Ahead final whistle, what’s your pension plans?

Somebody said during a conversation! I am thinking about my retirement. This fellow we later understood was not talking about how he is going to spend his accumulation (saved funds) in retirement, but was talking about how late he realized that he should have planned. Too bad!

Don’t be like those who have pension problem on their head. A story was said of one Mr Aluko who worked in the Nigerian Railway Corporation and because he relied totally on his pension from his employer, got disappointed when the pension was not coming. That was the old pension scheme. So, he had the pension problem on his head and at the end he died with it.

While you rely on your pensions today from your employer or as a contributor in the country’s Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), which no doubt guarantees reasonable level of sustenance depending on your contribution level, that is, the amount being contributed by you and your employer, it is important you take other factors into consideration.

While also is certain that your case is not going to be like that of Mr Aluko if you are part of the CPS because this is relatively a new scheme, you could do something that makes you have a more enjoyable pension payouts. Here, the best bet for you is to make additional contribution through your employer.

But if you are not part of the CPS, don’t lose hope the National Pension Commission (PenCom) has recently released a draft guidelines for take-off of the micro pension scheme. This will enable those who are not covered in the existing scheme to have an opportunity to build their pension purse.

Discussing on the success factors for retirement, Egbuta Ibekwe, lead consultant, Ages Nigeria Limited and author ‘Thinking of your Retirement’ had said there were key success factors for retirement including – financial independence, good health, living accommodation, functional relationship, absorbing interest and philosophy among other factors.

Ibekwe noted that even if you are part of CPS, make additional efforts for financial independence including voluntary contributions. But if you are not part of CPS, then open your eyes and plan now before it is too late.

Financial Independence

He said if you want to retire and depend on people to take care of you, then, you are a gambler. “If your town people, family and friends or NGO must come to your rescue for medical or hospital there is aproblem. These emphasizes the importance of financial independence.

As a worker, you need to know how you earn, how you spend and how you save, and if you do not look at these factors, you are not likely to achieve financial independence. “Today’s generation of youths are more interested in consumption, always eager to live like the next door neighbor without recourse to level of income” and this Ibekwe said would backfire in the long run. So, do your income profile, review you expenditure and measure your net worth and with these you will know where you are, Ibekwe advised.

Good health:

On good health, he said keeping good health is a responsibility you owe not only to yourself, but also to the whole world. “If you are not healthy, you are a problem to everybody, so good health is a project we must take seriously for all of us to have a healthy retirement, he advised.

Sustainable living accommodation:

For you to enjoy pleasurable retirement, you must as a matter of importance have your own accommodation so that you do not continue to pay rent in retirement. And this you need to settle before your retirement clock rings, Ibekwe said.

Functional Relationship:

Nobody is an island, and so you must learn to live and associate with other people and this is most important in retirement, because you would have left your work environment and need to live in a new environment altogether with new set of people.

Absorbing interest:

It is important that you do what will interest you while in retirement. What this means is that you must start to think of what you will be doing to keep yourself busy while in retirement. But it has to be what you have passion for. Though, it must give you some income no matter how small, but it has to be what gives you joy doing.