Formulating an Islamic Health Protection Retirement Plan (i-HPRP) for Government Servants in Malaysia

Malaysia an official statistics suggests that the number of aging population (age group of 65 years old and above) would increase and is expected to grow double digit by the 2030s (Malaysian Department of Statistics; EPF Report 2015). This scenario implies that there should be enough effort and preparation done either by the government, scholars, or practitioners to offer special retirement scheme(s) that can enhance the pensioners’ income as well as financial health preparation on top of the existing Employees Provident Fund (EPF). In view of this issue, this research aims to formulate an Islamic Health Protection Retirement Plan (i-HPRP) for Government Servants in Malaysia. Other objectives are; to investigate patterns of spending and saving among government pensioners before and during retirement period, to examine the preparation of the government servant towards retirement, and to explore the viability of introducing Islamic Health Protection Retirement Plan (i-HPRP) from the perspective of government servants. To achieve the said objectives, this research adopted a mixed-methodology approach based on structured survey questionnaires as well as interview as mediums of data collection. A total of 23 pensioners were selected conveniently in Klang Valley and it is found that majority of them did not plan or have a proper plan during their working periods. In terms of health condition, it is found that most of them having health issues over the ageing pattern, and they were agreed that having a shariah-compliant retirement income for health protection is necessary to reduce the financial burden during retirement period. In addition, the survey results indicate that majority of the government servants were in favorable to the proposed product due to its importance to comply with the Shariah. Accordingly, most of the government servant when they show their preferences towards I-HPRP, given three factors (saving, benefits, and commitment), they were actually concerned on their future planning. The findings can clearly demonstrate that the proposed model is quite marketable and able to satisfy the current employees future retirement needs. In other words, employees find it satisfactory and enable them to fulfil their retirement planning prospects