Singaporeans are living longer than ever, topping global charts in life expectancy.

The cost of living longer has therefore become an important issue here, and a group of experts are gathering tomorrow to discuss the issue.

Presented by Prudential Singapore, The Straits Times Roundtable: Healthy For 100 at Prudential Singapore's office at Marina One East Tower will touch on topics such as the need for more retirement savings, working for a greater number of years and coping with longer periods of disability. The session is open only to the staff of Prudential Singapore but ST will be reporting on the discussions.

The panellists involved are Senior Minister of State for Health Amy Khor, Prudential Singapore chief executive Wilf Blackburn, Tan Tock Seng Hospital's geriatric consultant Lim Wee Shiong, and the Health Promotion Board's director of the healthy ageing division Gary Khoo.

The session will be moderated by ST's senior health correspondent Salma Khalik.

Singapore has one of the highest rates of labour participation among the older age groups globally, and this figure is expected to rise with the pushing back of the statutory retirement age that was announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during the National Day Rally last month.

The retirement age is set to go up from the current 62 to 63 in 2022, and to 65 by 2030, while the re-employment age will be raised from 67 now to 68 in 2022, and to 70 by 2030.

In line with the Government's plans of enabling productive longevity, Prudential moved to increase the maximum age of its group insurance plans.

Starting Sept 1, the insurer's customised group insurance plans covering hospital and surgical, outpatient medical and dental expenses became the first in the market to provide protection for employees of corporate clients up to the age of 100. Generally, such plans cover employees up to the age of 75.

Last year, Prudential Singapore was reportedly the first financial institution here to scrap the retirement age for its employees. Earlier this year, it also raised Central Provident Fund contribution rates for staff aged above 55.

Apart from employment-related issues, panellists will also discuss ways to reduce the number of unhealthy years for people, and whether the responsibility to stay healthy should fall entirely on individuals - or also on the state and insurance firms.

Singaporeans enjoy the highest life expectancy in the world at 84.8 years, but about 10 of those years are spent in poor health, a recent report showed.

The Burden of Disease in Singapore 1990-2017 report was released earlier this year by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation in the United States in collaboration with the Ministry of Health.

Ms Khalik said: "Our life expectancy has been increasing by three years every decade since independence. Unfortunately, about a decade is spent in poor health."

She added that the different panellists are well placed to discuss this issue. "I'm truly looking forward to hearing their views."