Letters: Cost of living increase for pensioners
POSTED: 01/10/12 3:06 PMDear Editor,
I have read different articles in the two daily newspapers pertaining to the cost of living increase over the year 2010 for civil servants and schoolteachers. The prime minister and the union spoke about it many times. But you know what. No one is talking about the cost of living increase for pensioners, who are members of the General Pension Fund St. Maarten, the former APNA.
Pensioners too are entitled to an adjustment based on the increase of the cost of living over the year 2010. I am calling on the prime minister to do what is right and what is just and make arrangements in order for the pensioners to receive their cost of living increase for the year 2010 as soon as possible.
Madame prime minister, do not forget that many of the pensioners depend on this pension and on the AOV-pension to take care of their daily needs. Every little bit counts. I really do not believe that government would let it get to a point where the pensioners have to organize themselves and maybe hold demonstrations to demand what is rightfully theirs. A group of pensioners in their 60s, 70s and 80s, demonstrating in front of the Government Administration Building, demanding what is rightfully theirs, would not look to good for government.
Government can also make the life of pensioners more livable by placing a regulation in their new tax code that will stipulate that only fifty percent of income derived from pensions will be taxed. If government wants to do more for pensioners, they can stipulate that no income derived from pensions will be taxed. This regulation will give the pensioners more purchasing power and as such enable them to better manage their daily needs.
Todd Peterson
Comments (1)
Today the senior community faces a number of challenges to a happy and worry-free retirement. Pensioners and retirees have a feeling of helplessness and abandonment. They feel they have no control over their plight as companies and governments find this segment of our society easy pickings. Worries about keeping their homes, skyrocketing health costs and the ever increasing cost of food have many wondering what will happen to them as they age. Seniors need help in finding ways to alleviate these burdens. At this stage, they deserve a break on the high cost of living and a peaceful way of life.