Inflation, the invisible hands that may derail your Happy Retirement- Odunze Reginald C

According to investopedia, it stated that “Inflation is defined as a sustained increase in the general level of prices for goods and services. It is measured as an annual percentage increase. As inflation rises, every dollar you own buys a smaller percentage of a good or service”.  While Wikipedia noted that “In economics, inflation is a sustained increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.”

And according to Wikipedia, Nigeria’s inflation rate stood at 8.3 percent as at July 2014 and as at December 2014 stood at 9.2 percent according to Trading Economics, the country of Venezuela has the highest inflationary rate of 60.9 percent as at May 2014 while Italy has the lowest inflationary rate of -0.9 percent as at July 2014 according to Wikipedia.

But according to Michelle McGagh  of citywire.com she observed that “Pension savers are still in the dark about the impact the ‘inflation switch’ brought in by the government two years ago will have, despite the possibility that it could wipe 25% off their retirement income.” They went on to say that “Research by human resources business, Aon Hewitt shows Brits do not understand what effect the switch from the retail price index (RPI) to the consumer price index (CPI) has had” .
The article went on to say that “Two years ago, the government announced plans to move the indexation of pensions from RPI to CPI. It did this because CPI rises a lot slower than RPI, as the latter includes housing costs, so it means the state pension will rise more slowly, as will public sector pensions, costing the government less money.  When it comes to private pensions, the amount they pay out could also increase more slowly as many are tied to inflation, and would have adopted CPI instead of RPI.”

Although the article based their research on the situations in Britain, but the aftermath of globalization does indicate economy does not exist in isolation stressing that what affects one economy will definitely affects the other. This was the view of the world 3.0 mindset. And according to Nathalie Bonney  in article captioned “How rising inflation can destroy your pension” which appeared in Money Observer, the article noted that “Anyone who has bought a fixed annuity [which provides a regular income for life] could see the value of their pension erode significantly over time,' says Dr Ros Altmann, Director General of Saga.

She adds: 'The longer they live, the poorer these pensioners become, as the real value of their fixed pensions is reduced by inflation.'So how does inflation affects your pension pot?  Nathalie noted that “Any cash savings are hit because the low interest returns on savings accounts cannot compete with the rate of inflation. Pension pots face a similar challenge with money losing value over long timescales”
If inflations are hitting Europeans and American who at times have negative inflationary rate what happens to Africans with one or two digits inflationary rate.
What it portends is that your pension pot may not carry you through during retirement. This is because during period of inflation, what N100, 000 can buy in previous years may not purchase up to N 75,000 during period of inflation. How then do you protect your pension pot during inflation? You may have nothing or less to do to protect your pension pot during inflationary period.  But the decision you take in either choosing programme withdrawal or annuity will offer the necessary succor.   Because those who are more likely to be hit by inflation are those on annuity as they have a regular income without investment, as the investment that comes into their pension; go to the pool of fund and not the annuitant; although they may continue to receive pension throughout their life time, but the value over time may be eroded by inflation.
What happens then, when the situation described above hit the retirees, coupled with the delicate health nature of men and women above 65 years? Will it shorten their lifespan? Will it impact negatively on them? Definitely yes, but the survival of the individuals involved is a function of their ability to absorb situations and their mindset, for those who have positive outlook; the impact will be less devastating compared to those with negative outlook.
For a detailed discussion on inflationary impact on pension, join our discussion group with African pension managers at the Linked in.

Odunze Reginald is the Lead Consultant, Chareg Consulting, a management and marketing consultant, a social media and social marketing consultant , you can visit our twitter anchor @regydunze, find us on Facebook @ Reginald odunze and reginaldodunze.com, at google+ @ Reginald Odunze and at Linkedin@reginald odunze.