The Chief Investment Officer of Stanbic Investment Management Services (SIMS), Kwabena Boamah, has encouraged workers in both the formal and informal sectors to take steps to plan towards their retirement as that will determine how they live after retirement.

Speaking at a webinar series on pensions, Kwabena Boamah said when people retire, their incomes retire but their expenses do not and that is the critical reason why they have to plan

According to Kwabena Boamah, “it is important that before you retire, you ask yourself some critical questions in order for an effective retirement plan.

“You need to ask yourself how you want to live after you retire and also assess the kinds of expenses you envisage to make in your retirement such as medical bills, utilities, school fees, etc.

“After this has been done, the next thing to do is to budget and determine how much you will need to offset or meet your expenses after retirement. After budgeting comes investment. This is where you decide how much to invest and where to invest in order to generate enough for your expenses post retirement.”

Kwabena Boamah further encouraged people to work hard and always seek advice from professionals when planning for their retirement to avoid making mistakes.

“Hard work enables us to plan better towards retirement so I encourage the youth, especially, to work hard so they can invest for their retirement. But beyond that, it is also very important to always get the right advice from professionals in planning your retirement. Without that, you may make mistakes that can derail your retirement plans,” Mr. Boamah said.

The Head of Sales and Client Service at SIMS, Miriam Maku Amissah, who was also a panel member at the webinar, encouraged workers to plan for the retirement regardless of how much they earn.

She further reiterated the importance of getting advice from professionals in planning for retirement.

“Prepare your mind for retirement as a worker and plan for it. It doesn’t matter how much you earn. You can always plan towards your retirement,” Miriam Amissah said.

The webinar also had Dr. Abdulai Alhassan, a retiree who shared his experiences on preparing for retirement and retirement itself.

The SIMS Webinar Series brings together experts from the pensions and investment ecosystem to engage the public on how to invest and prepare effectively for retirement.

The April edition was held under the theme ‘When the nest becomes empty – A conversation on pensions planning and retirement’.

SIMS is Ghana’s foremost investment management and advisory firm offering tailor-made fund management services for pension schemes, institutions, corporates, and associations to meet specific investment objectives and return benchmarks.

SIMS’ institutional and individual fund management proposition includes assistance in setting up the fund, investment policy statement design, templates for trust deeds, and fund rules.