Sharon Smith, senior manager at JN Bank with responsibility for the JN Individual Retirement Scheme (JNRS), is urging professionals to prudently manage their money to ensure they are prepared for retirement.
“Proper money management practices are an essential part of planning for retirement,” she advised.
“You need to ensure that you are managing the money you earn in the best possible way. You must remember that your pension savings alone will never be enough to retire comfortably on. Unless you had started with your first pay cheque in your early 20s, which most of us did not do,” Smith said.
The licensed pension advisor said it’s good practice to budget and to follow a careful plan.
“Increase your financial IQ; prepare a will; get solid advice from a good financial advisor; and take care of your physical and mental health,” she advised.
With less than 10 per cent of the population having access to a pension upon retirement, Smith underscored that if more Jamaicans plan for their golden years, families and the economy will benefit from their good habits, noting that retirement planning reduces poverty, as retirees are not dependent on the State or other family members for an income.
A prudently managed pool of retirement savings can also be used by government, Smith pointed out, to finance infrastructural projects and health care.
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