Monday, December 10, 2007

Will Your Parents Have Enough When They Retire?

To all parents,

You sacrificed a lot to raise your family, sent your children to school, and provided to the best of, and at times even beyond, your abilities. But once your children graduate from college, I think it’s time for them to start earning and become responsible individuals. That’s the ultimate goal of every parent ⎯ to train and teach their children to become independent adults.

Sad to say, I have seen young adults in their 30s still living with their parents and dependent for allowances. Some even have started their own families but still living with their parents under one roof. This will put so much strain in the financial resources on any family. Everyone is just dependent on one breadwinner.


Parents, it is time for you to let go. You have done your part. Now is the time for you to think about yourselves. Once you reach your golden year of retirement, the only people who will be next to you will definitely be your spouse. Regardless of your age, sex, or marital status, you need to know a few things about your and/or your spouse’s retirement plan. When setting your retirement goals, you shouldnot leave anything to chance. Getting the answers to these questions can eliminate future surprises.

These are the questions we need to ask ourselves before we retire.
1. How much money do you have in your savings before you retire?
2. Do you have a pension retirement plan already in place?
3. What will be your expenses when you retire? List everything down.
4. Just in case you lose your capacity to earn, will you still be able to pay for all your bills even if you don’t have to work for another day in your life?
5. What are your passive sources of income once you retire? Will this be enough to cover for all your expenses?

If we don’t handle our finances well while we’re still young, we will definitely experience hard times once we retire.

In life, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Yesterday morning I told my mother that I don't want to get retire without any big savings. Why? because we don't know what will happen in the future. I thought of medical expenses, food etc needed by an old woman.. hehe...That's the reason why I read your book entitled "Till Debt do us part". It gives practical tips to financial freedom. Discipline, patience,hard work and faith in God are the qualities that we needed to be financially free.