In his book, “The
Prince” a book on political philosophy, Machiavelli stated that the destination
is far more important than the journey, he was so engrossed with it that he
came up with a political maxim that still stands till today, “the end justifies
the means”
And in the film
Transcendence, a film on Artificial Intelligence, Dr Caster and his team noted
that the journey is far more important than the destination.
But the views of
financial and retirement planners are different; they believed that the journey
is as important as the destination. So
is all aspect of life, the journey of any event, program, study is by far
better than its destination. If the journey is well planned, the destination
will be great, and if the journey is haphazard then its destination can be a dismal
failure. Pension is not an exception.
In his books, The
magic of getting what you want, and The magic of thinking big Schwartz noted
that human beings and individuals expecting to make change in their immediate
environment should be willing to prepare their 5 minutes obituary and by
preparing their 5 minutes obituary, they will be able ascertain if they have
achieve their expectations in life. So also should workers be able to prepare
for their own retirement even when they are still working, by carrying their
pension calculations, they will be able to extrapolate in advance, their likely
expected pension pot and their pension’s benefits.
From these two
illustrations, it can be observed that in every aspect of life careful
planning, checks, measures are necessary for a better deal. Even in life, James
Schwartz noted in preparing ones obituary, you will be able to ascertain what
you have achieved at a particular age. In pension one should make it a duty to
at one time or the other to ascertain what his or her pension pot is, bench
mark it with your benefits, salaries , allowance accruable to you now, by so
doing you will know whether you are making a headway or not in achieving the
required pension pot. There is also need for a pension calculator.
There are steps to achieving
that and according to Wall Street cheat sheet “TCRS offers the
following three strategic steps for achieving retirement readiness and success:
- Save for retirement. Start saving as early as possible — and as much as possible to maximize potential compounding of investments. Save consistently over time. Avoid taking loans and early withdrawals from retirement accounts as they can severely inhibit the growth of long-term retirement savings.
- Calculate retirement savings needs, develop a retirement strategy, and write it down. In creating a plan, consider lifestyle, living expenses, healthcare needs, government benefits, and other factors, as well as a backup plan in case retirement comes early due to an unforeseen circumstance.
- Get educated about retirement investing. Whether relying on the expertise of professional advisers or taking a more do-it-yourself approach, gain the knowledge to ask questions and make informed decisions. Seek assistance from a professional financial adviser, if needed.” (Wall street cheat sheet)
But in having a worthwhile retirement is a
basically a function of the strategies put in place in achieving that. Strategies according to Anao are schemes,
maneuvers, and methods, plans which organizations or individuals hope to deploy
in order to function effectively, Retirement is essential one of the basic
facts of life, and people save for two basic reasons, to make lots of money and
to provide for the retirement. And according to a recent research, people are
more likely save to cater for their retirement than to be rich.
The problem of financial crises and the increasing
in the working age in United Kingdom and the United states has made people to
start planning heavily on the retirement, coupled with a recent development
where scammers target retires because of their vulnerability indicate a
positive trend in having a good retirement strategies as most whites return
back to work having discovered that their pension pot could not carry them
through during their retirement. These are the basic strategies for retirement:
1 Save for retirement: saving for retirement is a
basic requirement in life especially in Africa where there is no social
security. Saving for retirement in Africa is fast becoming important as the
modernization has gradually eroded African system of social communism where in
most communities; people gather together build houses for old people who do not
have children to cater for them. As this has eroded, it becomes increasingly
important to start saving for old age
It is also important to embark on voluntary
contribution as the mandatory provision of 15 percent is not quite enough and I
strongly commend the Federal government of Nigeria for increasing it to 18
percent.
2 Make s rough estimate of retirement savings
needs, the saving need is a strategic issue as most retirees came to the sudden
realization that what they are getting as their lump sum is not enough, coupled
with their desire to get a house and a car from their lump sum which is barely
enough to cater for their immediate needs.
3
Develop a retirement strategy, it is very important to fashion a well defined
retirement strategy. Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS), noted
that in developing a retirement strategy, it is important to do the following “create a plan , In
creating a plan, consider lifestyle, living expenses, healthcare needs,
government benefits, and other factors, as well as a backup plan in case
retirement comes early due to an unforeseen circumstance
4
Know a lot about retirement investment, it is the inability for contributors
knowing about investment that often drove them to annuity. Contributors should
at one time or the other gets investment advice from their pension fund
administrators. They can do this by attending forum organized by the various
Pension Fund Administrators to get adequate information on investment
strategies
5
Maintain a positive attitude towards life and pension inclusive; according to
book of job what people fear most always comes to them. And according to Robert
Schuler, in his book , “the power of positive thinking “ he noted that one of the basic ingredient of success is
maintaining a positive outlook to life, believe that you will make and you will
make it, believe that you will not , and you will definitely not”
Therefore
maintaining a positive attitude in all aspect of life is pre requisite for all
facets of life and Le Boeuf (1987:21) noted that “your world is a mirror and
your mind is a magnet what you perceived in this world is largely a reflection
of your own attitudes and beliefs. And life will give you what you attract with
your thoughts. Think, act and talk negatively and your world will likely be
negative. Think, act and talk with enthusiasm and you will attract positive
results.
Pension
is a great destination, and it requires careful journey , which comprises
planning, adequate contributions, monitoring pension pot and as you endeavor to
that, you will discover like Dr Caster and his team that the journey is very
important as its destination.
Odunze
Reginald C
Lead
Consultant, Chareg Consulting
No comments:
Post a Comment