown healthier and life expectancy has increased, laws and regulations have not kept pace. The retirement age at companies range from 55 to 60 and retirement benefits such as national pension, perks for senior citizens, and free subway tickets start from age 65. Those who are healthy and willing to work are forced out of employment and receive support just because they are 65 or older. This is a recipe for social disaster because the younger generation’s burden in supporting the elderly will further increase.

Retirees should be defined not by age but by new criteria that includes physical, mental and socioeconomic factors and the demand of the times like the U.S. It is premature to call 65-year olds the elderly at a time when life expectancy is 80.5 years old (as of 2009). The unilateral retirement age should be abolished in favor of a flexible welfare system so that adjustments can be made based on each individual’s situation. A genuine welfare program should not offer free meals or medical services even to the rich but instead help retirees work more. A new system is needed so that older people are not considered subjects for care but active social participants.

The use of the Korean term “no-in” (meaning “elderly person”) should also be reconsidered. The term gives the impression that the elderly deserve respect but are at the same time useless. In the U.S., they are called senior citizens. The word “senior” implies experience and “citizen” indicates responsibility. By 2020, 14 percent of the Korean population will be 65 or older, heralding the era of the aging society. If aging is unavoidable, a new definition of an elderly person might be needed to reduce the number of the aged population.