As you probably know already, Retirement is when a person’s work life comes to an end after they have either accomplished all they need to financially or have reached the legal age to do so. However, some do not take this period in their lives as seriously as they should, thus not putting the proper measures in place to secure their future.
One downfall of persons is that they do not start making steps in saving for retirement until they are close to the age. This should not be so, as a pension plan alone is highly unlikely to be able to sustain someone, let alone allow them to live comfortably after.
According to the Senior Manager at JN Bank, Sharon Smith, good management of your money on a monthly basis is very vital in planning for retirement. As early as earning our first pay cheque we should be thinking about how we will be able to save toward a comfortable retirement and not only about the next party, hotel or country we’re headed to.
This isn’t to say that people shouldn’t be enjoying their lives doing what they love; but there should always be balance and priorities. Going to one less party for the month and redirecting the money that would have been spent, towards an SSL Brokerage account is one way to contribute towards your pension plan. It is not about the age we are at now, it is about the age of retirement and the growth we want to achieve.
Saving through a pension scheme is actually a lot better than people may think. For one, you cannot benefit from it until you have retired, unless there is a serious need for it like health issues. Secondly, the one that will catch person’s eyes, is the fact that it is taken out of your salary before PAYE is deducted, which then lowers your tax threshold. We all know that persons wish they were taxed less.
There are many other ways to make investments to add to pensions savings, like investing in real estate to earn income from rentals or even investing in stocks and bonds that give income, growth for your capital and also preserve your capital. The younger you are the more aggressive you can be, investing in more growth stocks so that your money can expand. As you carry on in age, you can then shift your focus on stocks and bonds that give both income and growth, which generally fluctuates around the same price level so there is no loss in capital. Lastly, when you are very close to retirement or even in retirement, you of course would not want to take on the risk of losing all you have earned or saved, which oftentimes results in you being a more conservative investor; looking into more bonds than stocks that give good yields and also preserves capital.
Investing is not always easy nor is it always safe, but it is always worth a try. The majority of wealthy persons today have some form of investment.
Don’t you want to be like them so you can travel the world, live comfortably and not have to be dependent on the state that does not even provide enough to sustain anyone?
We still see elderly persons on the street trying to make ends meet, selling produce or even goods. At that age you should be relaxing at home, babysitting your grandchildren or even travelling to places you have never been.
Retirement age in Jamaica is 65 years old. Take retirement seriously! Start saving and investing now!
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