When you are in your twenties, saving for anything leave alone retirement is usually a challenge. What with all the parties to attend, trips out of town, shopping for the latest phones and clothes almost nothing is left to save. However, this is the best time to start planning and saving for retirement because one usually has fewer responsibilities and secondly the earlier you start the better. Here are a few ways that you can follow to start saving for your retirement.
Insurance Schemes
Saving your money in a bank account is all well and good but the downside is the tendency to dip into your saving every time a need arises. Regular dipping into saving even for non-emergencies will lead you back to square one which is no savings at all. The most fool proof saving method is joining an insurance scheme better known as Personal Pension Plan (PPP). This locks in the monthly contribution for a specific period of time hence preventing dipping, the beauty of the PPP is that you can start with amounts that you are comfortable with and gradually increase the contributions as your circumstances improve. Check out these insurance companies under Association of Kenya Insurers for more information APA Life Assurance Ltd, Britam, CIC Life Assurance Company Ltd, ICEA Lion Life Assurance Company Ltd, Jubilee Insurance Ccompany Ltd, Kenindia Assurance Company Ltd, Liberty Life Assurance Ltd, Madison Insurance Company Ltd, Pan Africa Life Assurance Company Ltd and UAP Life Assurance Company Ltd.
Develop a savings culture
Make a point of saving a little each month, someone who manages to save a bit for a long time is better off than someone who starts latter and must save more. A good example is Sylvester Kibe “Wamei” a guy who used to sell roast maize and shines shoes for a living. He saved Kshs.200 for 14 years and managed to buy a matatu!! If you think about it 200 bob seems a paltry amount to start with but no amount is too small to start considering what Sylvester was able to achieve. As the Swahili saying goes “Haba na haba hujaza kibaba” so start saving now to ensure a better life in the future.
Spend little and save more
The greatest paradox in life is that the wealthy spend as little of their income as they can yet the not so wealthy aka the middle class are the ones squander away their meager income. The rich stay rich by basically spending way less than they make. So to start of your journey to riches and a comfortable life later in life, come up with a budget of your monthly expenses. This will help you avoid unnecessary expenditure, ensure to put away whatever you manage to save.
Avoid unnecessary debt
In a bid to keep with the “Jones” many people have taken to borrowing for consumption sake. This means borrowing not for the sake of investing but to fund lavish lifestyles and now that we are heading to the festive season to go on holidays. The danger with this is that, due to the fact that the money was not invested there are no returns to help you offset the loan. This means that your ability to save for the future will be affected and it will also limit you in case you want to borrow for investment purposes. So before you take that loan ask yourself whether the purpose of the loan will build your future or not.