Retirement Plans

Early this year, a friend asked me if I would like to attend a pre-retirement seminar for retirees. I turned down her offer considering I still have decades to wait for the mandatory retirement age but she said that the seminar was really good. Curiosity won me over so I asked for the seminar schedule to see if they had some things that could interest me. Sure enough, the entire schedule was a gold mine of really good information for retirees and non-retirees alike but it was too late for me to retract.

Some of their speakers were from government agencies like the Social Security System, Home Development Mutual Fund and the Government Service Insurance System. They were tasked to talk about the retirement packages that the retirees could avail of from the government. Other speakers were from the private sector for the investment options while on the other hand, they had two speakers for health, nutrition and wellness of life for people hitting the senior citizen age.

For my part, I was most interested in the investment and livelihood topics. Last year, our agency offered an early retirement package for those who have been with our agency for a number of years. After analyzing the total amount that the retirees received for their retirement pay, I realized that the amount they received could only last a year or two at most. This exposes the vulnerability of the retirees after a period of time.

This made me think of my future and the advice that my parents have been telling me all these years. They have been telling me to engage in a business that I like and not depend entirely on my office salary. In time, if my business will make good, it will help me in my old age. I totally agreed with them but the procrastinator in me kept delaying that plan. It was only when a friend sent me a gift of a necklace made of colorful beads that I was reminded that I need to start the ball rolling.

My friend is semi-retired now and is busy with her bead business. She started her love affair with the beads when she was just a young single mother trying to augment her income to feed her children. She started to like beads when she was in high school and started making accessories made of beads and semi-precious stones as a hobby. She gave away her output as gifts but not long after, friends and relatives started ordering for some pieces from her. She realized that her hobby can actually help her with her finances and started to produce more of her bead products. She attended a bead making class to enhance and improve her bead jewelry making skills and is now seriously thinking of hiring two people to help her with her business.

Her success encouraged me somehow to find a good business venture. I am still scouting and doing some research. I do hope I could come up with a good business venture to start up my retirement plans.