Retirement age of central government employees.

The government today said there is no proposal to raise the retirement age of its employees from 60 years at present.

"At present there is no proposal to increase the age of retirement of Government servants," Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

He said this in reply to a query on whether the government was considering increasing the retirement age of all central government employees by two years to 62 years, from the current 60.

The government raised the retirement age of central government employees in 1998, when the age of superannuation was extended from 58 to 60 years.

Meena said the total number of Central Government employees as on March 1, 2010, was 32.24 lakh.

The total expenditure incurred by the government after the implementation of the recommendation of the 6th Pay Commission amounts to Rs 94,270.50 crore in the fiscal 2010-11. This was higher than Rs 78,111.20 crore incurred in 2009-10, Meena added.

The total expenditure incurred by the government on salaries and allowances of central government employees before the implementation of the 6th Pay Commission for the fiscal 2008-09 was Rs 61,362 crore, he said.

Retirement in specific countries

A person may retire at whatever age they please. However, a country's tax laws and/or state old-age pension rules usually mean that in a given country a certain age is thought of as the "standard" retirement age.

The "standard" retirement age varies from country to country but it is generally between 50 and 70 (according to latest statistics, 2011). In some countries this age is different for males and females, although this has recently been challenged in some countries (e.g., Austria), and in some countries the ages are being brought into line. The table below shows the variation in eligibility ages for public old-age benefits in the United States and many European countries.

Country	Early retire ment age	Normal retire ment age	Empl oyed, 55 –59	Empl oyed, 60 –64	Empl oyed, 65 –69	Empl oyed, 70+
Austria	60 (57)	65 (60)	39%	7%	1%	0%
Belgium	60	65	45%	12%	1%	0%
Denmark	none	65	77%	35%	9%	1%
France	62*	65*	51%	12%	1%	0%
Germany	65	67	64%	23%	3%	0%
Greece	57	65	51%	31%	8%	1%
Italy	57	65 (60)	34%	12%	1%	0%
Netherlands	60	65	53%	22%	3%	0%
Norway	62	67	?	?	?	?
Spain	60**	65**	46%	22%	0%	0%
Sweden	61	65	78%	58%	5%	1%
Switzerland	63 (61), [58]	65 (64)	77%	46%	7%	2%
United Kingdom	none	65	69%	40%	10%	2%
United States	62	67	66%	43%	20%	5%

Data sets

Recent advances in data collection have vastly improved our ability to understand important relationships between retirement and factors such as health, wealth, employment characteristics and family dynamics, among others. The most prominent study for examining retirement behavior in the United States is the ongoing Health and Retirement Study (HRS), first fielded in 1992

2002 and 2004 saw the introductions of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), which includes respondents from 14 continental European countries plus Israel. These surveys were closely modeled after the HRS in sample frame, design and content

Factors affecting retirement decisions

Many factors affect people's retirement decisions. Social Security clearly plays an important role. In countries around the world, people are much more likely to retire at the early and normal retirement ages of the public pension system

Life after retirement

Retirement might coincide with important life changes; a retired worker might move to a new location, for example a retirement community, thereby having less frequent contact with their previous social context and adopting a new lifestyle. Often retirees volunteer for charities and other community organizations. Tourism is a common marker of retirement and for some becomes a way of life, such as for so called grey nomads.

Often retirees are called upon to care for grandchildren and occasionally aged parents. For many it gives them more time to devote to a hobby or sport such as golf or sailing. On the other hand, many retirees feel restless and suffer from depression as a result of their new situation. Although it is not scientifically possible to directly show that retirement either causes or contributes to depression, the newly retired are one of the most vulnerable societal groups when it comes to depression most likely due to confluence of increasing age and deteriorating health status.^[34Retirement coincides with deterioration of one's health that correlates with increasing age and this likely plays a major role in increased rates of depression in retirees. Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies have shown that healthy elderly and retired people are as happy or happier and have an equal quality of life as they age as compared to younger employed adults, therefore retirement in and of itself is not likely to contribute to development of depression.

Many people in the later years of their lives, due to failing health, require assistance, sometimes in extremely expensive treatments – in some countries – being provided in a nursing home. Those who need care, but are not in need of constant assistance, may choose to live in a retirement home.

Phases of retirement

Robert C. Atchley, Ph.D, and Amanda Barusch, Ph. D, describe phases of retirement as:

Preretirement This stage of retirement is made up of two phases: remote and near.

• In the remote phase, the individual sees retirement as far off, but as an expected part of the work cycle. During this period there are important financial prerequisites to retirement that individuals should be building. Developing leisure skills is another important prerequisite that individuals should develop during the remote stage. Developing a wide array of leisure skills is easier to accomplish in the early years than later. The same is true for developing a network within the community.
• The near phase of preretirement begins when retirement is looming. Although many people remain positive, attitudes toward retirement usually become more negative during this phase. The public definition of this phase includes preretirement planning programs, retirement ceremonies, on-the-job-training for a replacement, and possibly promotion into a less essential job.

Two important things can happen during this period. First, older workers may get ready for separation from their jobs and prepare for the accompanying social situation. They may notice subtle differences in how people view them. They may see their jobs as more burdensome than they did previously. Second, they may fantasize about what their retirement will be like. These fantasies may turn out to be quite accurate pictures of the future making the transition to retirement easier, or they may be totally unrealistic where expectations of retirement are not realized making the transition to retirement more difficult.