As their incomes drop significantly after leaving the work forces, city residents share their experiences struggling for a better standard of living during retirement.
Wadhar Suryatmaja, 67, a retired official of state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina said he had faced a difficult moment upon retirement.
"I retired in 1998 when the *Southeast Asian* economic crisis started hitting Indonesia," Wadhar told the The Jakarta Post recently.
"All prices soared high, right after I saw my monthly income drop to almost a quarter than usual."
Having three children which were still in elementary school, Wadhar decided to save all the money his company gave as retirement bonus to support his children's education.
"I never thought to use the money for starting any business because I saw it as too risky and I didn't have any other source of income."
"I saved the bonus for my children's education and relied on my monthly pension funds for daily expenses," Wadhar, who worked in Pertamina for more than 30 years, said.
After a decade of carefully budgeting family expenditure, Wadhar saw his oldest son and daughter graduate from university in 2006 and 2008 respectively.
Ismail, a retired Jakarta government official, told a different story.
The father of three said he had allocated a big portion of his salary as an active government official to support her children's education.
"In early 1990s, I sent my daughter and my son to study in the United States," the 68-year-old said.
Retiring in 1999 with a final government rank of IV.b, Ismail said he stopped sending money to his children right after his retirement. His two children, who both had just earned their degrees in engineering, started working in the U.S and gradually supported Ismail financially.
"Now, their lives are much better than mine."
"My daughter even has offered me and my wife *U.S* green cards so that we can stay longer there," he said.
Under the existing regulation, a government's employees, except teachers, retire at 56 years old. Army officers retire at between 53 and 66 years old, depending on their position. Private and state owned companies have different regulations regarding retirement age, but many retire employees aged more than 55 years old.
According to the State Ministry of Administrative Reforms, more than 120,000 government officials retire from their posts annually.
It also estimated that the number of retired government officials will stand at 5 million by the end of 2009.
This increasing number means the government has to allocate more money for pension funds.
However, with another economic crisis hitting the country, many elderly people now have to struggle even harder to survive its impact.
Edi, a retired official at the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) said he had to spend money more carefully as he had to pay back a bank loan.
"Several years ago, I borrowed money from the bank for an emergency reason," the 67-year old said. "My pension fund is Rp 2 million (US$166) per month, but after paying the loan installment, I only take some Rp 500,000 home," Edi said, refusing to specify what the emergency was.
While some retirees can rely on their pension funds, others have to depend on the support of their children.
Kasum, 75, who lives in the Dwikora housing complex in Cimanggis, Depok, West Java, said he had chosen to live separately from his four daughters as he refused to burden their poor families.
Kasum said he had guarded the Posyandu at the complex since 1976, but was now confused about where to move since the future of the complex is uncertain.
The Air Force is claiming ownership of the land and the building and is trying to force residents, mostly retired Air Force officers, to leave the complex immediately.
"We don't want to burden them," Kasum, who stays with her almost completely deaf wife, said.
"My two daughters live in Indramayu with their husbands and run a small farm. My third daughter's husband was just laid off last year and my youngest daughter's husband works as a private driver."
Kasum gets no money for guarding the Posyandu, just a place to stay. His only support comes from his youngest daughter, who gives him 20 kilograms of rice and Rp 200,000 every month.
"The local majelis ta'lim *Koran recital group* sometimes gives us Rp 20,000 a month," he said.
To save money, Kasum said he avoids going out of the complex,
"Transportation costs us a lot."
"We only go out if it is very important, like for health checks," Kasum said. (hwa)
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