Never too young to plan for retirement
UNLESS you are saving one-third of your salary each month, you may not be prepared to sustain your livelihood after your retirement.
Private Pension Administrator Malaysia (PPA) chief executive officer Husaini Hussin said it is a necessity to set aside the amount for the future.
The amount is in addition to the 23% provided by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).
“The calculation is based on the assumption that your post-retirement monthly expenditure would be two-thirds of your last drawn salary,” said Husaini.
Husaini said the best way to do that is to review our lifestyle habits and reduce spending.
Siau hopes more youngsters will invest in the PRS scheme to secure their golden years. Looking on is Husaini.
He said this at a talk, called “Top Up Your Life”, on planning your retirement organised by Star Media Group and presented by PPA and Affin Hwang Asset Management Berhad.
Husaini said there were three things to look out for when planning retirement savings – adequacy, sufficiency (minimum of 20 years at least) and sustainability (factoring in inflation).
Affin Hwang chief sales and regional officer Vincent Siau said the best time to begin this is when you are between 20 and 30 years old.
The younger you start, the higher the returns, she said, prompting both of them to reach out to the younger generation.
“We are not happy with the current number of young investors in the PRS (private retirement scheme) and some PRS providers are reaching out to the youngsters before they even join the workforce,” said Siau.
He believed the key was also to address the corporate sector where there are a large number of young workers.
Siau said the numbers were not satisfactory despite a RM1,000 incentive for the younger generation to join the PRS.
Private Pension Administrator (PPA) chief executive officer Husaini Hussin (centre), Affin Hwang’ chief sales and regional officer Vincent Siau, (centre in black jacket) and Star’s Audience Management senior general manager, Jimmy Poey(centre in red) with the winners of the RM500 contribution to join PRS
However, the key is discipline and consistency.
“They need to be disciplined to set aside the amount every month consistently to see results,” he added.
The Star Audience Management senior general manager Jimmy Poey said the company decided to organise the talk to give back to its readers.
“We want to educate the younger readers on the importance of saving and we are pleased to see a bigger crowd of youngsters in attendance today,” he added.
Five lucky attendees were given a RM500 contribution to join PRS while all participants walked away with a year’s subscription to The Star e-paper worth RM180.
Two of the winners, See Toh Wai Yu, 24, and K. Vikneswaran, 28, found the talk to be informative and useful.
See, who already has a PRS account, said the talk was a refresher course for him.
He said he was driven to join the scheme by his passion to save up RM1mil before turning 40.
“Youths in general do not talk about retirement, because they would rather spend the money on entertainment. However, this is for our future,” he added.
Vikneswaran, who immediately topped up his cash to enjoy the additional RM1,000 youth incentive, said his friends hardly speak of the subject.
“I am going to spread the word to my friends and encourage them, provided they are interested,” he said with a smile.
The “Top Up Your Life” campaign talks will continue on Aug 13 and Oct 7 at Cybertorium in Menara Star, Petaling Jaya, from 9am to noon.
Participants aged between 20 and 30 as well as those in their pre- and post-retirement years are strongly encouraged to attend.
The session will reveal how individuals from different categories can plan their finances to optimise on their retirement savings as well as manage existing retirement funds.
Participants will also stand a chance to receive a RM500 contribution for the PRS on the day of the talk.
Source: The Star
Saturday, 22 July 2017
