Tag Archives: Retirement Planning

Money Mission: Get Real About Retirement

Retirement & Estate Planning, , , , , ,

There’s an epidemic poised to take over Jamaica that has the potential to devastate the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, and yet there is very little discussion about it in our country. Our airwaves and newspapers are chock-full of opinions on the latest scandal, yet no time or space is being devoted to this looming disaster.

This tragedy will not present itself in the form of a weather calamity that wreaks havoc on our physical infrastructure, nor will it be a medical emergency involving an infectious disease. However, this coming catastrophe will have the potential to bring financial adversity and deprivation on a scale hitherto unseen in our nation.

My apologies on sounding like an angel of doom, but this impending crisis prompts me to be a little melodramatic in my pronouncements. Continue reading Money Mission: Get Real About Retirement →

More Money Lessons I Wish I Had Learnt In School

Kids & Money, , , , , , , , , , ,

In nine years of experience in providing personal financial advice, I have trained thousands of persons from all walks of life about the principles of money; I have coached highly paid doctors and lawyers and counselled lower-income workers.

There is one factor that unites the majority of persons who seek my assistance – they are facing financial distress because they are unaware of the basic steps that they should take to successfully manage, multiply and maintain their money.

I can recall the frustration of a professional who earns more money in one month than most Jamaicans will see in a year, as he painstakingly tried to organise his finances to get out of debt. “I can’t believe that I don’t know how to budget,” he sighed, “why didn’t they teach us about this money stuff when we were in school?” Continue reading More Money Lessons I Wish I Had Learnt In School →

Is it Practical To Plan For Retirement?

Retirement & Estate Planning, , , , , ,

As it becomes increasingly difficult for many companies to finance workplace pension plans, and more persons join the ranks of the self-employed, the number of Jamaicans who are currently investing towards their retirement years is woefully inadequate.

Studies indicate that private pension arrangements are now covering some 60,000 persons of the approximately 1.3 million people in the labour workforce in Jamaica. This means that only about one out of every 22 persons contributes to a savings plan that will help to replace their income when they can no longer earn a living or choose to stop working.

This is a startling statistic, as it indicates that many persons may not have considered the necessity of planning to create an income for their later years. Continue reading Is it Practical To Plan For Retirement? →