Ageism

[pic]Ageism: Future Planning After Retire In The Military
INTRODUCTION
Ageism What is ageism? Regarding to Wikipedia, Ageism, or age discrimination is stereotyping and discriminating against individuals or groups because of their age. Age discrimination refers to the actions taken to deny or limit opportunities to people on the basis of age. These are usually actions taken as a result of one’s ageist beliefs and attitudes. Ageism is a form of discrimination, which is based on someone's chronological age. Many people use this term specifically to refer to discrimination against older people, but ageism can strike people of all ages. Like other forms of discrimination, ageism can be extremely harmful, especially when it is viewed as culturally normal and acceptable. In some regions of the world, campaigns to fight ageism have been initiated in an attempt to educate people and stamp out ageism. Age discrimination occurs on both a personal and institutional level. On a personal level, an older person may be told that he or she is too old to engage in certain physical activities, like an informal game of basketball between friends and family. A younger person may be told they are too young to get a job or help move the dining room table. On an institutional level, there are policies and regulations in place that limit opportunities to people of certain ages and deny them to all others. The law, for instance, requires that all young persons must be at least 16 years old in order to obtain a driver’s license. There are also government regulations that determine when a worker may retire. But in this research, the main objective is not about how the military treat the issue of ageism, but our group will only focus on the future planning for the older people in the military that have been serve the country for almost 21 years in the army. This is not whether there are capable to do job at the certain aged or not, is mainly regarding to the group that doesn’t have the future to be upgrade to the higher position anymore, so they probably just take the retirement option. This group will divide into 2 categories which, one person that have the academic background and the other one is that have non-academic background. Its will focused on the military personal at the aged between 45 to 55 years old. The research will look into each group retirement planning, what the next steps in their lives after being a military man for half of their age and also their choose either to continue to give the contribution to military or not. In Malaysia the compulsory retirement age is 58 (with extension to 60 frequently allowed), and its also depending on their ranks. Nowadays, military don’t have the large scale for higher positions. Its only 30% to 40% chance for each individual to raise for the higher level. Some will stuck on their rank for the long time until their last steps in the rank salary. When this time come, this person must think their retirement process, and the future planning because they have a long way in their life and did not stop when they retire. The planning is very important because, whether you’ve served in the military for four years or 30, becoming a civilian again is one of the biggest changes you’ll face. It pays to do your homework long before you hang up the uniform. Making sure you know as much as you can about your military retirement benefits is crucial. That’s the main focus in our research. After leaving the service, financial habits can make an even bigger difference. Our research also will look on what the type of job they really like and whether they have the abilities and/or experience the job requires. Whether work or not to work after the retirement will be their important planning to prepare for their financing in the future.

This is a major question to determine how they want to have their life after the military. It is because the current military retirement systems act essentially the same as a corporate pension plan. Anyone who serves at least 21 years is eligible to receive payouts equal to at least half of their military pay (and up to 75 percent of it, if they serve longer) starting the day they retire. Those payouts continue for the rest of the veteran’s life. So, they actually have a salary and can chose either just to enjoy their retirement day or to find another job just to support their financial. Though the military offers a retired pay program for careerists, it may not be enough to cover all of their expenses in retirement.

Life after the military can feel strange. They may not know what to do when they have the freedom to do what they want, when they want. While in the military, they have to follow orders and work a schedule that cannot be adjusted without permission. It is always best to plan their life of retirement before they actually retire. Planning retirement beforehand allows them to begin to adjust to the idea of a new life.

Personal Financing Retiring from the military can have a major financial impact if they’re not prepared. The first step in preparing is to adjust the budget to a new way of life. Once they know where their day-to- day budget stands, they can take steps to prepare for other financial goals. Many military families face financial challenges. Severe financial problems can cause lost security clearances, sanctions, limited advancement possibilities, or even discharge. It is like military culture that military staff will make loan from the bank. And sometime the timeframe they take to payback the loan is until they retiring. Some military staff has negotiated with the bank to cut they money from the monthly pension payment. This situation can affect their retirement life until death. As a result, the military staff has to find another job to cover their day-by-day financial requirement to proceed their life. The job sometimes require them to get through the difference processes compare their last requirement in the military. Next step, they will feel bored and quit from the job. Finally, the will regret because of their habits making loan without thinking about their future life. As a government service, military staff should use all the facilities such as saving with Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) where it is compulsory to join the LTAT for other ranks and volunteer for the officers. The LTAT give 16% from our savings for the bonus every year. Other than that, Koperasi Tentera (KT) also offers a good 13% bonus for all the military staff who saving their money inside the KT. It is depends on individual who want to save their money for the future life or not. Here, military body always give benefits to their staff to choose to make better lifestyle in the future or after retired. For our better health and facility once the military staff admitted in the hospital because of chronic or serious disease, KT offers the best insurance names MEDICARE. The insurance cover for the individual and for the whole family. And the monthly payment was the lowest compares to other insurance package. And for the death insurance, military services provide INSURANS TENTERA for all military staff. This opportunity should not been neglected by military staff itself and they should grab this chances by getting this insurance for their better future especially after retirement. Children’s educational benefits also been offers by military services for example Tabung Pendidikan Angkatan Tentera (TAPAT) and yearly gifts for the best student who gets straight A’s in the final examination for example 8A’s in Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR). Here, we can see that there are so many privilege that military services give to their staff to make better living. So, it is depends on individual to grab this opportunity before retirement day. Since the military staff still serves for the services, they have the privilege to get what they wanted. So, this is not the reason for military staff stuck in their future life soon. They should use this advantages to backup their retirement’s life and for their family financial planning in the future.

Career Planning There is five lifestyle choices as retiree which is continuing to work full-time, continuing to work part-time, retiring from work and becoming engaged in a variety of leisure activities, retiring from work and becoming involved in a variety of recreational and leisure activities and become a politician.

This poses two challenges: whether there will be a sufficient number of skilled workers in the work force, and whether the current pension programs will be sufficient to support the growing number of retired people. The reasons that some people choose to never retire, or to return to work after retiring include not only the difficulty of planning for retirement but also wages and fringe benefits, expenditure of physical and mental energy, production of goods and services, social interaction, and social status may interact to influence an individual’s work force participation decision.

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.

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 which is around 55 to 60. However, it can be earlier at ages 45. This pattern cannot be explained by different financial incentives to retire at these ages since typically retirement benefits at these ages are approximately actuarially fair; that is, the present value of lifetime pension benefits (pension wealth) conditional on retiring at age a is approximately the same as pension wealth conditional on retiring one year later.

Greater Income lead to earlier retirement. Generally the effect of wealth on retirement is difficult to estimate empirically since observing greater wealth at older ages may be the result of increased saving over the working life in anticipation of earlier retirement. Some of the workers were trained to be expertise and this gave them opportunity to use it for making additional income for those who need them.

Financial crisis is affecting retirement decisions, with the conventional wisdom saying that fewer people will retire since their savings have been depleted; however recent research suggests that the opposite may happen. Example, when they need sum of money, retirement benefit is their last choice to solve it, however some of them will think they should carry on to ensure they will get paid continuously for a long period.

More information tells that most retiree will continue to work, but not in the career they have had for the majority of their life. Job openings will increase in the next 5 years due to retirements. The effects of health status are one of the major causes of retirement. It is widely found that individuals in poor health generally retire earlier than those in better health.

This does not necessarily imply that poor health status leads people to retire earlier, since in surveys retirees may be more likely to exaggerate their poor health status to justify their earlier decision to retire. This justification bias, however, is likely to be small. In general, declining health over time, as well as the onset of new health conditions, have been found to be positively related to earlier retirement. Most people are married when they reach retirement age; thus, spouse's employment status may affect one's decision to retire.

Families change locations (often to areas where they know few people if any out side of Family members), change careers, and change life styles. The simple matter of moving from government quarters where the government took care of repair and maintenance, to one’s own home where repair and maintenance is an individual responsibility is not always simple. At least 12-18 months before planned retirement, personnel should attend a pre-retirement orientation provided by an Installation Retirement Services Officer.

There is no prohibition to attending one long before a retirement application is submitted and another shortly before an actual retirement date. 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.

Armed Forces allowed the future retiree to manage their retirement planning 18 to 12 months before. They will undergo training before starting post-retirement business ventures. Armed Forces always taking care of their men welfare by ensuring serving military personnel must fully acquire entrepreneurial skills before retirement. Most of service retiree are interested in small businesses but lack skills on how to manage resources adding that the Centre has entered into partnership with private business firms basically to train officers on different business ventures. Some of them also prefer to continue working in other company or organization but lack of skill due to work environment in military. Looking at this situation, Ministry of Defense had decided to establish Perbadanan Hal Ehwal Bekas Angkatan Tentera (PERHEBAT) on 30 August 1994. PERHEBAT is the organization that responsible in handling all training for future retiree among service personnel in Armed Forces. They will categorize the course and training based on specialization. All will be conduct with no cost at all to the participants. This is some of the effort from the government to the Armed Forces service personnel that had been served to the their country and nation. Below is a part of training prepared by PERHEBAT to those retiree:
|BIL |TAJUK KURSUS |TEMPOH (HARI) |TARIKH |KOS (PENGURUSAN, BAHAN, SIJIL)/ |
| | | |KURSUS |PESERTA (RM) |
| |BAHAGIAN PENGAJIAN TEKNIKAL & VOKASIONAL |
| |PUSAT BINAAN & KEJURUTERAAN |
|1 |Pembuatan Jerigi Tingkap |4 |3 - 6 Jul 2012, 18 - 21 Dis |500 |
| | | |2012 | |
|2 |Teknologi Pemasangan Paip Sanitari |4 |3 - 6 Jul 2012, 18 - 21 Dis |500 |
| | | |2012 | |
| |PUSAT AUTOMOTIF | | | |
|1 |Asas Penyelenggaraan Kereta |3 |2 - 4 Jul 2012, 26 - 28 Dis |350 |
| | | |2012 | |
|2 |Asas Penyelenggaraan Motosikal |3 |2 - 4 Jul 2012, 26 - 28 Dis |250 |
| | | |2012 | |
| |PUSAT ELEKTRIK & ELEKTRONIK | | | |
|1 |CCTV |4 |2 - 5 Jul 2012 |700 |
|2 |ALARM SYSTEM |3 |26 - 28 Dis 2012 |700 |
|3 |Localize Fault in Electronic System 2 |4 |2 - 5 Jul 2012 |700 |
|4 |Pemasangan & Penyelenggaraan Unit Penyamanan Udara |4 |2 - 5 Jul 2012 |1000 |
| |Pisah | | | |
| |PUSAT MEDIA & ICT | | | |
| | | | | |
|1 |Asas Grafik |3 |3 - 5 Jul 2012, 18 - 20 Dis |490 |
| | | |2012 | |
| |BAHAGIAN PENGAJIAN SEKTOR PERKHIDMATAN |
| |PUSAT PENGURUSAN PERKHIDMATAN MAKANAN |
|1 |Membuat Air Kacang Soya |1 |4 Julai, 5 Julai, 27 Disember |150 |
|2 |Usahawan Cup Cakes |2 |4 – 5 Julai , 27-28 Dis |250 |
|3 |Membuat Bun & Variasi Bun |2 |4 - 5 Julai , 27-28 Dis |200 |
| |PUSAT PENGURUSAN PELANCONGAN & PERHOTELAN |
|9 |Kursus pengendali Makanan (Kementerian Kesihatan) |1 | 8 Mac, 12 April, 10 Mei, 7 |50 |
| | | |Jun, 26 Julai, 30 Ogos, | |
| | | | 6 Sept, 11 Okt, 8 Nov, 27 Dis |50 |
|10 |Pengurusan Kedai Dobi |5 |11 - 15 Jun, 10 - 15 Dis |*490 |
|11 |Table Etiquette & Napkin Folding |1 | 21 Mac, 18 Apr, 16 Mei, 13 |140 |
| | | |Jun, | |
| | | |19 Sept, 17 Okt, 14 Nov, 1 Dis | |

Retirement Planning A good Retirement Plan will be the best event one might have towards the end of their career. It will affect both financial and personal perspective which involve extensive planning and years of hardwork. No one will plan for your own retirement other than yourself, therefore, we need to to understand why we need to take our retirement into our own hands in the first place. To plan a successful retirement is the best way to save for the future and proper implementation of the plan is essential in guaranteeing a financially secure retirement. Management of retirement plan is an ongoing process and responsibility that will secure the uncertain future of retirement.
Uncertainty of Pension Plans and Benefits Retirees have the options of choosing to have their own pension plans or government sponsored plans, the latter will be the choice of most retirees in this country.They will continue to receive their monthly allowance and also have the option to withdraw all their savings and invest. However the economic uncertainty will not guarantee their investment to grow continuously as stock exchange ups and downs might cause their investment to disappear in one night.
Unforeseen Medical Expenses Contributions in retirement plans and savings will be the priority of most retirees as the anticipated medical expenses to be covered. Ex government servant will not worry much as they have the benefits of their former service. However they also require better medical treatments that can be obtained from private hospitals where they have to use their own money compared to government run hospitals. Insurance cover will be high for these retirees. This situation can quickly become alarming if your health takes a turn for the worse. Old age typically brings medical problems and increased healthcare expenses. Living out your golden years in comfort while also covering your medical expenses may turn out to be a burden too large to bear - especially if your health (or that of your loved ones) starts to deteriorate. As such, to prevent any unforeseen illness from wiping out your retirement savings, you may want to consider obtaining medical insurance to finance any health care needs that may arise. Unforeseen illnesses, the financial needs of your dependents and the uncertainty of social security and pension systems are but a few of the factors at play. In Military there are two options of retirement planning: early retirement and compulsory retirement. Early retirement – people in this group retire early in their early thirteen and usually they either already has plan for their retirement or not. Those who have planned their early retirement will do much better afterwards compared to those who did not have plan. This does not necessarily mean that those who did not plan will face failure in the future. They eventually learnt from their mistakes and will perform better afterwards. Compulsory retirement – the group of people involved usually passed 45 years old and they either already anticipated their retirement or do not have any plan on what they will be doing after retirement. Those who have planned on what they will be doing after their retirement mostly is financially ready and know what they decided to do. On the other hand people who has no plan will take some time to decide what to do to sustain and they have to decide quickly and they eventually grab whatever opportunities they see in front of them. Unfortunately some will make bad decisions and fail afterwards where they have to start all over again.