Govt to increase civil servants’ retirement age to 65!
This was disclosed by Minister for Health and Social Development Hon. Ronnie Skelton last evening March 19, 2012 on NDP Radio following a question by a caller, who had expressed concern that retires have to wait some five years when they retire at 60 before they can receive social security which only becomes eligible when the person is 65.
“When we were here ( in Government from 2003 to 2007) the last time this is something that we talked about. There are people, civil servants were retiring at 60 and social security doesn’t kick in until 65 so there is this five year window. If you were not holding a top job there is no way you can live off of the benefits being paid to you from the Government retirement scheme,” he explained.
The Minister said in trying to synchronise the two ages, it would not be prudent to lower the age of eligibility for social security retirement benefits. “We cannot lower social security and have it sustained for any long period of time. The system will go bankrupt. So we have to increase the age of people (retiring) from 60 to 65.”
Minister Skelton said it is a decision Government will have to take into consideration and have it approved. “We will work on it and hopefully within a short space of time, we will be able to synchronise both ages,” he disclosed.
The Age Pension is one of the many benefits provided by the British Virgin Islands Social Security Board which is responsible for the management of the Fund. The Director of the Board has the responsibility for the management of the Fund, in particular the collection of the contributions and the payment of benefits.
Social Security is a compulsory insurance plan which employers, employees, self-employed and voluntary contributors contribute. Social Security is designed to protect insured persons from financial distress by providing partial income replacement when certain contingencies arise.
Age Benefit is paid to an insured person who has reached the age of 65 and has satisfied the necessary contribution conditions. Age benefit is awarded in the form of a Pension or a Grant and for someone to qualify for Age Pension they must be 65 years of age and have paid at least 500 contributions within the last 10 years.
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