Here's a perfect example of why a "retirement age" is is just another invention by the government along with unions and other interest groups who want people to exit the workforce before their time that amounts to nothing more than a big waste of resources,

British adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes has reached the summit of Everest on his third attempt at conquering the world's highest mountain, a spokeswoman said.

The 65-year-old arrived at the top of the 8,848-metre peak just before 10:00am (Australian time), she said.

He began his latest attempt to climb the mountain three weeks ago, according to the BBC, and now becomes the oldest Briton - and the first British pensioner - to scale the mountain.

Joking about his advanced age, which in Britain brings free travel on some public transport, Me Fiennes was quoted by the BBC as saying: "It's amazing where you can get with a bus pass these days." -- Source

If a 65-year-old can climb Everest, surely people can keep working (especially desk jobs!) well into their 70s and beyond. Rather than just play golf and watch TV all day they could be using their skills productively. That said, everyone should have the option to retire, regardless of age, but the government should stop providing endless incentives to exit the workforce once you turn 65 (pensions, discounts, access to super, and so on).

It goes much deeper though -- there's a huge disincentive to save in our society with the constant debasing of the dollar, debtor bailouts, heavy taxes and so on. Rather than forcing people to save (super) and providing them with a pension and other benefits if that's insufficient, a return to sound money so that savings aren't forever eroded (indeed their purchasing power would increase over time) would be a good start to bringing back some incentive to save.