In my country you can work for a maximum of 35 years or forcefully retire at the age of 60. To me I think people who are 55 years and above should have no business in active work. They should be in consultancy or something similar. I plan to be financially free far before that set age of 60.
I agree with you that 55 years is an ideal for anyone working in the civil service commission to retire. At that age, one should looking at resting and not struggling every time just to feed the family from what they earn. This is crucial when we look at various instances of people not giving their best when they reach such age.