A Cursory Comparison Between American And Philippine Retirement Cultures

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Culture differs from place to place, even locale to locale. Wherever you go, a place's culture is dependent on the factors that have shaped the sociology of the area. That is why no two languages, even dialects, are perfectly alike.

Retirement is also a culture-influenced life stage. It is not as universal or cut-and-dried as most of us may have mistakenly thought. It is bound by the society's financial systems and tools, as well as the prevalent sociological perspectives.

Take for example, the difference between retiring in the US and retiring in the Philippines. When one retires in the US, the aging can still hold down a job, drive, and take care of themselves. Despite the availability of homes for the aged, most of these elderly men and women live alone. Some even need to take care of themselves and each other. A sad reality is that some of these men and women end up dying alone.

On the other hand, in the Philippines, the elderly are expected to completely stop working when they retire. Most Filipinos perceive that their aging moms and dads should be resting as they grow older. The only way that they could exercise and have a semblance of productivity is when they take care of their grandchildren. The only upside to the retirement culture of the Philippines is that the elderly get taken care of by their loved ones. Filipinos are culturally expected to take care of their parents when they grow older.

While either cultural setup has its virtues: the American setup allows the retired to be able to keep being productive, while the Filipino setup provides the retired with emotional and social support, the extremes of either paradigms could be distressing for any elderly retired person to handle. Human beings need love and support, just as much as how we need to be productive. The best paradigm may be a balance of these two retirement worlds: allow the retired man or woman to keep working and let them live with or near family who can take care of them. That, I believe, would be the best way to go.