I also support you Wayne. A totally arbitrary cut off age is simply wrong.
I could accept age being part of a matrix of factors that would decide when a pilot has to stop but not age alone. The 2 main issues are competence and health so a matrix that starts at age 60 where the pilot has 150 point then looses 5 per year till he is 65 the 10 points per year till 70 then 15 per year till the end while also loosing points for sub average scores on training and a disproportionate number for totally failing a second check could with similar deductions for being in a risk category health wise i.e over weight, unhealthy life style, unable to run 5 km etc would attract similar deductions. This matrix would mean that some underperforming and unhealthy pilots would be retired before 65 and those who work hard to maintain their standards and are functioning well enough to do so and making the effort ( possibly having the good luck) to stay fit and active could work on till 75 ish (almost certainly part time).
From what ive seen in my career most pilots don't go chasing hosties and are faithful to their partner so don't deserve the financial hit they take when marriage breaks down, its often precisely because the pilot is away working trying to provide for his wife and family that the partner chooses to leave because the pilot is not at home enough, cant commit to social occasions like other professions or when he is home he is tired from the early starts and long days
For the young pilots coming through thinking the older guys are" bed blocking", not all the old pilots have had an easy career and many do still need to work. In my younger days it was not uncommon to meet pilots who had been laid off 5 times in 10 years and spent much of that time commuting to a different airport every year and earning next to nothing.Even being trained by BA was not a golden ticket and many pilots were redeployed to other jobs with a very slow start to their career and waited decades for command. Many of the young pilots today might be glad of working a few more years past 65 when their time comes once they see what life has dealt them. Certainly the younger pilots will have poorer pensions than the few lucky guys who made it through their career on a final salary scheme, given the cost of buying a house many pilots will still be paying their mortgages off in their 70's
A job is not just a way of earning money, nor is it necessarily about "status" its a great buzz to fly modern aeroplanes, visiting interesting places and working with intelligent and capable people...... all those thing i will miss when i eventually retire. I have good hobbies, keep really fit,have a great circle of friends but finishing my working life will leave a big hole that will be hard to fill and having lost my pension through no fault of my own (these things do still happen just ask and Monarch, BMI of many other pilots), I do need to keep earning past 65.
bb