Ronald Goseco l November 3, 2023 l The Manila Times
I WAS recently in Cagayan de Oro for the JP Morgan-Finex Inter-Collegiate Finance Competition elimination round. I took a taxi from Seda Hotel to the Phinma Cagayan de Oro College (COC) campus where the event was being held. The taxi driver struck up a conversation with me to find out if I needed transportation for the rest of my stay. I replied that we were leaving the following day. He offered to drive us to the Laguindingan airport the next day. We then agreed on a schedule for the following morning. In our conversation, I found out that he recently moved his family from San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija. When I asked him why, he replied that he was a former army captain who was wounded during the Marawi siege which shattered his left leg.
He talked about his platoon that was mobilized from their base in Laur, Nueva Ecija, and how few of them survived. He also described his surgery which required steel implants. He was discharged from the army because of his disability with a full pension. He initially got P2 million as an advance on his pension plus some of his other benefits. He decided to use this to relocate his family to Cagayan de Oro since his wife was originally from there. He also described that the cost of living was much lower than Nueva Ecija. He also talked about the fresh vegetables and the abundance of fresh fish in Mindanao.
From the advance that he got, he decided to invest in a taxi since he figured that he needed to supplement his regular pension as an army captain to raise his young family. He is expecting to receive his pension starting next year. We talked about his other challenges, and he mentioned the costs of his maintenance medications. He was not aware of the satellite hospitals of the Philippine Veterans Hospital, so I told him to ask his son to search for that on the internet. I told him I was certain there was one in Cagayan de Oro.
Since we were on the way to Phinma COC, he also mentioned that his son was actually enrolled there, but was being asked to transfer to a public high school next year. I described the Department of Education vouchers that would allow students to enroll in private high schools, and it might be worthwhile to check if there are still available vouchers that his son could avail of. He assured me he will check.
As soon as I got out of the taxi, I felt uneasy. That taxi driver could have been anyone of us who served in the military, and we could have faced the same circumstances. I was also reminded of an event that we were working on for the Philippine Air Force with the Finex Social Involvement Committee. This is a Financial Planning seminar for families of officers, enlisted personnel and civilian employees who are scheduled to retire soon.
It dawned on me that planning for retirement should start early and not at the tail end of your career, since you never know what fate has in store for us, just like the army captain who was forced into retirement. We invited two great speakers for the event, Francis Kong, who will be sharing with us the value of planning and budgeting with the entire family, and Chinkee Tan, who will be talking about investment options.
From that short conversation with that taxi driver, I realized that we should include some other topics.
First, it is never too early to start planning for retirement. Financial goals and the means to achieve them have to be agreed on with your family, and everyone is expected to contribute. The entire family will be affected by these financial decisions, so it is necessary to involve everyone in both the planning and the execution. The financial goals of Filipino families have many things in common. Aside from meeting day-to-day living expenses, all Filipino families want their children to succeed and have better lives. Educating the children is top of mind for most families.
There are many scholarship opportunities that one should consider. There are government vouchers that would allow enrollment in private high schools. There are also top-notch public high schools in every province. State colleges provide free tuition, so these should be considered. Saving up for the children’s education and other financial goals should be a family affair, and each member should be expected to contribute. Everyone is also expected to cut back on expenses to achieve these common goals.
Second, it is important to figure out why you will be getting up every day after retirement. Just like the army captain who gets up every day to drive his taxi to supplement the income that he needs to support his family, we all need to know what will give us fulfillment in retirement. To succeed in retirement, we all need to find sources of meaning and fulfillment.
For some of us, it could mean another job in another field or volunteering in nonprofits or church activities. For some, it could mean traveling and spending more time with kids or grandchildren. We need to plan for the extra time that we will have after we stop working. There is a saying that you have to plan and live your life well, or the world will do it for you. One simply cannot take this chance for what will happen for the rest of our life.
Third, determine who you will surround yourself with in retirement. If you are married, your spouse is obviously going to be involved, but it is also worth determining who else will be in that mix. You will need these social connections both for emotional support and to ensure that you keep your feet on the ground. You will lose the daily interactions that you had when you were working full time, so you will have to adjust and determine who you will interact with in your chosen social circle.
Fourth, decide where you will live. Just like the army captain, you have to decide whether you want to move to another location. Some will stay in the same neighborhood, especially if their social circle is around them. For many of us who are not originally from Manila, this could mean moving to our province where the cost of living is lower, the pace of life slower, and where the food and the air is fresher.
It could also mean being close to health facilities that would provide inexpensive or even free services. It could mean downsizing and getting rid of the clutter, or the status symbols that we thought we needed in our previous lives. Retirement could mean a new lifestyle devoid of the many material objects that we yearned throughout our working lives. Retirement could result in a simpler but a more fulfilling life with friends and family who you care for and who will care for you for the rest of your life. This last result should really be in everyone’s retirement goals.
*** Ronald Goseco was a former military pilot and is currently a FINEX Foundation Trustee. His opinions are his own.