Group Chief Executive Officer at Databank Kojo Addae-Mensah has cautioned Ghanaians on the dangers of delaying saving for retirement, saying such delays is the reason why some people invest in risky investment schemes that promise high returns.
According to him, the caution is warranted following insights gathered by Databank about the poor attitude to retirement across the country.
Per the available data, if one wants to achieve a mark of GH¢ 1 million by age 60, they will need to save 89 cedis per month going forward from the age of 20, while they will need to save 3,846 cedis per month going forward from the age of 50.
While sharing his thoughts on the issue of retirement saving, Mr. Addae-Mensah said the situation across Ghana is particularly dire as many aging individuals are now realizing the time they’ve wasted.
The insights were gathered on a Databank retirement awareness tour done in collaboration with the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) carried out through cities like Ho, Sunyani, Tarkwa, Takoradi and Tamale from June 10th 2019 to July 5th 2019.
“The day you start working and earning something is the day you must start preparing for that day you won’t be working anymore. I urge people to start small and then they can scale up. It’s so important that I can’t overemphasize it.”
Mr. Addae-Mensah further called on persons interested in investing for their retirement to ask the right questions before committing their funds.
“The governance structures are extremely important. It’s the first thing any investor must ask about. Unfortunately, Ghanaians want to know about the returns they’ll get which is wrong. Currently, the statistics about retirement savings in Ghana along with the stories we have heard on our tour are very worrying.”