Arguments Against Mandatory Retirement

Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions such as illness or accident no longer allow the person to work anymore or as a result of legislation concerning their position. Retirement is a challenge for everybody since it brings with it innumerable social, economic and psychological problems. According to Singh (1985), “Retirement of an army officer has a different dimension. It has unique problems of its own and poses different questions to the society. For them, retirement not only means culmination of the profession of soldiering, but at the same time seeking a new profession and entry into a ‘second career’.” This second career is full of competition for one to survive.

According to Marshall et al. (2001) retirement is a process which begins with preparation. He explains that the concept of retirement is the product of an informed decision-making process that unfolds over time, in which workers evaluate the overall utility of retirement before they reach the decision about whether to retire. Anderson et al. (2000) recommend that individuals start

Notwithstanding this provision, an officer may, on giving due notice, be granted permission to retire upon attaining twenty (20) years of service or upon attaining forty-five (45) years of age whichever comes earlier (Section 33 (1)). This latter provision is sometimes referred to as voluntary retirement. In terms of financial remunerations, the estate of an officer on voluntary retirement shall be entitled to the commutation of two thirds of the pension payable in lump sum. This means that mandatory retirement pays full pension while voluntary is less by one