Retirement doesn’t necessarily mean retiring, if you should ask retiree, Roy Parkinson.
At age 61, the JN Individual Retirement Scheme (JNRS) pensioner neither looks nor acts in a manner associated with golden agers; and, therefore, when he retired from his job at a freight company in Montego Bay, St James, staying home and being inactive was not an option.
The former cargo handler created new opportunities for himself as an entrepreneur by investing his pension savings in a lucrative pig-rearing business. The farm, located in an adjoining parish, is populated with more than 20 pigs, and he markets them to local butchers and restaurants.
“I’ve been able to expand my home and I’m relaxed,” the pensioner mused from the comfort of his veranda in Montego Bay.
He spoke enthusiastically about his grandchildren and his youngest daughter, whose university education he has been financing with the proceeds from his new venture. And now he’s looking forward to expanding his operation with the inclusion of biogas as a value-added component of his pig farm.
“I would encourage anyone to join a retirement scheme,” Parkinson, who started saving with the JNRS in 2013, commented.