By Eriah Lule
Monica Ntege sat on her backyard veranda in Dandira village, Mukono Municipality, in a blue tie and dye dress, holding a mug of tea with mud on her feet and black gum boots left in the mid-morning sun. A clear indication of the bond she had developed with her garden long before she retired as Librarian from Uganda Christian University (UCU) in 2021.
“Retirement is just like a minus from my salary, but engaging in meaningful and yielding activities is one of my homegrown skills right from childhood,” she said.
On April 24, 2019, the late Joab Musinguzi, a former procurement officer and parent at UCU, invested over 400 million Uganda shillings in cryptocurrency, hoping for good results at the end of the day. Unfortunately, two weeks later, the crypto currency dropped in the country, and the company closed, leaving the late in shock and leading to his paralysis. He was bedridden for months before dying, cursing the world.
Sabrina Musinguzi, his wife, noted that every preparation and move his husband made was for his retirement. “He often consulted me on these matters, but for this time he didn’t. We got to know one week from a friend who he invested with,” she said.
According to the Ugandan Constitution, 60 years is the average age for retiring from public service, while the Constitution of the Church of Uganda stipulates 65 years is the retirement age from service.
Even in his retirement, you have to make an appointment with Rev.Can.Dr.John Ssenyonyi the emeritus vice chancellor of UCU, given the tight schedule he runs on a daily basis. He is among the few who, by grace, find themselves occupied even during their retirement.
“Me and my wife have found retirement more busy than we expected,” he said. “Due to idleness, many individuals get different challenges which later erupt into death.”
In an article published by the Daily Monitor on May 13th, 2022, according to the Bank of Uganda Financial Capability Survey, out of the 22.8 million working Ugandans, only 1 percent earn more than Shs1m while 49.2 percent earn less than Shs150,000 per month.
This report didn’t only worry Louis Aguti, a 28-year-old casual worker with Mukono Division Offices and a first-born of six, who are all looking at her for their education back in Soroti.
“How can I think of retirement given the young family that is looking at me with just 250,000 shillings as my monthly wage?” she asked.
The English dictionary best defines the term “retirement” as the portion of one’s life after retiring from one’s career. But how should one best prepare for his/her retirement
Badebye Dan, the head of the finance department at UCU and former Director of Finance and Administration at Uganda Retirement Benefits Regulatory Authority, notes that as long as you start working, it’s important for one to belong to any savings retirement scheme, whether formal or informal
“The money you save will be invested and can multiply,” he said. “It should be saved in a manner that will make it difficult for you to access it easily.”
The earlier you start, the better because over time it will accumulate, but if you wait for a big job to start saving, then you might start late and under pressure to save more , he added.
Monica credits retirement planning right from parental guidance, where children are prepared to work hard as well as start investing early in different activities that would later generate income as they are retiring from formal employment. This isn’t the case for others.
She added that when you start working, you begin saving for the future and investing in entities that will increase your income and yield future dividends.
Badebye further notes that one can’t invest towards or during retirement and many people outlive their retirement. Investing in annuities will help because the learning curve and process may wipe away all your savings while investing in unknown ventures.
Investing in ventures that will give you passive income because you’re in a state where you’re not as fast and agile as you were in the old days. Unit trusts and fixed deposit accounts are very recommendable, which over time can switch the interest to your account. Developing your aspect of ‘your money working for you’.
Haven’t we seen different officials in the formal sector forced to retire but not surrender due to a number of job benefits like accommodation and vehicles? This is not the case for people in the informal sector.
Kabugo Andrew is a 45-year old motorcycle mechanic in Bugujju. He incepted his two sons in the mechanic business so that they would carry on with the family business when he is “exhausted” but not retired.
“I try to teach my children how to run this business. When I die, they won’t fail to look after their mother.”. He said, “Most parents should engage children in their professions very early so that they don’t die with them.”
Kabugo Andrew’s elder son, Alfred, is a senior four dropout working with his father at their garage. Alfred wants to upgrade to be a motor vehicle mechanic, which he believes will expand their family business .
“Every coin in my wallet, I am saving it to go and upgrade,” he said. “We can therefore expand our business so as we can lift the burden from our father.”
According to Badebye, retirement is trying to maintain the standard of living you have when you’re working , so Andrew’s engaging in his students is his assurance that his standard will still be kept as well as the business flourishing.
People are toiling preparing for retirement, but what are some of the mistakes that people retiring are making unknowingly?
Monica notes that many times, people invest in projects that they don’t have an idea about and end up losing a lot of money in the process.
According to Ssenyonyi, idleness is when a former working brain is no longer engaged in meaningful activities. Many retirees break down quickly because they are doing nothing and end up in the grave so quickly.
Badebye notes that before retiring, one must be sure of the place he is going to retire from, build a rapport with communities so they don’t feel lonely, and occasionally engage in communal activities that are necessary to fight idleness.
Access to medical services is crucial for a person retiring since their bodies are now weak and can’t fight diseases like a youth as well as aging chronic sickness, so as one is planning, medical access should be among the key areas , he further noted
Developing something that you’re interested in or a skill when you’re still working will occupy most of your time during retirement and at least keep cash liquidity flowing is a better way of enjoying your retirement.
