The life and times of the Merdeka Generation, and what it will take to help the future cohorts. YahooFinance
SINGAPORE : The Merdeka Generation, born from 1950 to 1959, lived through Singapore’s tumultuous early years, and gained a perspective of Singapore’s place in the world that many younger people probably lack. And, like the Pioneer Generation, consisting of Singaporeans born up to 1949, they deserve some extra help to cope with rising medical costs as they approach their twilight years. At least, that is the narrative the government has been weaving over the past year.
Even though the Merdeka Generation started their lives amid uncertainty, they were also early beneficiaries of Singapore’s success. Many of them would have been in their prime working years in the 1970s and 1980s, when Singapore’s growth momentum really got underway and wage levels soared. Many of them would have also purchased HDB flats in those decades, when prices were still relatively low.
Then, there is the Merdeka Generation Package. Some $6.1 billion has been set aside under Budget 2019 to fund outpatient subsidies and Medisave top-ups, among other things, for Singaporeans now in their 60s who may not have earned much during their working lives. Meanwhile, the Merdeka Generation Package, like the Pioneer Generation Package before it, has the advantage of not committing the government to an open-ended programme for successive cohorts of ageing Singaporeans, who might have very different needs as time goes by. Instead, it involves a fixed amount of funds and a specific group of beneficiaries.
Second Finance Minister Indranee Rajah addressed exactly this question in Parliament last year. She said, “The NIR framework spending formula is based on expected long-term real returns. It is driven by an overall portfolio approach, taking into account the long-term expected returns of different asset classes, factoring in the diversification benefits, and adjusting based on the long-term investment outlook.
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