The golden years or a golden cage?

Trapped?: More and more seniors are living in high-rise housing which comes with monthly fees. Can they afford to keep paying such fees if they depend only on EPF funds? — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star

AFTER 30 or more years of paying off a housing loan, retirement should feel like the finish line. You expect to rest in the sanctuary you built. Yet for many Malaysian seniors, the home has become a financial trap. This is the silent crisis brewing behind the high-rise walls of strata developments.

While we often discuss the “sandwich generation” (adults caring for parents and their own children) or the depletion of Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) savings, we rarely discuss the brutal reality of what it actually costs to live in your own home when you are old, frail, and earning zero income.