neilmac (asker) Feb 12, 2017:

Thanks for all the comments The discussion has been really helpful this time round. I don't think the distinction is world shatteringly important, but the comments have been reassuring.

Yvonne Gallagher Feb 8, 2017:

I agree with others about (not) using "old" and "advanced" in English. If you can't use the ages, which would be simplest, you could say pre-(state) pension and post-(state) pension age. (Company retirements are not necessarily at the same age). Also bear in mind that the age of state pensions is rising in a lot of places as people live longer and there are not enough funds in the kitty to finance them. Right now in Ireland the pension only kicks in at age 66 and in a few years it will be at 67 and rising even more up to 70 every few years. And yes, we are very PC in English these days...Just to add, I note Robin has pointed out that it's really about people over 60 working up to state-pension age (at 65) so they're not early retirees in other words.

Charles Davis Feb 8, 2017:

@Margarida :)
I'm not sure about "old age pensions"; that may still be all right. But calling somebody "old" seems to be regarded avoided. Actually, I don't know about Portuguese, but in Spanish the term "viejo" is seen as somewhat impolite now and you tend to use the more polite term "mayor", at least in an old person's hearing.

Jennifer Levey Feb 8, 2017:

Chronological order I also think "advanced age" sounds like it should come quite a long time after "old age", and hopefully 25 or more years after normal retirement age.

However the proper chronological oprder of "edad avanzada" and "vejez" in the ST is the other way round – "edad avanzada" comes before retirement, and "vejez" comes after retirement. "avanzada" relates to "work age", not "life age".

As commented (or at least, implied) earlier, "cesantía en edad avanzada" refers to folk who qualify for early-retirement benefits if their employer wants to give them the boot.

Note: My comments here are based on involvement as a member of the board of my former employer’s staff pension scheme in Switzerland, at the time when an early-retirement scheme was offered to everyone over 55 years old. The details in MX are no doubt very different, but the principles are, I believe, similar.

Margarida Martins Costelha Feb 8, 2017:

Yes, 'advanced' sounds worse than plain old 'old' :)
Charles - yes, I wouldn't really use 'old' in formal contexts. But there used to be 'old age pensions'. I suppose this is now unacceptable... The Portuguese and Spanish don't seem to have such concerns over political correctness and they call spade a spade - 'velhice'/'vejez'.

neilmac (asker) Feb 8, 2017:

Same here - "advanced" sounds decrepit! I'm also having similar problems trying to distinguish "jubilación" from "retiro" (10 - Jubilación, pensión, retiro) ...

Charles Davis Feb 8, 2017:

@Neil To me "advanced age" sounds much too old for 60+. It suggests over 75 to me. "Old age", as you're doubtless aware, is not used for official purposes these days and widely considered offensive; you may or may not wish to take any notice of that. But it sounds too old to me for someone of 65 (this may have something to do with how old I am myself).

No doubt there's something to be said for Marie's approach: use the figures. Otherwise, you may be interested to see the age band descriptors used by this American company specialising in demographic data:
"Nearly Senior (55-64)
Senior (65-74)"
https://www.easidemographics.com/life stages/lifestage_info....

The favoured social studies/health services term for 65+ is older adult. There are a number of cases of "early older adult(hood)" out there.

By some definitions middle age goes on till 65 and 60-65 could be late middle age, but I think that to most people that would suggest a bit younger: say mid-fifties.

Jennifer Levey Feb 8, 2017:

Parsing... I think the ST extract probably needs to be parsed thus:
Aportaciones a retiro,
(aportaciones a) cesantía en edad avanzada y
(aportaciones a) vejez.

The idea being that "cesantía en edad avanzada" refers to the case where the person is made redundant shortly before retirement age, and "vejez" refers to a conventional "old-age pension".

In a number of countries (I don't know if this applies to MX), as the state pension age rises, employers are increasingly keen to dismiss staff who may be seen as offering a poor ROI when (say) 55+ years old. The employees may have early-retirement provision within their private pension plans, and employers offer a "bridging pension" to supplement the redundant worker’s pension income until either the normal state pension kicks in, or at least until the person manages to find a new job. Contributions for the "bridging pension" may well be subject to special arrangements regarding tax, etc.

neilmac (asker) Feb 8, 2017:

The actual text I have to translate... is this excerpt from a list of payroll complement categories: "003 - Aportaciones a retiro, cesantía en edad avanzada y vejez"