Will you be Happy in your Retirement – Odunze Reginald C

According to an article in Yahoo Finance captioned “7 ways to Retire happy” Mandi Woodruff opined that In a new book, “You Can Retire Sooner Than You Think,” Atlanta-based investment advisor Wes Moss, offers an alternative to the traditional line of thinking. Rather than focus on a dollar amount to reach for, Moss decided to figure out what retirees needed to be truly happy in retirement”
“I wanted to go beyond simple income numbers,” Moss says. “I wondered what it really takes to get somebody to a point where they truly feel they have a cushion and they are also enjoying life.”
“In 2012, Moss conducted an online survey of more than 1,200 workers who had either already retired or were fewer than 10 years away from retirement. He asked them questions about what type of cars they drove, where they shopped, how much their homes were worth, and, of course, how much they had saved for retirement. But he also asked about their passion projects, how often they went on vacation, what types of volunteering they enjoyed, whether or not they were satisfied with their lives, and how much time they put into their retirement planning before calling it quits. (Moss did not ask participants about overall debt levels like student loans and credit cards, but did include questions about their mortgage debt).”
What he found was that more money doesn’t equate to more happiness. The happiest retirees didn’t all drive BMWs or take 12 European cruises a year, either.”

Basically what drives a happy retirement depends on an individual, as what makes Mr. A may not make Mr. B happy. These factors will therefore ensure a happy retirement.

1 Save for retirement: saving for retirement is a basic requirement in life especially in Africa where there is no social security. Saving for retirement in Africa is fast becoming important as the modernization has gradually eroded African system of social communism where in most communities; people gather together build houses for old people who do not have children to cater for them. As this has eroded, it becomes increasingly important to start saving for old age.  It is also important to embark on voluntary contribution as the mandatory provision of 18  percent is not quite enough  though I strongly commend the Federal government of Nigeria for increasing to 18 percent.

2 Make s rough estimate of retirement savings needs, the saving need is a strategic issue as most retirees came to the sudden realization that what they are getting as their lump sum is not enough, coupled with their desire to get a house and a car from their lump sum which is barely enough to cater for their immediate needs.

3 Develop a retirement strategy, it is very important to fashion a well defined retirement strategy. Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS), noted that in developing a retirement strategy, it is important to do the following “create a plan , In creating a plan, consider lifestyle, living expenses, healthcare needs, government benefits, and other factors, as well as a backup plan in case retirement comes early due to an unforeseen circumstance

4 Know a lot about retirement investment, it is the inability for contributors knowing about investment that often drove them to annuity. Contributors should at one time or the other gets investment advice from their pension fund administrators. They can do this by attending forum organized by the various Pension Fund Administrators to get adequate information on investment strategies

5 Maintain a positive attitude towards life and pension inclusive; according to book of job what people fear most always comes to them. And according to Robert Schuler, in his book , “the power of positive thinking “ he noted that  one of the basic ingredient of success is maintaining a positive outlook to life, believe that you will make and you will make it, believe that you will not , and you will definitely not” Therefore maintaining a positive attitude in all aspect of life is pre requisite for all facets of life and Le Boeuf (1987:21) noted that “your world is a mirror and your mind is a magnet what you perceived in this world is largely a reflection of your own attitudes and beliefs. And life will give you what you attract with your thoughts. Think, act and talk negatively and your world will likely be negative. Think, act and talk with enthusiasm and you will attract positive results.

Happy Married Life: We cannot do without Wes Moss as he is one of the Authority in pension Retirement. In still the same article in Yahoo Finance (op cited)  captioned “7 ways to Retire happy” Mandi Woodruff observed that “Happy retirees are more likely to be married” As common as divorce is in the U.S. today, the overwhelming majority of happy retirees were married (76%) and only 9% were divorced. Less than half of unhappy retirees were married, while one-quarter were divorced, Wes Moss found. This is right on par with what past research has shown about levels of satisfaction in married and unmarried people — over the long term, married couples are much happier. It’s fairly obvious why two may be better than one in this scenario — dual incomes can make a huge difference in a couple’s financial outlook. On the flip side, divorce not only reduces both parties’ income but is also expensive to go through.

Odunze Reginald is the Lead Consultant, Chareg Consulting, a management and marketing  consultant  a social media and social marketing consultant , you can visit our twitter anchor @regydunze, find us on Facebook @ Reginald odunze and reginaldodunze.com, at google+ @ Reginald Odunze and at Linkedin@reginald odunze.