Blue
I am not saying I'm in favour of retiring at 55 as a general rule, I would just love to do it myself when the time comes. I am just very anti streching it to 65 for all the already mentioned reasons.
As to Europe reverting to 60 +, let me tell you that as tempting as it may sound to politicians and others who have no life outside of their job, this is not about to happen or maybe in a wet dream.
With the medical standards we have today ( let's face it, thismedical renewal is a farce ) there is no way one can vouch for pilot's health and I'm talking non US standards.
Passing a medical doesn't mean a thing in the present circumstances.