KUALA LUMPUR (June 4): Malaysia should re-evaluate the retirement age in light of rising life expectancy, said Retirement Fund (Inc) (KWAP) chief executive officer Datuk Nik Amlizan Mohamed.

At the International Social Wellbeing Conference 2024 (ISWC), themed "Ageing and Longevity: Towards a Meaningful Retirement" organised by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Nik Amlizan emphasised the need to revisit pension plans and social security systems to ensure retirees can support themselves throughout a longer retirement period.

“Perhaps now is a very pertinent time for us to start re-evaluating the retirement age [from 60 years old currently]. When I was small, 50 years old was [considered] old, but that's no longer the case," she said during the panel discussion on Tuesday.

"In 1960, Malaysia’s life expectancy was 57 years, but now it is 75 years. So I think that number or that expected requirement needs to be built into our [retirement] planning. Are we prepared, looking at possibly our children living up to the age of 100?" she asked.

Nik Amlizan stressed the importance of "revisiting (the issue) in terms of the whole ecosystem design”, saying various aspects of policies need to be adjusted in tandem with a potential retirement age increase.

“Meeting the expectation of our retirees is perhaps still quite far,” Nik Amlizan said.

Part of the pension payments is funded by KWAP, which was established back in 2007 to assist in financing pension liabilities of the civil service. KWAP’s total gross fund size stood at RM190.3 billion as at end-December, the Ministry of Finance reported in March.

Earlier on Tuesday, the EPF chairman Tan Sri Ahmad Badri Mohd Zahir said the demographic shift of rising life expectancy poses a significant challenge to the country.

And while the average life expectancy of Malaysians has risen to 75 years, healthy life expectancy remains relatively unchanged at 65.7 years, which highlights the need for more comprehensive care and resources for our ageing population and to promote healthy ageing, he said.