The rapid shift toward technology driven systems and new financial regulations is creating serious challenges for senior citizens who built and contributed to society for decades.
Institutions such as banks, including Republic Bank Limited, are moving toward coded or digital transaction systems that many elderly citizens may struggle to navigate, forcing them to depend on younger relatives and exposing them to risks of exploitation.
At the same time, increasing administrative requirements, possible rises in retirement ages linked to agencies like the National Insurance Board of Trinidad and Tobago, and new tax and registration demands on small rental income place additional stress on seniors already coping with the high cost of food, utilities, and medical care.
These developments raise an important social question: is progress leaving behind the elderly who helped build our nations?
Organizations that advocate for human dignity, such as churches, human rights groups, and global bodies like the United Nations, must speak more strongly to ensure that modernization does not translate into hardship, vulnerability, and financial loss for senior citizens who deserve dignity, security, and peace in their later years.
Gordon Laughlin,
Westmoorings
