There are many people who work hard all their lives but are still afflicted by poverty upon retirement. They invest in a wide range of seemingly productive projects, which in reality do not guarantee the much-needed cash flow in retirement. If we continue with business as usual, we shall witness the emergence of “The New Poor” who are used to an affluent lifestyle while still at work, only to plunge into a less than desirable life in their latter years. How can Ugandans plan for a safe and secure retirement? Martin A. Nsubuga, URBRA CEO provides some insights.
What exactly does planning for safe and secure retirement mean?
Firstly, a safe and secure retirement is a situation where one is able to enjoy the privilege of having a regular cash flow as well as a healthy mind and body in retirement. You cannot attain that privilege in retirement if you don’t plan and work for it. So, the big question is: will your current funds and investments give you a safe and secure retirement?
Planning for retirement is an integral part of financial planning, what exactly does it entail?
Planning for retirement is a series of decisions one has to take over a period of time. It all starts with the mindset – what type of retirement do you want to enjoy; what are your aspirations? It starts with your expectations and desires. Your standard of living today should inform your standard of living in retirement. When planning for retirement, there are key focus areas:
i) There is the financial – how you are going to meet your retirement needs. i.e. how expensive will your needs be? The quickest proxy is to understand whether you want to maintain your current lifestyle. Statistics show that you will need more than 70% of your current earnings. Do you have an investment that can maintain that?
ii) Start saving: having understood your retirement needs and aspirations, start saving, keep saving. Start early, save small, be consistent, let the savings grow.
iii) Investing: You need to understand the available investment options. URBRA has licensed professional fund managers who can provide advice on what to invest in prior to and during retirement. At individual level, it is also important to learn some basic investment principles – things like inflation, economic trends, trending investment information, and the like.
Download the full article below;
