Why Parents Should Start Thinking About Retirement Now (Part 3)

Loh Yong Cheng

In my last 2 parts, I shared the need to initiate a conversation with your other half and to take actions as soon as possible. In this final part, I hope to touch on the topic of children.

After becoming a father myself last year, I experience firsthand how my daughter becomes the centre of how decisions are made between me and my wife.

Most parents should be able to relate to this. Your children are the main reasons why you take certain action in life. Some of you settle for a less demanding job in order to have more time with your children. Some of you choose to lead a healthier lifestyle in order to inspire your children to do the same.

Part III: Similarly, you can also choose to take care of your own retirement now in order to help your children in the future.

Imagine this, you are just starting your own family and your parents say this to you,

“There is no need for you to support us financially anymore. Pa and Ma have already taken care of our own retirement. Now, go and focus fully on your own family.”

How would you feel about your parents? Would you feel that a major load on you have been lifted from you?

NTUC Income’s recent video can further emphasize my point. In fact, it speaks louder than what I can write in words. You may watch the video here.

A client of ours, who is the father of two teenage children, once shared with me his worry. He is unsure how our children’s future will pan out, given the disruptive economy we are experiencing right now. They may become hugely successful or they may struggle in the future economy. But one thing for sure, no parent would want to become an added responsibility to their children. You may not need to leave them a legacy, just by being self-sufficient in your golden years, you are already helping them.

To conclude this 3-part article, I believe that having marriage goals give the couple something to work towards together. It is a great way to grow the marriage as well. After reading this article, I encourage you to set achieving your desired retirement lifestyle together as your marriage goal.

If you have no clue on what you can need next to start this journey with, find an adviser whom you can trust and have the competence to carry out this planning with you. A good adviser will also journey with both of you to provide guidance as you continue to face any other unexpected life transitions in the coming years.

As I began Part 1 with a conversation with a friend, here’s how I ended our coffee session, “Your ideal retirement will remain a vision unless you put it into action. Organise a dinner date with your hubby and have someone babysit your kids. The best time to start the conversation is this weekend.”

This is an original article contributed by Loh Yong Cheng, Client Adviser at Providend, Singapore’s Fee-only Wealth Advisory Firm.


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