BREAK THE CYCLE OF BEING BROKE AT OLD AGE
This screenshot was posted on a friend’s Facebook timeline and most of the comments were against the line of thought, some even pronounced curses upon the author. I found the submissions of these persons worrisome as it reveals that we don’t give as much thought as we should to the opinions we hold.
I don’t want to dwell on the fact that these opponents didn’t even spend a moment to consider what the term “retirement plan” actually implies, they assumed that a retirement plan and children caring for parents are mutually exclusive.
Firstly, the author DID NOT say we shouldn’t provide for our parents which is what the teeming opponents thought. Instead, I think we should pay attention to a serious matter that has been raised and calls for introspection. This is a cycle we need to break, the majority of parents shouldn’t end up broke after working for years.
We need to learn from their mistakes, get it right, and improve the prospects of our children and the generations after. It’s the only sustainable solution to lift Africa out of its perpetual self-inflicted poverty. We can do better with financial literacy, investment intelligence, and money management skills. It was along these lines of thought I wrote Our Favourite Demon.
Secondly, in Africa, our parents aren’t just the Father and Mother that birthed us. The Uncle who supported you with what he could afford is your parent, the Aunt who sent foodstuff is your parent. Then their kids who are our cousins, and so on. We desire to be there for all these people and we should be there for them but the weight typically falls only on the few that are well to do and it’s not easy. We should be thinking transgenerational wealth transfer.
Thirdly, over 80% of our elderly relatives are broke including those who worked for two to three decades, it shouldn’t be so. There is definitely something we have been getting wrong for decades now and we should seek to break the cycle. The trick with retirement plans is that the preparation ought to start when we are still young and energetic, not when we are at the exit door of active work life.
I facilitated a training last year for enlisted retirees of Indorama Plc and this was their key realization. Pension is just one out of many retirement plans, and guess what? If not for the Government making it mandatory, the pension scheme would have also not been a plan for most workers. We need to think more seriously about these things and take necessary actions, sentiments won’t change your reality.
Fourthly, caring for your parents doesn’t necessarily mean your parents should be in penury. That was the undertone of the submissions made by the opponents to the author, we really need to give more thought to our views. Yes, sometimes we are in need as humans and fall back to loved ones and network for support, I cannot argue against that, ever.
My questions are:
What is wrong with your parents being financially sufficient even in their old age?
Does it mean you won’t or shouldn’t care for them if they have their own money?
Why do we think that caring for aged parents is best when they are poor?
If you could surpass the setbacks and challenges of life, wouldn’t you love to have a wealthy parent even at their old age?
Fifthly, I end with the story of a grandfather who passed on before his first grandchild was born but still holds the title of the wealthiest person that his family has produced, he worked as security personnel at the defunct African Continental Bank. He spent small sums from his ‘meager’ salaries buying shares in Nigerian Breweries and in over forty years now, his little investment is worth several million.
However, the Wife he left behind died in poverty because the children who are entitled to claim the estate made no move for it and they are all also living in lack after serving their employers for twenty-five years minimum. They will depend on their own children and the cycle continues, a cycle the grandfather got so close to breaking. What will happen to the wealth of the grandfather is a discussion for another day.
We need better financial intelligence. You don’t have to broke at old age to receive care from your children. We need to break the cycle.
Your Co-Traveler,
Maple.