I have seen many clips going around on social media on retirement planning of late, especially targeting men. There seems to be a belief that men suffer most on retirement. I have not done any independent survey to establish whether this is true or not.
However, from a general observation from among our communities across the country, retirement poverty is a painful reality. Many people in the country, regardless of gender are never ready to manage life without regular income on their last day of work. This is not to mean work ends when you stop going to your office. So I use retirement in the literal meaning.
For many of us, we get so accustomed or used to regular income each month that we forget that one day it shall not be there. While working, the years fly without many of us noticing and we only start thinking about retirement when it is too late. I know I have written about this topic before, but in this article, I extend further perspectives on how you can effectively plan how to live and spend your time after your formal working years:
- Set passive incomes outside your pension package – this should be more than enough to sustain your existing lifestyle by the retirement date. While we all dream of accumulating massive amounts of money and wealth, the reality is that only a few manage this feat in their active years of work. At the very least, ensure you have enough cash flows, equal to your last net pay, from things/assets that do not require your active involvement. This could be financial assets like bonds, government bills or rentals. Pension should be a bonus on top of what you have created yourself over the years you worked;
- Invest in yourself to expand your capacity – most of us will never buy and read a book, or pay for a training or seminar, and others cannot even read free constructive materials or listen to educative Videos online. But would spend several hours scrolling through gossip (muchene) and fake news each day. This habit limits your options when you exit formal work. Investing in your education diversifies your skill sets, expands your worldview and affords you different things that you can pursue when you are no longer working;
- Plan the things you would like to do and start them while working – get accustomed to how you would like to spend your time when you exit daily work that you’ve done for years. For example, if you desire to go into farming, get involved early in advance while still working. Invest in that farm and put in the right infrastructure while still earning. If you desire to go into business, do not try to experiment that when you exit work, start while still earning regular income and learn the rules of the game when you are not desperate for profits;
- Find and establish healthy relationships with loyal friends – one of the greatest challenges of exiting the workplace is loneliness and boredom. Of the people you were working with, extremely very few maintain the relation once you are out of site. While still working, get a few true friends who’ll walk with you long into your golden years. May they be from your workplace or other social set-ups, find them and invest in your social capital. Start things you’ll continue doing together many years into the future;
- Plan for leisure and pleasure – the years after many years of work are often called the donkey years. Many of us never find time and money to live life while we work but retire into more painful years. It need not be like that; it should never be that way. Set adequate income reserves to travel and enjoy life in those golden years. You’ll have the time to go wherever you want for as long as you have the money. The books you bought while you worked will keep you busy and active as you can re-read them as often as you wish. If you can, set up different retirement homes in places you like while still working, especially in warmer areas if you come from very cold regions.
# It’s all in your hands while the sun still shines and the money flows every month. Plan wisely and set your sails right early enough!