Retirement at the age of 60-65 must be a choice not a compulsion: Kamla Persad

The opposition leader of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad Bissessar, stated that getting retirement at the age of 60 or 65 must be a choice and not a compulsion.

Persad-Bissessar was reacting to a recommendation in the National Insurance Board (NIB) report, which was presented to Parliament on Friday.

During a meeting of Parliament's Public Finance Committee on Wednesday, the NIB proposed progressively raising the retirement age from 60 to 65 to compensate for the decrease in National Insurance Fund contributors.

"Any discussion on altering the retirement age will require significant consultations and, should that be the chosen option for the majority, it should be one that is by choice," Persad-Bissessar said during the United National Congress's (UNC) virtual report on Monday night. "That is to say, people who desire to retire at the age of 60 are free to do so. Those who choose to retire at 65 can do so. However, you cannot tell a man who has worked his entire life, saved his money, and paid his NIS every week or month, 'Sorry sir, you will not be able to get it. You must wait till you are 65 years old.' You can't go on like this," said Kamla Persad.

Persad-Bissessar also questioned the report's accuracy, claiming that in 2021, there was an increase in contributions.

Colm Imbert made a statement on Friday complimenting the NIB's performance in 2021. According to his summary of the report, the number of contributors in 2021 was 446,116, up from 404,197 in 2020 by 41,919 contributors, or 10.4%.

"You know what they want to tell us in that report?" Persad-Bissessar added. They want us to know that over 41,000 more people have joined the cause. You want to tell me that after a year of lockdowns, business closures, and 41,000 people gaining jobs, that's what happened? That has to be a fabrication.

"How come you're getting less money with 41,000 more people working?"

She stated that the number of insured contributors decreased by 112,729 from fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2020.